Angels and Campaigns
Apparently the mass, commercial media is trying to convince us that the social media is ablaze with talk about the I'm No Angel campaign by Lane Bryant. Plus-size models are showing they are as sexy and beautiful as Victoria Secret's "angel" models.
These are attractive models, and anything that diminishes the power of Victoria's Secret unrealism is ok with me. But I can't say I am entirely comfortable with this "my plus sizeness is good."
Obesity is epidemic and I work at a college where a large proportion of the students are, well, large. I myself am overweight but many of my female students are much heavier than me, who is 40 years older. They can't walk up stairs and take the elevator. They eat very unhealthily. So what will happen in the future to them? Does a campaign that affirms overweight beauty help anyone, really?
I had a student give a speech on why she respected Marilyn Monroe, and it boiled down to the fact she was "fat." The "any size is beautiful" folks had convinced her that Marilyn Monroe, who was quite small, was "fat" by mistaken "curvy" for "fat." This student was maybe 50 pounds overweight, which isn't good for anyone. So, I can't get too excited about the supposed popularity of this campaign.
Which brings up another point, really. Just because something is tweeted by a lot of people doesn't mean that many people know about it or care. The twitterverse is not the real universe.
These are attractive models, and anything that diminishes the power of Victoria's Secret unrealism is ok with me. But I can't say I am entirely comfortable with this "my plus sizeness is good."
Obesity is epidemic and I work at a college where a large proportion of the students are, well, large. I myself am overweight but many of my female students are much heavier than me, who is 40 years older. They can't walk up stairs and take the elevator. They eat very unhealthily. So what will happen in the future to them? Does a campaign that affirms overweight beauty help anyone, really?
I had a student give a speech on why she respected Marilyn Monroe, and it boiled down to the fact she was "fat." The "any size is beautiful" folks had convinced her that Marilyn Monroe, who was quite small, was "fat" by mistaken "curvy" for "fat." This student was maybe 50 pounds overweight, which isn't good for anyone. So, I can't get too excited about the supposed popularity of this campaign.
Which brings up another point, really. Just because something is tweeted by a lot of people doesn't mean that many people know about it or care. The twitterverse is not the real universe.
Comments