Beauty: All shapes and sizes

By Daniella Lopez

 

In the 1992 best seller, The BeautyMyth, Naomi Wolf argues that the media- manufactured notion that beauty comes in one size and shape – tall, thin, blonde – is in fact a myth.

Beauty comes in many different forms.

 

SMU is celebrating the 3^rd Annual Love Your Body Campaign, which launched Oct. 29. Clair Florsheim, SMU dietician, says the original idea behind this campaign was to promote National Eating Disorder Awareness Week.  T

Then the campaign was reorganized to include more SMU divisions: Applied Physiology, Wellness Department, Memorial Health Center, Women’s Center, SMU Fitness, and SMU Dining. Together they developed the Love Your Body campaign, which focuses on the broader idea of promoting positive body image.

 

The main focus of the campaign was to take a step back from the negative messages that surround students, faculty and staff, and redirect their thoughts to f their own health and happiness.

 

In promotion of a positive self, body-image classes were ofered all week at Dedman Center for Lifetime Sports, and a symposium on Nov. 1 offered individuals the opportunity to share their own struggles with body image.  Speaker Beatriz Rios-McKee told the group, “I don’t believe that we are born with it [negative body image]. It’s something that comes along in life, and we take this negativity and hang on to it.”

History of Beauty

Advertisements, magazines, and TV have dictated beauty for many years. The images shown of women and teens, in particular, are viewed as what women should strive to look like.

Advertisements suggest that a product can make you look like a certain image, and strive for an unattainable look.

Currently, the average size of women is 14. Marilyn Monroe was the ideal figure in the 1950s, and while reports vary on her dress size, most say she was between a size 10 and 12. Now the fact that the average size of a woman in the United States is not far from a 12, why is everyone striving to be a size zero?

In addition, today clothing outlet stores cater to sizes below 14. Who would feel good if a store didn’t carry your size because you were too big?

Here are some statistics according to Plus Model magazine (via Fashionista):

• Twenty years ago the average fashion model weighed 8 percent less than the average woman. Today, she weighs 23 percent less.

• Ten years ago plus-size models averaged between size 12 and 18. Today the need for size diversity within the plus-size modeling industry continues to be questioned. The majority of plus-size models on agency boards are between a size 6 and 14, while the customers continue to express their dissatisfaction.

• Most runway models meet the Body Mass Index criteria for anorexia.

•   While 50 percent of women wear a size 14 or larger, most standard clothing outlets cater to sizes 14 or smaller.

Models vs. Celebrities

While models are considered to be skinnier than ever, many agencies are working hard to defy the stereotype of the anorexic model.

“Not everyone can be a model; you have to have the right body type,” says up-and-coming fashion model Amelia Thomas from Newport Beach, Calif.

Designers’ clothes are meant to fit these types of figures, and the models’ job is to show off the clothes. Each designer has a specific look, and knows what type of model wears his or her clothing the best.

Modeling agencies do not force their models to be rail thin. They want them to look healthy, and if an agency suspects an eating disorder, Thomas says, “I could lose my job.”

Thomas says the agency decides which type of modeling your “look” is best for. For example, she fits the high fashion European market because of her extremely tall and slender figure.

Tammy Theis is the director of Wallflower Management, a Dallas-based modeing agency.   “Beauty comes in all shapes and sizes,” she says. “The fashion industry likes tall and thin because that body type makes a great clothes hanger, fits sample sizes and makes an impression on a big runway where the people in the back row can see
too.”

Theis also emphasizes that the young models she works with are growing fast, and she does see them eat chicken fried steak and fries at times. When they get older they will have to take better care of themselves.

Celebrities on the other hand, have recently been shown flaunting their curves. It seems like a rebellion of women saying that they are shaped the way they are, anHollywood and the media are not going to change that.

Sofia Vergara, Christina Hendricks, Christina Aguilera, and Kim Kardashian are just a few celebrities who flaunt their curves.

Alteration of Women

Woman in advertisements have been altered and Photoshopped to have an impossible body shape or flawless complexion.

PhotoShop has created an unattainable beauty — women with no pores, flawless skin and perfect figures.

According to Theis, fashion is a world of fantasy and people should know that these images are manipulated to an extent to create this fantasy. She suggests that young woman should be taught that eating right and being healthy is crucial, and, of course, woman need to stop bashing themselves.