Role Models In Fashion

As a wise man once said, “To love yourself is to understand you don't need to be perfect to be good.” However young girls have so much pressure put on them to look in a way that is not only unrealistic but also unhealthy. As a result of this, young girls have a very negative body image and self-confidence.The problem is the unrealistic body standards that media and society have set for girls. According to SSCC, the average American woman is 5’4 and 140 pounds. There is a clear problem when the media is only advertising women that are 5’11 and 117 pounds, which is the average American model. Even though the body of a model is very rare and uncommon,girls are expected to look like they do. However, by promoting a positive body campaign, stopping the portrayal of fake and photoshopped models in the media, and expanding the diversity of models, we could lift unrealistic body standards and start accepting everybody as beautiful.

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.

Today, more than ever, teenage girls are influenced by magazines, billboards, television, movies, and most of all advertisements. While the advertisements of models that have been airbrushed to flawlessness may sell products, the effects on teen girls is undeniable. Over the past decade the numbers of depression, eating disorders, and hypersexuality in young girls has been steadily on the rise. False advertising in way of airbrushing, heavy editing, and photoshopping models has had negative effects on teen girls and according to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) policy, false advertisement is illegal. It may be stretching it calling photoshopping false advertising, but nonetheless manipulating young, impressionable girls into believing

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 the way many people look at themselves. In today’s society there is always an ad promoting fast food, clothing brands, Cars. Etc. almost all of them have a model to promote their products. These fashion models are usually, extremely thin, tan, tall, and gorgeous. This set a negative standard for many women on what they should look like and can often cause to self-esteem issues. The Media is having a negative effect on body image by choosing to settle toward an unrealistic persona. In Addition, this has created many young girls, to have eating disorders such as bulimia, anorexia, and fasting. However, some businesses have started gravitating toward plus size models to stop the affects it has on society. Plus, also many companies are limiting the amount of photo shopping and airbrushing. The issues are far from being resolved but numerous people are working toward making a change.

I am a teenager girl and I deal with the pressure of trying to have the perfect figure, clothes, and makeup. I look at magazine covers, I watch tv shows, I see models and I desire to look just like them. I understand that the pictures are photoshopped and that no one really looks like society displays them, but I still wish I could look like that. A couple of years ago, I modeled for Carolina Talent in Charlotte. The girls surrounding me were skin and bones. They had physical health problems due to their eating disorders. I never once considered not eating or dieting to lose weight. I have always been a fairly skinny person, I was even made fun of in middle school for being “anorexic”. When I told the kids at school that I was modeling a kid came up to me and asked me if I threw up after I ate. The atmosphere of modeling was not for me. I no longer cared about it, because I hated the image it was giving me. Women underestimate their own beauty. I think that society would be a much better place if everyone understood that someone else's beauty is not the absence of their

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%

Fashion is everything to society and the media, but everyone wants to look good while feeling beautiful in their own way. Everyone believes that fashion is an easy, fashionable, and sophisticated style. Today, the modeling industry has become negative for older and younger women. The people in the industry do not prefer unhealthy body images such as pictures of overweight women. Women suffer from depression and anxiety. The modeling industry has been very harmful towards women in America. It effects women by not achieving a healthy, being strong, and confident body image regardless of shape and size.

As defined by Merriam-Webster, the definition of Photoshop is as follows: “to alter (a digital image) with Photoshop software or other image-editing software especially in a way that distorts reality (as for deliberately deceptive purposes)”. Even the definition states that Photoshop distorts reality, yet girls still think that models have the ideal body image. The real reality is that models set an unattainable and unrealistic way for girls to look like. In “No Model For Girls” by Fiona Bawdon, the author explores how models and Photoshop can negatively affect adolescent girls body image. The author states that, “magazine images are routinely airbrushed: thighs slimmed, wrinkles smoothed and blemishes removed” (29). How are adolescent girls not supposed to feel self-conscious and compare themselves to models when, in with a touch of Photoshop, models can look skinnier, have a flawless face, and appear more beautiful? Another startling statistic that was in the same study conducted by Marium Javaid and Iftikhar Ahmad, was that “actresses and models had 10-15% less body fat whereas the average body fat for healthy women is 22-26%” (30). This displays just how extremely thin and unrealistic these models are. The body fat for a healthy woman is 22-26%, yet girls still see themselves as fat and continue to try and lose weight. This trend is growing more popular in today’s society, however, girls need to understand the importance of not comparing their own bodies to other people. It is an unnecessary and potentially harmful comparison to

The August 2011 issue of French Vogue sparked outrage for its photos of a ten-year old little girl wearing gold dress with a see-through bodice, stilettos and heavy makeup. This picture propped cries of “how young is too young” to model? (Cartwright)

On the contrary, they are encouraged by the “drop two-sizes” and the “7-day detox plan” headlines on the fashion magazines that intrude every grocery store check-out lane. We no longer think it is unorthodox that in 2012 alone, teenagers underwent over 236,000 cosmetic surgeries (American Society of Plastic Surgeons). Instead, teenage girls who wear brassieres size 30A or do not have protruding cheekbones are seen as defective beings, and if they do not spend their first paycheck—or their parents’ savings— attempting to replicate the so-called-perfect-image, will remain physically—and socially—inferior to the women the media considers beautiful.

Over the years a debate over who is to blame over the decline in how girls perceive themselves has arisen. With Photoshop being the societal norm concerning the media, it has become difficult for many to understand where the line between real and near impossible standards lies. Youths see an image edited to “perfection” and strive to reach the standards that they imagine due to the images displayed on magazines, television and social media. From Disney to magazines like Vogue the mass media bombards audiences with fake beauty that they, as normal people, will never be able to achieve. The mass media is responsible for causing the rise in the number of people with a poor body image, eating disorders, and cosmetic surgeries.

Imagine you are at home, watching tv. Flipping through the channels, you see a preview for next week’s episode of Toddlers & Tiara’s. They show the girls dressed in frilly, sparkly attire, fake teeth, fake hair, fake tans, and makeup that could transform their faces into someone in their 20’s. These children are usually misbehaving, disobedient, overdramatic and they are between the ages of four and six. Any person could see that this lifestyle is incredibly harmful to these children not just because of what it does to their appearance, but what happens when these little girls’ minds become tainted with the thoughts of needing to be beautiful and talented in order for people to like them. They also learn that being beautiful

Throughout the years, models have been progressively been getting skinnier. "Size 6 (UK size 10) was a normal size" (Littlejohn). There are many downsides to the super thin models of today. They cause unattainable standards of beauty for people which leads to eating disorders such as bulimia, anorexia, and binge eating. This is affecting models and teenage girls the most, peoples health is being sacrificed for "fashion", and it needs to stop.

Often times, women are pressured by the mainstream media to upkeep a stellar appearance. They are expected to measure up to high standards without question. Even before most girls reach puberty, commercials are bombarding them with small Barbie esque makeup kits filled with lip glosses and chalky eyeshadows. The impact it has on impressionable children, both girls and boys is something that will likely last a lifetime if unlearned. Cosmetic companies who are marketing to young ladies say they can simply improve their looks to gain acceptance from their peers if they use the products they are selling. The makeup industry is a multi million enterprise that makes a profit from women’s insecurities and amplified pressures from society as a common tactic many cosmetic campaigns use is to push women to embrace the ‘natural look’ by providing products that will make it appear as if the individual is not even wearing makeup. Companies will spout out that with these products, the end result will be ‘you, but better.’ It is somewhat of an underlying and slightly manipulating slogan, as if to say how a woman appears could be improved because it is lacking in the moment. This distorts how we all believe how a woman is suppose to look.