With the hype about last week’s annual Victoria’s Secret show, I couldn’t help but feel it was just a little bit outdated. I suspect that this has something to do with the shifts in the media’s representation of women’s bodies over the past couple of years. With an influx of fuller body shapes in the fashion and entertainment industry, the world has made way for the likes of Ashley Graham, Amy Schumer, and as much as I hate to admit, the beloved Kardashians.
Of course, make no mistake, this is not to say that being slim and having the body of literally any of the Victoria’s Secret angels is not still considered almost universally desirable, but it is no longer heralded as the only beautiful body type for women.
Outspoken funny woman Amy Schumer frequently makes digs about the ridiculous body standards that women feel forced to adhere to, with content like this:
In this short skit, Amy sheds a humorous light on the difficulties of shopping for larger sizes. You can watch the full video here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tw7xu2pZePw
Model Ashley Graham has been an active advocate of body acceptance. Whilst fronting H&M’s Autumn/Winter campaign, she said that she hoped people would be ‘reminded that there is not one standard definition of beauty or one perfect size.’
And if Kim Kardashian’s numerous nude posts on social media are anything to go by, she isn’t afraid to flaunt her assets.
However, while all this may be a breath of fresh air for girls and women across the world, we shouldn’t get too swept up by all this just yet. As with all things in life, there are important issues that we should be cautious about.
Many of you probably remember Meghan Trainor’s hit song ‘All About That Bass’ that caused her to shoot into the spotlight. The song preaches body acceptance and loving yourself just the way you are.
But then you hear some lines like this:
‘Yeah, my momma she told me don’t worry about your size She says, boys they like a little more booty to hold at night’
and…
‘I’m bringing booty back Go ‘head and tell them skinny b**** that’
While the song claims to promote body acceptance with the curvier women, it knocks ‘skinny’ girls down to do so. Furthermore, it perpetuates the dangerous idea that women’s bodies are a fad, a sexual object and something that should be changed to the meet the standards of men. Women come in all shapes and sizes, and it’s time for people to accept that. So, yes, it is great that curvy women are finally being accepted in mainstream media, but in raising them up, there’s no need to bring anyone else down.
Another area that I feel needs to be addressed is the health implications. For many people, this is a non-issue. But being on extreme ends of the weight spectrum is obviously very dangerous and not something that should be advocated.
Tess Holliday is a size 26 model who, like Ashley Graham, has used her modelling success to support fuller bodies.
While it may seem hypocritical to bring size into this after my previous spiel, it cannot be ignored that Tess’ size is likely to have serious health implications. The problem is that Tess promotes this as a healthy size rather than a celebration of diverse bodies in the media, while there is no doubt that there are many problems associated with obesity including, but not limited to; diabetes, heart disease and cancer. For a more comprehensive list please see here: http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/Obesity/Pages/Introduction.aspx
It may not be my place, nor anyone else’s, to dictate to someone how they should live their life. However, it is concerning that people like Tess are encouraging a dangerous lifestyle to other people. This is not to say that people who are slim aren’t unhealthy. Nonetheless, the problems associated, or brought about by obesity, should be taken seriously.
The final message here is that, while body acceptance and positivity is great, we also need to be conscious about the health implications of all body shapes and remember that body acceptance should extend to all.
Edited by: Amy Hawthorne
Sources
Wired Jersey http://wiredjersey.com/body-acceptance-week-at-montclair-state/
Style Caster http://stylecaster.com/amy-schumer-size-12-sketch/
Comedy Central https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tw7xu2pZePw
WordPress https://lauracardi.wordpress.com/tag/meghan-trainor/
Harpers bazaar http://www.harpersbazaar.com/fashion/models/news/a17103/ashley-graham-hm-studio-fall-2016/
MTV http://www.mtv.com/news/2055600/taylor-swift-meghan-trainor-title-number-one-album/
NHS http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/Obesity/Pages/Introduction.aspx