Self-image is distorted by socially contracted ideas of beauty. Those beauty ideas are often presented by media and especially by the fashion industry. The beauty model right now is “thin and symmetrical” and moreover “no curves”, as if the modern woman has to be gender-less in order to be attractive. But why? About a third of the world is overweight (in 2014 a survey revealed that more than two billion people are obese or overweight worldwide) and in the United States, in particular, only the 5 percent of women share body type similar to the models’.
Why is the norm to be extremely thin and flat? That’s because it is very rare to be like that -while you are still healthy. That means that you should always run a never-ending marathon to be thin in order to be pretty. And who gets the profit out of this? Corporations.
“The negative body image that contributes to disordered eating and eating disorders is likely to be solved until sexism is expunged and women are no longer taught that their appearance is paramount.” writes Tansy Hoskins in the “Anti-Capitalist Book of Fashion”.
Adding up to that, in response to the annual Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show taking place this week, two sisters in New Jersey staged an Anti-Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show, featuring twenty-one women of all shapes and sizes in an effort to promoted body positivity. The event was so successful that they plan to do it again next year and turn their movement into a non-profit organization. Check out the video below, it is empowering.
