The other day I stumbled across an Aerie by American Eagle ad and noticed something unique- it seemed real. Every other ad in magazines is noticeably retouched, attracting minimal attention; however, the pictures that formed this ad were of real girls my age. I could tell that these photos had not been touched because these girls actually had curves. They weren’t photo shopped to resemble Barbie dolls, which was so refreshing to me.
American Eagle’s new campaign #aerieREAL encourages girls to feel good in their own skin. The campaign encourages girls to post pictures of themselves with #aerieREAL to be featured on the site. Promoting girls to be themselves is so important, especially for a generation plagued by so many eating disorders. Too often comparing themselves to the heavily retouched models in magazines, young girls feel that they aren’t good enough. Crazes like the “thigh gap” and “bikini bridge” all result from girls’ fixation on models. These fixations lead to eating disorders like anorexia and bulimia, which can plague them for the rest of their lives. Here at UVA, I encounter girls with these diseases every day. Maybe these girls wouldn’t feel the need to take such drastic measures to change themselves if the models portraying “ideal beauty” represented all shapes and sizes. Campaigns like #aerieREAL encourage change, and I hope to see other companies follow suit.