Conception Of A Role Model

The modeling industry has created a culture of exclusion across genders and races. Author Ashley Mears (2010) critically analyses the fashion industry, and how it influences production of culture and beauty ideals around the world. The modeling world is extremely female dominated, and the women who participate are continually commodified as they are used as a means to “promote and disseminate ideas of how women should look,” (p. 23). Because consumption is valued so in today’s society, the model is employed based on her perceived ability to sell a product. The clothes she is hired to wear and the beauty ideal that she is helping sell are more important than her humanity, and she becomes dehumanized. “Clothes take on such utmost importance that models are and should be mere clothes hangers, with perfectly discrete bodies that will display the clothes but not detract from them,” (Mears, 2010, p. 35). Models are blatantly objectified as they are forced be invisible for the sake of

Under society’s customs for decades, young women have found themselves immersed in the pressure and anticipation to have exemplary bodies. Nearly every young woman prefers to be slim, have a perfectly shaped body, that is beautified by applying pounds of makeup to their face but does not appear ridiculously overdone. Who’s responsible for these measures imposed on young women? When a young girl picks up the model on the cover of Vogue being called flawless, naturally it’s easy for her to then aspire to be a real-life imitation of the that model. These companies produce magazine covers shown with girls’ images daily. As if keeping the perfect body wasn’t hard enough, our culture also forces girls into the forever expanding world of composition, however, body image is a surging subject for young girls. Advertisements and pictures of lean female models are all over. Young women are measured and perplexed by their physical appearances with attire intended to raise their physical structures; social media, magazines, the society, marketing campaigns, advertisements, and the fashion gurus add to a strand of excellence.

When you think of a role model, who comes to mind? Many would say an actor, singer, athlete, etc. My role model is my sister, Natasha Hobley. For those who don’t know Natasha personally, they probably wouldn’t understand why she is a role model to me. However, I find her to be a role model for many reasons. Not only is Natasha strong, fearless, and independent, but she is the most loving person I have ever met. Regardless of the trials that have been thrown at her, she always comes out on top, and stronger than before. Natasha has unfortunately lost loved ones in her life, but still manages to find happiness in the darkest situations. Despite battling mental and emotional battles, my sister continues to find the best in situations, and always uplifts others. Ever since I was a child, I remember looking up to her and always wanting to be just like her. Natasha Hobley is my role model.

The fashion industry plays a huge role in portraying bad images of ideal beauty, which in turn affects today’s society perception of their own body image. Not only are women affected by what is seen and heard about how the perfect body should appear, children of young ages are now feeling insecure and obsessed with their bodies before they reach teenage years. This ‘ideal image’ the fashion industry continues to enforce only focuses on very thin models who seem to be in shape and are very healthy. Furthermore, many people think of the influence from the fashion industry as being human representations (models). Because of the rising problem with the image of beauty within the fashion industry, it is shown that even mannequins and non-human representations (mannequins, dolls, photoshopping) of bodies play a significant role in women’s body image; which causes problems to the individual. (Anshutz & Engels, 2010). Body image and self-satisfaction, eating disorders and non-human representations all can cause harm to the individual, if prolonged.

The Fashion Industry is affecting our body image in a huge way. They are the number one contributing factor in how we perceive ourselves and what is normal, especially in young girls. The following research shows some of the negative effects of the Fashion Industry. First, the negative effects of the media on body image and how it give countless an unrealistic views of what is normal. Second, how the Advertising and Magazines can affect our self-image in a negative way by using extremely thin models to promote sales. Eating Disorders will be looked at lastly, to reveal the high number of women and young girls suffering from anorexia and bulimia and how much responsibility falls on the Fashion Industry. The conclusion will end with the review of key factors and how the fashion industry has affected the self-esteem and body image of our society.

