The Dehumanization Of Women In The Fashion Industry

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.

Fatema Mernissi’s essay “Size 6: The Western Women’s Harem” shares her experience when she enters a department store in New York and is told she is too big when she can’t find a skirt her size. After being told she is too big, Mernissi continues on to question the sales lady. The sales lady then tells her that being a size six is a “normal” size. Immediately, it is noticeable that Mernissi isn’t too fond with the sales lady comment. The theme in Mernissi’s essay is the idea of women accepting the fact that men and society tell them how they should look in order for them to be beautiful. For example in the essay Mernissi questions as to why women accept this and how exactly does this work. By this, Mernissi shows her concern as to why women not only accept it, but also practice it.

I grew up reading magazines and gawking over waistlines and standards of beauty that I believed were normal. I can remember the first time I watched the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show. It was from a treadmill at the gym. I believe that I could achieve that body from hard work and dieting, but it took years to realize that could never happen. Those women are genetically blessed and they are born to have these types of careers. I believe that this trend of objectifying women is extremely harmful, and shows women that they can never achieve an unrealistic standard of beauty set by the media.

(HELGA DITTMAR, 2004) The National Eating Disorders Association reported that twenty years ago, the average model weighed 8 percent less than the average woman (129 pounds vs. 140 pounds). Today, the average woman is 160 pounds and the typical model weighs 23 percent less (123 pounds). (National Eating Disorder Association, 2009) This may not seem like a huge jump, but for a 5'10" woman (a typical model height), 129 pounds equals the 18.5 BMI cut-off and 123 pounds is underweight. Keep in mind that these are averages; the unsaid reality is that young women in the industry are often encouraged to lose "ten pounds." Go on “starvation diets” undergo surgeries. Too often young women in the industry shrink under insecurity and pressure to maintain an ideal size that is not realistic for their own bodies, it is even worse as they mature because agencies want them to maintain the same body weight they had at age sixteen which should not be. Research has shown that more than 72 percent of women in the United States alone wear a size 12 and above. (Corrigan, 2013) Fashion brands are supposed to project a more accurate image of what women look like, why are we still using size zero models to advertise products? If the customers on average are bigger, brands should use more realistic, diverse looking models.

The ideas that society has put in our minds is that a woman has to be slim, look perfect and always be ready for a photoshoot. All of the women in this movie trailer have a very similar body type, these women are all slim, tall and beautiful which shows that the movie industry has narrow vision.” The beauty of the woman as objects and screen space coalesce; she is no longer the bearer of guilty but a perfect product, whose body, stylized and fragmented by close-ups, is the content of the film and the direct recipient of the spectator’s look,” (Mulvey, 2006, p. 349). The idea of a women being able to stay fit as well as being on top of all the modern fashion trends, and looking ‘perfect’ is very unrealistic. This is portrayed in the movie trailer when the one mother played by Mila Kunis is in a workout class or when her and her friends are having conversation in regards to her bra. When it comes to women’s careers they are expected to wear appropriate clothing that portrays them as professional, this allows them to be respected in the workplace. “The contemporary economy depends right now on the representation of women within the beauty myth,” (Wolf,1991, p. 18). Society continues to push the ideology that all women have to be the same size and dress certain ways in the workplace through different methods of media including movie

Multiple research studies exist regarding the issue of how the ideal body portrayed by the Fashion Industry affects women and their body image. The purpose of this paper is to address the negative effects that these slender-figure standards have on women. The following will analyze some of the factors that contribute to negative body image and low self-esteem, the analysis will begin from how the ideal body has changed through the years; from being possible to attain in the past until reaching the current point, where it is unattainable without having to use unhealthy behaviors. By analyzing and interpreting these factors the intention is to answer the question about “What are the negative effects that “size” in the Fashion Industry has on

In “The Fashion Industry: Free to be an Individual” by Hannah Berry, Hannah emphasizes how social media especially advertisements pressure females to use certain product to in order to be considered beautiful. She also acknowledges the current effort of advertisement today to more realistically depicts of women. In addition, these advertisements use the modern women look to advertise products to increase women self-esteem and to encourage women to be comfortable with one’s image.

