Now Vs. Then: The Sad Reality

Some of my previous blog posts have discussed the media's distorted portrayal these days of the "Perfect Body". I found this photo online and thought it was a perfect example. Be(YOU)tiful and fight to not fall captive to what society says you need to look like! You deserve a HEALTHY and happy life <3

Too Skinny?

Today as I was surfing through my Facebook newsfeed a post caught my eye, it said, "Dear world there's no such thing as "too skinny"...if you say it ur only trying to make urself feel better for the simple fact that you wish you wer that skinny so please lets not say that about ppl no-one is ever too skinny." I was devistated as I read this and thought about the hundreds of girls that would read it as well and how it may drive them even further into their eating disorder. The media and society today have created the idea that there is no such thing as too skinny and that is exactly what is destroying individuals lives today. The actual word skinny is now being used by marketers of all industries as they market skinny jeans, skinny water bottles, Skinny Girl Margarita and many more. There is no limit to skinny anymore and less weight is being portrayed as the ideal for society. How about we start filling our society with thoughts of having a healthy body weight and maintaining a good diet with balanced exercise without being excessive. What if for once, a size six was acceptable and a size zero was simply unattractive? I absolutely disagree with the statement, no-one is ever too skinny, I believe skinny is out of control and everywhere I turn people are in fact way too skinny. If you are reading this today and feel discouraged by society's pressure that you have to be as small as possible, please think again, you are SO much more than your dress size and you deserve to live a happy and healthy life. One of my favorite quotes is, "Why are you trying to hard to fit in when you were born to stand out." Please join with me as I go against the societal norms and stand out as a happy and healthy individual  that is known for much more than my dress size.

Speak Up!

I remember when first starting recovery for my eating disorder I was so embarrassed to tell anyone about my struggles and did not want to reveal this dirty little secret  to the whole world around me. I always made sure that I avoided the topic at all costs. However, the other day I received a message from a dear friend's mom and it it made me realize how thankful I am that as I progress through recovery I become more and more open about my past with my eating disorder. As a result I am able to transform a horrible experience in my life into something with a purpose. I believe that my purpose is to reach out to those around me that are struggling with eating disorders, share my story and help in anyway that I can. The message was speaking about a very young girl that confided in her that she had been struggling with an eating disorder. As I read the message, my heart sank and I began to cry just thinking of this young girl and the pain and struggle she must be facing. I replied and offered to meet with her and try and point her in the right direction and I do hope that can come to pass. When I put aside my own pride and concern of reputation and made the decision to try and help others through my own mistakes, the door was opened to so much opportunity to make a difference. The scripture verse that came to mind as I reflect over this story is, Romans 8:28 which states, "We know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose." God has a purpose for my life and wants to make something beautiful out of all that has happened in my past. He has a purpose for your life too and is just looking for a willing heart to surrender to Him and His plans, out of that so much blessing flows. If you are in recovery today, even if it's just the beginning stages, you can make a difference. Speaking up about your recovery and what you have learned along the way could change someones life.

Campaigns that Fight Back

I wrote a paper for my Mass Communications class recently concerning body image and stereotypes. I focused on the efforts that the Dove Campaign for Real Beauty is making to try and change the unhealthy stereotypes represented through our media today. I have attached the paper below. I hope as you read it, you are inspired in knowing that one of the most noted beauty product companies to date is making such a noted effort to make a change.

Stereotypes of Women’s Body Image: Dove Fights Back

In a world that is constantly bombarded with stereotypical images of females having to be thin in order to be accepted in society as being beautiful, Dove, a company renowned for its wide array of beauty products has decided to make a stand to break the mold with the emergence of their Campaign for Real Beauty. Since the start of the campaign, their mission has been to break the stereotypical norms of what media and society constitute as beautiful and promote women’s self-esteem by means of utilizing the media to project images of women that are stereotypically “big” or “wrinkly” and connecting them with ideologies of beauty and happiness in their advertisements. Through this, Dove has been working to recreate the stereotypes of female body image in the minds of today’s society by using the priming and unconscious effects of already-existing media as a weapon against it, ultimately redefining the societal standard of beauty as all-encompassing of all body types and increasing self-esteem within females.

            In the words of Potter, “Hollywood has created a standard of beauty that does not exist in nature” (Potter, 174). This standard of beauty for females involves being youthful, tall, extremely slender, big breasted, and having facial features similar to that of a Barbie doll. Women who fit within this stereotype have perfectly manicured nails, long and healthy hair, and bones protruding from their hips and collar bone which accentuates their thinness. It is the extremely thin nature of the stereotypical “beautiful” women than is most prominent. They are thin to a point which is nearly unattainable through healthy means of exercise and appropriate dieting. 