The first reason why teens need positive adult role models is, if teens are not influenced by a positive adult role model, they will be influenced by media. First, media has had a large negative impact on the way teen girls see themselves. They don’t need media telling them they are ugly, or that they are not good enough, they need role models telling them that they are beautiful no matter what they look like. The way the internet and magazines influences girls by the sizes of actresses and models to believe that they have to be skinny to be beautiful, but that is not it. Beauty comes from the inside, inner beauty is the only thing that matters, and that is when the role models come in. If young girls are told that beauty is an inside thing, they’ll influence friends and future generations the same, and the epidemic on beauty will be over. Also, while teens develop, they seek greater freedom and independence. With all the negatives of media, teens go to that first. The

Under society’s norms for decades, young women have been put under the pressure and anticipation to have perfect bodies. That is, thin and curved, beautified by applying pounds of the makeup to their face but not appear ridiculously overdone. Who’s responsible for these standards imposed on young women? When a young girl picks up the model along the cover of Vogue being called flawless, it’s easy for her to then aspire to be a real-life imitation of the photocopy. These companies produce magazine covers shown with girls’ images daily. As if keeping the perfect body wasn’t hard enough our culture also forces girls into the forever expanding world of composition, however, body image is a pressing issue for young women. Advertisements and posters of skinny female models are all over. Young girls not only could be better but need to be more upright and feel driven to throw the perfect figure. Moreover, girls are evaluated and oppressed by their physical appearances. With supplements and apparel designed to enhance a facial expression; social media, magazines, and marketing campaigns and advertisements add to the burden of perfection. The fashion industry is a prime object of body image issues, as they believe clothes look better on tall and svelte women. Established on a survey participated by 13 to 17-year-old in the U.S., 90% “felt pressured by fashion and media industries to be skinny”, with more than 60% routinely compares themselves to models, while 46%

Walking into the library at most high schools brings to the eye an array of fashion magazines in the front shelves. Most schools acknowledges that fashion has a large audience, but the skinnier and skinnier models have created a large group of people with eating disorders and bad self-images. In her article “What’s Wrong with Skinny?” that discusses eating disorders linked to the fashion industry, Lisa Hilton states that women are “so pathologically stupid that they are unable to distinguish the fantasy of the runway from the realities of their own bodies”. Fashion is something that many girls let influence them into changing how they dress, feel, and eat; the skinnier the models are (or are “retouched” to look), the more it supports eating

The media is one of the leading causes of self esteem and body image issues in not only women but men as well. This is due to the fact that thousands of advertisements contain messages about physical attractiveness and beauty. Examples include: commercials for clothes, cosmetics, weight loss, hair removal, laser surgery and physical fitness. The effects of advertising on body image have been studied by researchers, psychologists, marketing professionals and more. Researchers, Mary Martin and James Gentry found that teen directed advertising negatively impacts self-esteem. The advertising industry is setting unrealistic expectations for teens about their physical appearances by using models with "perfect bodies." The modeling industry today has put many pressures on models, causing them disorders of both mental and physical illness. These disorders then creating the look of the “perfect body” have now lead to unrealistic expectations of body image for society.

When Victoria’s Secret is allowed to have models prance around on screen but Lane Bryant Ads (lingerie for plus size women) is banned then there’s a problem. The media is portraying these models who are thin to the point where it is unhealthy. And the media is feeding society lies. A perfect example is of Gerran Tyler. Tyler was a 12 year old supermodel. She walks the run way for clients like Marc Jacobs, Calvin Klein, and Betsey Johnson. She’s tall, thin, the perfect model because she hasn’t hit puberty yet. She walked during New York Fashion Week and posed for these designer brands advertisements. This body type is unachievable for almost all adult women (Roberts). Somebody in their twenties or thirties doesn’t have the ability to look like a twelve year old girl, but this is how these designers are telling us to look. Tyler had an amazing career and high expectations but the fame didn’t last long. As she got older and hit puberty she began to develop boobs, hips, and curves. She began getting less and less bookings. Her supermodel career was virtually over. “Eighty percent of 10-year-old American girls say they have been on a diet” and the, “Number one magic wish for young girls 11-17 is to be thinner” (Missrepresentation). This self-esteem problem with young girls is a result of these unobtainable ideas of beauty. Jennifer Siebel, creator of the documentary Missrepresentation, says

