RIP Self-Esteem?
The initial purpose of the Victoria's Secret Angels was to create models for women who embraces their sexuality and feel comfortable in their own skin; but the outcome was close to the exact opposite. The purpose was supposed to be a correlation of real-world women, but how can they represent the real-world when these models, in reality, are far from it?
 |
| Source |
"It's all about creating the illusion of this amazing body on the runway," Selita Banks, a Victoria's Secret model, tells New York Daily News. "People don't realize that there are about twenty layers of makeup on my butt alone."
The Victoria's Secret fashion show is an annual event dreaded by most females due to the manner in which it not only displays women, but the numerous displays of unattainable physical features which are valued by society. It's hard not to have an immediate drop in self-esteem while watching this fashion show, which over 9.3 million viewers tuned into.
This subject may seem beautiful, but when it comes to the real effects on people, it's not that pretty. One VS fashion show alone can cause numerous detrimental effects.
In a featured Body Image Journal, US academic Joan Chrisler analyzes 977 tweets sent during the airing of the 2011 Victoria's Secret fashion show. The results were astonishing.
About one in ten tweets were negative expressions of self-comparison with comments about body image, eating disorders, weight, desires for food and alcohol, and, sadly, mentions of urges of self-harm.
Chisler's search and analysis uncovered tweets such as, "time to starve because VS fashion show is the 10th!" and "nothing can make me feel so inferior as a woman than looking at pictures of VS models." It gets even worse Additional tweets like, "time to slit my wrists" and "Just wondering how many girls are committing suicide after watching the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show," were also discovered.
These tweets are just the beginning of the hundreds more. The motive behind the Victoria's Secret fashion show is questionable simply because of the fact that it continues to occur. After all of these effects -- like comments about self-starvation, feelings of intense inferiority and self-harm -- it's obvious that the shows may be totally destroying the self-esteem of people everywhere; and the benefits?
The Victoria's Secret supermodels visually fit the standards of society, therefore, they may be thought of as "perfect." So, the inevitable question lies, "Why can't I be perfect?"
The issue with this is that they're not "perfect." Withstanding the fact that there is no such thing as perfect, these models do not exactly define "natural" appearance-wise. Victoria's Secret Angels spend hours on end in the hair and makeup chairs while the pictures they pose for are heavily Photoshopped.
A Victoria's Secret model, Cameron Russell, admitted her guilt about her career.
"I'm not promoting anything totally unhealthy because I'm not unhealthy. But I am promoting an ideal that's not attainable, and for that I have to feel guilty. I have to assume some blame for that," Russell told Nightline.
In a featured Body Image Journal, US academic Joan Chrisler analyzes 977 tweets sent during the airing of the 2011 Victoria's Secret fashion show. The results were astonishing.
About one in ten tweets were negative expressions of self-comparison with comments about body image, eating disorders, weight, desires for food and alcohol, and, sadly, mentions of urges of self-harm.
 |
| Source |
These tweets are just the beginning of the hundreds more. The motive behind the Victoria's Secret fashion show is questionable simply because of the fact that it continues to occur. After all of these effects -- like comments about self-starvation, feelings of intense inferiority and self-harm -- it's obvious that the shows may be totally destroying the self-esteem of people everywhere; and the benefits?
The Victoria's Secret supermodels visually fit the standards of society, therefore, they may be thought of as "perfect." So, the inevitable question lies, "Why can't I be perfect?"
The issue with this is that they're not "perfect." Withstanding the fact that there is no such thing as perfect, these models do not exactly define "natural" appearance-wise. Victoria's Secret Angels spend hours on end in the hair and makeup chairs while the pictures they pose for are heavily Photoshopped.
A Victoria's Secret model, Cameron Russell, admitted her guilt about her career.
"I'm not promoting anything totally unhealthy because I'm not unhealthy. But I am promoting an ideal that's not attainable, and for that I have to feel guilty. I have to assume some blame for that," Russell told Nightline.
No comments:
Post a Comment