Felicity Hayward is a British plus size model that did an interview with Allure’s youtube channel. Her interview was intended to display how Hayward learned to love her body; however, her interview included many alarming statements that proves that body image, specifically for females, is still a sociological issue today.
The next piece of her interview that really caught my attention was when Hayward was explaining her initial engagement with noticing stretch marks on her body. She confesses, “As a child I didn’t visually see any stretch marks on anyone… on any models, on any musicians, anyone.” This initial confusion with her body is an obvious result of the extreme influences on society from celebrity culture. Society worships elevated individuals, it’s a proven natural human tendency. However, media’s infatuation with reporting on what women look like, rather than their talents or achievements causes this unfortunate spread of what people view as the “ideal body”. What is so upsetting is that, as shown by the statistic chart, 90% of women think that TV and magazines focus too much on what women look like, instead of what they achieve. Women know and are aware of the faults media holds when representing women commercially. Even with the knowledge, society still holds expectations for women due to celebrity culture and models publicized. Although plus size models are an increasing aspect to the modeling business, the most promoted models are the general tall and thin models. Two thirds of females reason that these celebrities with the “ideal body” being forced upon us (whether it’s through social media, media products, TV, Etc.) are the reason they feel pressure to go on a diet and attempt to lose weight. It is important to be healthy, but for other reasons than feeling like you cannot love the person that you are. Furthermore, according to yougov.com, 74% of young people and 72% of women claim that celebrity culture has a negative impact on people’s perception of their body image. This is proof that society and media’s representation of celebrities with a certain body type is at the root of the sociological issue of females and body image.
The next concerning statements Hayward talked about had to do with the ideal or perfect body type. She calmly states, “They want models which are a perfect body shape,” she continues to add “and nowadays it’s that petite curve.” Then on her concluding note to the interview she contradicts herself by claiming “the perfect body does not exist because not two humans on this planet are the same.” Similar to how females are aware of celebrity culture affecting body image, this is a prime example of how people are aware that the term “perfect body” is subjective and unreasonable; however, due to the media's harsh spread of a certain type of celebrity, we forget that it is unreasonable. Referring to the Victoria Secret Model’s image, Victoria Secret promotes models that they label with The Perfect “Body”. All the models have extremely similar body types: tall, thin, and fit. Something that caught my attention was why the word “body” was in quotations. What emphasis was Victoria Secret attempting to put on the word? If anything, the quotations should've been put on “perfect”, because a perfect body is subjective.
Works Cited
- "Celebrity Culture 'a Threat to Today's Youth'." YouGov: What the World Thinks. N.p., 14 July 2014. Web. 10 Apr. 2017.
- "Celebrity Role Models Statistics." Celebrity Role Models Statistics Related Keywords & Suggestions. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Apr. 2017.
- How One Plus-Size Model Learned to Love Her Body. Perf. Felicity Hayward. Youtube.com. Allure, n.d. Web.
- Nicholas, Noelle. "Victoria’s Secret To Add Plus Sized Clothing And Models?" The Inquisitr. The Inquisitr, 04 Feb. 2015. Web. 10 Apr. 2017.
This was a great read. I agree with all of your points made in this blog post. I really enjoyed your point that stated "It is the societal pressures that push people to hide themselves, and lack confidence. These pressures try to box everyone into a certain image, and hold the misconception that if you do not look a certain way then you are not beautiful or attractive." Because today in society it is the media and ads that make people, especially people who don't look like the models and the celebrities feel bad about how they look, which causes them to then spend money to change how they look. My question to you would be do you think men feel as insecure as women do about their bodies? Do you think men or women are more effected by this phenomena? And why or why not?
ReplyDeleteI really love this post because of both its relevance and accuracy! The media really does put out a strict definition of beauty and condemn anyone and everyone who fails to abide by that definition. I think that all of the information and arguments you put forth are completely valid and even necessary when examining this societal issue! I would just like to add another layer to your topic that I think everyone should at least consider. While our society is finally taking steps to rebel against the mass media's definition of beautiful bodies, I think that we overemphasize bodies compared to faces. While plus size models are, indeed, helping to break the unrealistic body standards that we see perpetuated in the fashion industry and, in doing so, normalizing a wide variety of body types, they also still conform to the media's definition of beautiful in every other way. Most, if not all, of the plus size models I have seen have 'societally' gorgeous faces. By this, I mean that their physical features (eyes, noses, lips, etc) perfectly fit into society's current definition of beautiful. I think that our next step should be towards humanizing models in ways other than just weight because so many people feel ugly and unaccepted based on other physical features.
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