Celebrity Culture, the Media, and Body Image

     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 first piece of her interview that was alarming was when she was discussing her attire at beaches or pools. She claims that she wore a lot of one piece swimsuits to “hide” her body. It’s shameful that we live in a society that pressures women into feeling they must hide a piece of who they are. While this blog specifically focuses on women and body image, there are men who are insecure and feel like they need to hide themselves too. What are insecurities? How do these insecurities come to alter everyday actions? 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. 
     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.