fat barbie ad
So, I know we have already touched on the ramifications of societal views regarding self-image, but I felt the need to readdress the issue with this article. Also, as the author of my own article, I must understand that for every individual on the planet, there is a separate opinion on weight issues--it's not as simple as a two sided or four sided argument. To say that we have discussed the issue in class is to say that pouring a bottle of Fiji in the ocean is working to purify our planets water. If you haven't opened the link yet, please take a second to do so. I would have posted the pic directly into this article, but the link was the best I could do (BTW... I accidentally typed "oink" instead of "link" and even though it is the antithesis of what I'm trying to say, it made me giggle a lot).
I previously saw an episode of Oprah where they were discussing the effects of the internet on young girls with eating disorders. A specialist on the show was saying that the web sites they visited headed banners that proclaimed, "Skinny Feels Better Than Food Tastes" and "When I Feel Hollow, I Feel Whole" among other mantras that encourage young girls, in particular, to continue on their journey to become anorexic. Let me note that I do not recommend visiting those articles or sites because, according to a guest of the show, they are usually monitored by authorities to intercede for youth in trouble.
This ad depicts the opposite of that broadcast by helping show women that they can be happy in their bodies however they are built and it seems to encourage them to shop in this mainstream retail front, yet we have now banned the ad from running.
This mixed message that is being sent out is likely a source for the confusion and pressure put on our youth about weight issues. There is constant barrage of conflicting ideas that hammer at our society and reinforce our stigmas and insecurities.
My family has a big issue with weight (OK, that pun was somewhat intended), so I can empathise with people battling this issue. In my own life I have been everything from a 29 inch waist to a 38 and back to a 32 inch waist within a 2 year time frame. The need to be healthy is a far and distant afterthought amidst the struggle to be accepted as an individual. When do we stop the fight to be popular? When do we stop picking at each other over looks and start joining together as a race that prefers people to be fit, not thin? There is a battle against depression, obesity, anorexia, and many other compulsions... but is the battle waged because we want to be healthy as a society or because we want the popular girl in class to finally be nice to me? Will our descendants revere us as the turning point when humans evolved into the healthy, improved us, or will we just blend into part of the problem?
We ask each other, "Why is this such a big debate?" or "why does Texas have the highest obesity rate in the world?", but our media hammers these issues into our brains at a very young age. And aside from the media (personally, I didn't watch TV growing up), too many times food is no longer a means to sustain ourselves, but replaces emotional losses within our psyches. How many millions of weigh issues stem from split homes or child abuse; maybe drug abuse, or maybe it's the anorexic girl who is already popular? When did the shift occur from "hunters and gatherers" into tee shirts that say "Hand over the chocolate and nobody gets hurt"?
Could it be that the media is just doing what most business owners do best? They cater to their audience. Maybe instead of fixing the advertisers who are just trying to make a paycheck, we need to examine our internal issues first and let the media cater to the new improved us.
I can't agree more that food is more than a means of survival in this society, at least not for the majority of people. As the mass media industry grew in the past decade, people has been paying more attentions on food, and a great variety of food products have been crated. I know friends eat when they are sad, I know friends eat when they feel happy. I think whether someone is over weight has a lot to do with his/her self control too.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I think mass media has a far larger part in the current weight problem than most give it credit for. Media plays a huge part in shaping the eating habits of Americans, especially those of our children. For example, McDonalds sinks several billion dollars a year into advertising their products, making them seem fun and delicious. (And they need that advertising to stay in business--the quality of their food alone is not enough to bring in new customers, in my opinion.) And so, our children grow up gorging themselves on fatty, unhealthy foods, which they believe is the normal state things should be. By contrast, their has never been a focus on promoting healthy eating through media. Perhaps this is another factor that needs to change?
ReplyDeleteThis is neat. Taylor's post this week was a hidden image in an album cover, and it made me think about how much subliminal advertising we are subject to everyday. Some things just become so commonplace in our minds because we see them all them time.
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