Teens often feel flawed if their bodies do not match up to those of models and actors. Media’s portrayal of women is a mirror image of what society wants teenagers to look like. Advertisements often stress sexuality and the importance of being physically attractive in an attempt to sell products, however people are concerned that this is pressure on women to focus on their appearance.Photoshop and airbrush are currently at their extreme such programs have existed for removing minor imperfection such as stray hairs, the advancement in technology has made it possible to manipulate an image creating unrealistic perfection. Celebrities are airbrushed to perfection on their album or movie covers but it is not actually them. Aside from enlarging eyes,trimming thighs, and airbrushing away wrinkles, more dramatic measures are now taken Images were not inclined to the manipulation with Photoshop and airbrushing which create images as it is seen today. Magazines did not start airbrush and Photoshop their models until the 1980s. In the fifties, models like Marilyn Monroe would grace the weekly covers but they would have been seen as overweight by today’s

Because of the fashion industries portrayal of beauty in advertisements, a value system that focuses on looks and external beauty is built by the men and women that are exposed to them (Sheehan 108). Although the word "fashion" is often used in a positive sense, the Fashion Industry itself may have some significant negative impacts. Many studies connect the exposure to such advertisements and media coverage of thin models to women with a negative self-esteem and issues with body image. The images of women that are presented by the Fashion Industry, especially in magazines, represent an image that is nearly impossible to achieve. As a result, many women and even men turn to eating disorders in hope to become the image of beauty that has been created for them by the Fashion Industry and the media. So, it can be argued that sociologically, the Fashion Industry indeed has a negative impact on the values, self-esteem, and the perception of women and men such as listed below. factor

The two leading eating disorders are Anorexia and Bulimia. Pro-Ana, Pro-Mia, and Pro-ED are websites that invigorate our young girls to stay as thin as possible. One popular example would be “Thinspiration”, girls put up pictures of their thin bodies to inspire others to stay thin like them. These websites are a direct influence of the exposure to unhealthy, skinny models the fashion modeling industry is showing them. The modeling industry is supporting the idea of Pro-Ana and Pro-Mia by hiring underaged models who are unhealthily skinny. Two of Marc Jacob’s models who walked in his show were under the age of sixteen. The Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) released its new guidelines for models to prevent the development of eating disorders and shows concerns about young teenagers under the age of sixteen who walk down th runway. One of the horrifying results of the misleading fashion modeling industry would be the touching stories of the young models themselves who had become anorexic to perpetuate a body that is attractive to the modeling world. Bethany Wallace, a teenage cover girl model who appeared to have the world at her feet, died recently of anorexia and bulimia which she developed at the age of 16. Even the models that are already appreciated in the fashion modeling world

Teenage girls are constantly looking for someone to be their role model. They look in various places to find the person that they think will be the best role model. There are several things that teenage girls will look at when they are looking for someone who is going to be a role model. They will look for a person who has a good sense of style, some who has a pleasing appearance, and someone who they can find out a lot about. One person who seems to fit these items is Kim Kardashian. Teenage girls look up to Kim Kardashian in the way that she dresses, the way that she applies makeup, and the way that she behaves. They think that she is stylish, is a makeup genius, and is a great behavioral role model. They are able to know a

         Charles Barkley stands in a dimly lit gym with a basketball squeezed between his beefy hands. He is only filming a commercial. Or is he? As he looks squarely into the camera, he declares, " I am not a role model...I am paid to wreak havoc on the basketball court" (Smith 1). After he says this, a question begins to form in the minds of the viewers. Who, then Charles, should be a role model? Now, just because this is a commercial for a basketball shoe does not mean Charles Barkley does not have a reply floating around in that shiny bald head of his. He retorts, "Parents should be role models. Just because I dunk a basketball, doesn't mean I should raise your kids" (1). Whether many people care