Unfortunately, this stereotype of women having to be extremely thin to be beautiful is nearly inescapable as is practically the function of media itself to perpetuate some stereotypes (Monahan). In today’s “peek-a-boo world” of media, society is constantly being ambushed by images from the media in an endless stream (Postman, 77). These images are extremely short and incoherent, forcing advertisers and other media creators to portray characters within already-built stereotypes in order to relay their messages effectively to audiences. The media has utilized the female body image stereotype as described previously in advertisements, television shows, movies, music videos, news broadcasting, and every other aspect of the media. This constant exposure to images of thin woman being associated with beauty consequently results in the priming of cognitive pathways, activating stereotypes of female body image (Perks).  

The public is impacted by these messages by means of subliminal advertising, or otherwise defined as “unconscious effects of advertising” (Potter, 200). This method of advertising is achieved when an advertised message is perceived by the public without them realizing it. Through this, advertising creates “worlds that do not exists and makes [the public] want to be a part of those worlds,” alternatively creating the perception that you can achieve instant beauty by using the advertised product or service (Potter, 200). This is misleading to the viewers because it gives them a false perception of themselves and establishes the belief that the advertised product or service is all they need to fit within society’s definition of beautiful instead of being their own kind of beautiful.

Since 2004, Dove has been working to redefine the female body image stereotype of “thin as beautiful” by means of flooding the media with images of people of all physical appearances as being beautiful and utilizing unconscious effects of advertising. In September of that year, research showed that only two percent of women considered themselves to be within the societal standards of beauty (Dove). After realizing how detrimental this statistic is to the self-esteem of women in today’s society all because of the female body image stereotype already in place, Dove made a vow to increase this percentage by means of a complete media revolution: the Dove Campaign for Real Beauty.

Their first action as media revolutionaries was the release of an advertising campaign that featured women of all physical body types: thin, heavyset, youthful, wrinkly, tall, short, and more. Dove then asked viewers to participate in a poll on their website that involved asking viewers how they would rate featured models on a scale from ugly to beautiful. The participants, who were actively involved in the interaction with others in the online discussion forum, seemed to experience positive psychosocial benefits” by expressing their concerns regarding “the media's practice of objectifying female bodies” (Kim). When their research coincided with the pre-existing research that sparked their campaign, they decided that they needed to take their campaign a step further.

The year 2005 marked the kickoff of the second part of Dove’s campaign with the launch of advertisements featuring “six real women with real bodies and real curves” (Dove). The campaign motivated thousands of women to visit the Dove Campaign for Real Beauty website where they discussed all the ‘dirty little secrets’ of topics pertaining to body image. Due to the fact that these images did not align with the images the public was already receiving unconsciously about the stereotypical female body, this campaign caused much debate over the idea that one must be skinny in order to be beautiful. This widespread debate and negative feedback did not hinder Dove’s campaign.

In 2006, Dove was motivated to continue their campaign after Spain banned overly thin models from its fashion runways (Dove). This paved the way for Dove to launch their compelling short film, Evolution, which represents the transformation of physical appearance that is done to a model with the use of photo editing software before the ad is released. This was an effort to “promote awareness of how unrealistic perceptions of beauty are created” (Dove). This short film exposed how advertisers create alternate and extremely fabricated perceptions of reality by utilizing the technology of today’s digital age. Within this same year, Dove launched the Dove Self Esteem Fund which was worked to reach girls and women in order to educate them about the real meaning of beauty. This was brought about through linking up with the Girl Scouts in the U.S. The Dove Self Esteem Fund launched a commercial representing this campaign ending with the quote, “We’ve created the Dove Self-Esteem Fund because every girl deserves to feel good about herself” (Wentz). These efforts created such an impact that Dove was named Advertising Age’s Global Advertising Campaign of the year award winner in 2006.

The year 2007 marked the third stage of the campaign when Dove realigned their focus to an older generation of women (Dove). This stage of the campaign “celebrated the essence of women 50+ [with] wrinkles, age spots, grey hair, and all. It was brought to life through a communications campaign created with internationally renowned photographer Annie Leibovitz” (Dove). In this manner, Dove reached above and beyond the youthful female population to be truly encompassing of all women. Along with this new advertising campaign, Dove created yet another short movie which represented the unrealistic messages and images that girls see in the media today concerning body image. This film along with the previous short film produced in 2006 showed the public how advertising techniques already in place reached women on an unconscious level, perpetuating the female body image stereotype of “thin as beautiful” in a manner that was completely unrealistic and falsified.

In 2010 Dove took the campaign to the next step and teamed up with the Girl Scouts of the USA as well as Girls Inc. and Boys & Girls Clubs of America (Dove). They have implemented the creation of educational programs and activities that encourage girls to love their body. It is their goal that in 2015 they globally have reached over seven million girls. In this manner, Dove is going beyond the normal means of advertising to reach out to the public and educate them not only in terms of media literacy, but in the love and acceptance of oneself. Working in this way with other already influential groups in order to make an impact has created a wave of influence on both the national and international levels.

