As we know, women are expected to be super skinny. We are bombarded constantly with images of unhealthy, underweight,and malnourished pop icons. These are the women that we are supposed to look up to and idolize. Obviously this is not what the vast majority of women look like. If this is the minority, why is our popular culture obsessed with this body image? Pop Culture defined by Zeisler, is “any cultural project that has a mass audience”. This image is so engraved in our minds as the sought after image. Young girls are starving themselves and going on diets when in reality, they could be healthy young girls. This could be happening because it is “the way we define ourselves as individuals”(Zeisler,4).
The reason why I decided to discuss weight issues on my first blog entry is because of the recent talk of Demi Lovato getting fat. She recently appeared at the VMA's this year looking healthy and all anybody could talk about was how she has gotten fat. Excuse me? I honestly wouldn't consider her fat at all.
Media has done women a disservice because although Lovato is ridiculed about her weight she is probably still well below national averages are for what a woman weighs. There are numerous women in media that are considered obese that are still beautiful, intelligent ground breaking women. A lot of media is hyper-focused on a woman's size. For instance, Adele is another amazing performer. Yet every time I read something about her in an article, there always seems to be something about her weight mentioned.
Media has done women a disservice because although Lovato is ridiculed about her weight she is probably still well below national averages are for what a woman weighs. There are numerous women in media that are considered obese that are still beautiful, intelligent ground breaking women. A lot of media is hyper-focused on a woman's size. For instance, Adele is another amazing performer. Yet every time I read something about her in an article, there always seems to be something about her weight mentioned. I think it is our responsibility as consumers and viewers of pop culture that we work together to break these molds. We must not criticize someone for being famous and having womanly curves, but embrace her for being healthy and not falling victim to the Hollywood stereotype. We must support the one's who are being originators and not following the crowd. We must not fall victim to conforming with what pop culture is telling us to look like. We need to feel comfortable in our skin. Healthy is key.
No comments:
Post a Comment