Fashionably Weight

My Facebook and Twitter timelines have recently been inundated with posts and updates about weight concerns within the Fashion Industry, as well as negative attitudes towards fashion and beauty advertising. The news over the past 20-30 years has been more about sensationalism than actual journalism, and it just keeps getting worse. I have struggled with these topics as well, working full time in this industry as an image maker. I can relate with the arguments from both sides, and I wanted to give my two cents for whatever it’s worth.

The weight issue in fashion has been a hotly debated topic for the past two decades. It began with the heroin chic look that rose to popularity during the nineties. While it is true that many models are underweight, to say that the modern average model size is underweight or anorexic is a false generalization. Models in fact, make up a very small percentage of the global population of women. It’s a funny statistic, but it’s true. You can’t compare all models to all women because it is an unfair comparison. The truth is a larger population of Americans are overweight. The majority of which may not be obese, but they are overweight. Yet instead of dealing with that truth, the news and media and America for that matter, decide to point the blame elsewhere, to redirect attention away from what we should be dealing with.

The most prominent article that has been floating around the internet in the past couple of weeks is a Plus Magazine editorial depicting an obviously underweight model next to an obviously overweight model. The accompanying article criticizes the fashion industry for endorsing unhealthy weight in “normal” sized models, yet say nothing about the fact that the other model is in fact, overweight. Is not the purpose of plus-sized modeling to promote clothing made for larger, overweight people? One of my favorite sayings is, “when you point your finger at someone, three fingers are pointing back at you.”

Perhaps the real question should be why the fashion industry should be held accountable for body image disorders such as anorexia and bulemia. Again, it is easier to point the blame at someone else rather than at the true source. I strongly believe that parents are responsible for the upbringing of their children. In the movie, The Crow, there is a great line delivered by Brandon Lee quoting William Makepeace Thackeray: “Mother is the word for God on the hearts and lips of all little children.” It is most unfortunate that today we rely on the media to dictate what is right and wrong, what we should feel about ourselves, how we should look, and what we should believe. This is obvious neglect from parents who should be teaching their children about self-esteem, good values, and even sex.

The purpose of advertising is to sell fantasy. It is in no way connected to reality. The job of the advertiser is to sell products to the consumer. In order to sell the consumer on products, they attach a pretend lifestyle attached to the use of that product. If you buy Versace clothing, you will be part of a luxurious lifestyle. If you buy a Mercedes, you will be part of an elite group of car owners. These are fantasies and again, it is the responsibility of parents to teach their children the difference between fantasy and reality, and more importantly, to police what is appropriate for their children to watch or read. What’s most frightening is the indifference the average American parent has today in regards to maintaining good communication with their children and handing off that responsibility to television and the internet.

Let’s take food advertising as an example. The images of food in ads and menus seldom look like the actual food served, yet that doesn’t get nearly as much negative press as fashion advertising. Processed food is advertised as being healthy for you, which is a complete lie. The FDA, a supposedly trusted government agency, promotes the Standard American Diet (SAD) which has single-handedly contributed to obesity in this country. They approve hundreds of drugs with serious and detrimental side effects to be prescribed by medical doctors, whom we trust to help us maintain our health. America is being poisoned by unnecessary medication and poor diet choices. The American Medical Association has taken a “one pill for every illness” standpoint instead of using proper nutrition to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Did they not take the hippocratic oath which clearly states, “Do no harm?” Hippocrates himself stated, “let food be thy medicine and let thy medicine be food.”

A trailer for an upcoming documentary entitled, “Killing Us Softly 4” which deals with advertising’s image of women has also gone viral on social media timelines. It lays blame on the media and advertising for shaping our attitudes towards sexuality in a negative way, stating that this is the cause for the rise in violence against women among other things. Advertising is held accountable for objectifying women and for dictating how we should feel about ourselves, how we should look, what is normal, and for instilling values. Again, why is America relying on an entity which sells fantasy to tell us how we should be in reality? As an artist, I view the world around me in terms of subjects, yes, you can even say objects, to capture and turn into works of art. This has always been the way for artists. However, I don’t display any propensity towards violence against women, nor do I have any false concepts on what is normal, what is real, or how I should feel about myself. What makes me different from the apparent majority of the population who fall victim to these things? Why is this a much larger problem in America than it is in other countries? Perhaps because here, parents don’t talk to their children openly about sexuality like they do in those other countries. Maybe because here, parents rely on oppressive, outdated religious beliefs to teach their children about attitudes towards sexuality. It seems the American attitudes towards sex is the real issue here.

Let’s place the blame where it belongs: within ourselves. It is ultimately our responsibility to maintain a healthy lifestyle, to take care of our environment, to treat each other well. Unfortunately it is far too easy to rely on religion, the government and the media to tell us what to do.

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