The current year of 2011 marks the continuation of the Dove Campaign through their global study, The Real Truth About Beauty: Revisited (Dove). The results showed that “there is a universal increase in beauty pressure and a decrease in girls’ confidence as they grow older” (Dove). Likewise, it was emphasized that society and media only portray women who are youthful as being examples of beauty. These statistics are alarming and serve as motivation for Dove to continue their efforts in raising the self-esteem of women across the globe through the demolition of the preexisting body image stereotype in society.

Over the past eight years, Dove has worked through advertising campaigns, short films, foundations, co-sponsorships, and research in an effort to transform society’s standards of beauty among women in a more positive direction and greatly increase the self-esteem of all women. By way of breaching the public’s consciousness through their advertising efforts, they have made society more aware of the troublesome effects of stereotyping females as having to be thin and fit into one, specific physical mold in order to be considered beautiful. By showing images of women of all shapes, sizes, colors, ages, and personalities, they have redefined beauty as being a happy, unique individual who embraces her physical appearance as well as character.

Thanksgiving Reflection

As I reflect over the past week, I think through the time spent with my family and friends during Thanksgiving break. I truly think that for a person in recovery this is the most difficult holiday. To others Thanksgiving represents a time of gathering, feasting, and is something some look forward to all year. For someone in recovery the holiday represents everything that the ED tells them to go against such as, eating and connection with family and friends. For me, even a year of recovery under my belt, Thanksgiving becomes an internal battle, as the table is being set, the aroma of delicious food fills the house, and family arrives, my heart begins to race and thoughts flood my mind, "They're all going to be watching to see if I'm eating enough", "If only they knew how hard it is for me to eat this many fear foods at once", "If I say I don't want seconds, they're going to assume I still have my eating disorder", "What happens when I have to go to the bathroom after dinner, are they going to assume something else?". Obviously, these thoughts are planted by the eating disorder and need to be recognized and dealt with. How does one deal with this internal battle? I overcome mine with prayer, making sure I have solid communication,pacing myself as I eat my fear foods, reminding myself of how far I have come and at all costs avoiding the mirror that day. This Thanksgiving my family and I got into a fight, this did not help the situation any. I already felt huge, exhausted, and torn and then to be fighting with those I was trying to communicate with was very frustrating. Something I have learned through this all though, is regardless of circumstances you have to remain true to yourself and make sure you don't fall captive to the old way of thinking while engulfed by the eating disorder. In the end, YOU have to fight for your recovery, nobody can do it for you. The Lord has helped me as I fight for mine, who will you turn to as you fight for yours?

The Little Things

Recently I have been seeing post it notes around my campus saying things like , "You're beautiful", "Be YOU", and other positive sayings. These have caught my eye as I race past on my way to class and have offered a beacon of hope in this world saturated with messages that bombard us on a daily basis saying things such as, "You can never be too thin." The media has created a feeding ground for those with eating disorders and even a simple act such as placing a post it note on the wall in the hallway of your school could change someones day and maybe even someones life. Last year my school took part in a campus wide event where a group of about 30 students gathered together and with mirror markers and post it notes covered our entire school, every bathroom and every hall way with positive messages about body image. I remember the positive feedback received from the movement and when I saw the post it notes this semester again I was reminded that it's the little things that can make a huge difference. Whether it be lending a listening ear or even just posting a simple note you could be saving a life. Don't forget to reach out to those around you. You CAN help change the world today.

I found this advertisement online which is advertising a contact that helps individuals with eating disorders. The advertisement caught my attention because the message it is sending is so true. Often times individuals judge those with eating disorders saying, "You're so skinny, why can't you just see it?" The factor that they seem to forget, however, is that eating disorders are mental illnesses, they send negative and false messages to the person viewing themselves. I remember weighing my lowest weight but when I looked in the mirror all I saw was fat. It was interesting because the only difference day to day that I recognized is where the "fat" I saw clearly was positioned. Some days I would feel as if my legs were big while the next I thought my face was big and chubby. The mirror is an individual with an eating disorder's worst enemy. The mirror deceives and allows the brain to send wrong messages eventually leading to eating disorder behaviors becoming worse. When I saw my eating disorder doctor for the first time he gave me a string and he had me measure out how large I believed my waste line to be. He then took the string and placed it around me, it resulted in excessive additional string. I had perceived my waste line as being 2 times bigger than it actually was. This just goes to show how much the eating disorder distorts one's image of themselves. The next time you go to look in the mirror, consider the fact that the eating disorder is screaming lies at you the whole time and that you're probably only half the size of what you believe you are.