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

A new study in the NCA’s Communication Monographs discovered that when women, who were hocked up to a heart monitor, viewed images of other women with the same or similar body type to their own. There were more reports of body positivity and less social comparison. While there is more growing awareness of plus-size models there is also starting to be more demand for plus-size clothing in more styles. When a heavier set woman goes to flip through a magazine and all they see is skinny models being portrayed as beautiful and smart, yet this starts to take a mental toll on them. Thoughts of self-discrimination can lead to low self-esteem issues. To help with these thoughts fashion industries have now started putting plus-size women on their runways, such as the Lane Bryant’s #ImNoAngle and Dove’s Real Beauty campaigns.

“Society tells girls how to look and how to act and that’s not good at all” “On late night talk shows people are more likely to hear about how thin Nicole Richie is then a fat joke abouthow heavy Queen Latifah is.” “Ideals of beauty change some what over time, but the simple fact is that proponents of plus-size preference have failed to convince America that fat is beautiful.”

Society as a whole has been immensely effected by the social realm. In the fashion world, it is media that creates the trends and genres of different types of clothes. This is seen as an identity. The fashion world markets their clothes to society thru the media. Using various sources such as, television, internet, newspaper and magazines. However there is a dark side to this industry. Today's society faces controversy about women's body figured. Size zero has become a behemoth fad in the modeling world. The size zero topic has caused a revolution, women around the world trying to enter the modeling industry are now harming their bodies in countless ways in order to achieve the "ideal" body. Women today face a lot of criticism about their appearances due to the superficial ideology created by the media.

In the United States woman can suffer from identity issues. In the year 2016 the first plus size model was shown on the cover of the swimsuit edition of Sports Illustrated named Ashley Graham. Ashley Graham comes from the white ethnic background. As the issue was talked about on multiple radio and TV stations, African American woman have been speaking on this matter. A woman, Chantelle Nunes Norman, who is an African American woman posts “She's a perfect size in the African American community. It's a real shame that a lot of whites consider a starved looking woman attractive, I think she is beautiful at this size and would look sickly if she were skin and bones (Feldon)”. Many issues can come around this logic. One of the main

Lauren Greenfield is a photojournalist that created the expose, Girl Culture, in 2002. Elline Lipkin says in her article “Girls’ Body’s, Girls’ Selves”, “The girls in Greenfield’s photos often see themselves as too thin, too fat, not stylish enough, too trendy, attractive or ugly or desirable or hideous” (596). When advertisements use edited or photoshopped images to sell a product it causes effects like what is seen in Greenfield's images. Advertisements make consumers believe that their products will make them more desirable. When that product doesn’t have that effect it makes the customer believe that something is wrong with them. Queue the, “Honey does this dress make me look fat?” This is especially harmful to younger girls that are more likely to be insecure about their bodies and try harder to fit in. It can even go so far as to cause eating disorders such as anorexia nervosa or bulimia nervosa. The media puts out images of extremely thin and fit women which can only be achieved by digital editing and photoshop. The young girl flipping through the magazine has no idea that the pictures she’s seeing aren’t real and aren’t achievable and it ruins her self image.

Basically, the media is doing nothing but using subliminal messages. The way they portray the models in magazines, it only confuses a human’s mind. This makes them believe that they must look like them to be considered beautiful. Often in magazines, when positive values, success, love, and happiness, a thin person is shown. This not only completely lowers a “healthy”, or a plus sized person’s self-esteem, but the media also tries to make it seem as if in order to be happy and successful, a person must be skinny (Piazza). Every day, companies come up with a new beauty product, or a new diet product to leer someone into buying it to make themselves beautiful. New products every day completely sets aside the idea that natural beauty is already beautiful enough. According to the media, though, people need these products to look more humane, or look younger and thinner. The media also using editing and

More recently, Sports Illustrated model, Kate Upton whom is a size 4, is now considered a plus size model and deemed to be “too curvy”. In the United States the “normal” sized woman is between the size of 6 and 10. Most of us do not understand why some put themselves through so much anguish to satisfy these body image complexes. Back in the 1950’s, models were