It has already been the subject of many dissertations and debates whether models who are much thinner than the average woman are bad for women's self-esteem: the thinness dictated by the fashion world, which women face every day in the columns of various magazines, can drive them into anorexia and self-esteem problems. However, a new study seems to disprove this assumption and claims the exact opposite, namely that the pursuit of idealized beauty can actually benefit women's self-esteem. But is this really so? How has the ideal of beauty changed over the years and how have ordinary women tried to adapt to it?
Two American universities tested 37 women in three controlled experiments, in which they investigated how they react to different fashion and advertising photos. The results made it clear that the women's reaction depends solely on the presentation of the photos: either they loudly, almost cheekily, flash the non-existent perfection in their faces, or the divine beauty is subtly and discreetly fulfilled in front of them.
We don't fall for too much Photoshop
The reaction to idealized female beauty depends to a large extent on how it is represented to the recipient. When shown over-idealized, over-perfected women, the test subjects did not fall for it, in fact, they strengthened their belief in their own self-image as a defense mechanism.
The lesson of this case is none other than that the pictures of fashion magazines can indeed increase our self-confidence, even more so when the photos are completely obvious of Photoshop, the loss of eye shine.
The other case is when we are confronted with the ideal world imagined by magazines, subtly, completely unnoticed, without any artificial accessories. In such cases, doubt takes root in our brains and we immediately start to be dissatisfied with ourselves, which can even have more risky consequences.
By the way, the study is not new: a few years ago, pictures of celebrities posing naked were shown to ordinary women, and the testers observed similar reactions: it was proven that the women felt much better in their own skin after being confronted with that even celebrities are not perfect in real life, even if they are enviable on the covers of magazines.
Designers don't need 42 models
In order to maintain a he althy self-image, not a single designer is specifically against promoting his collection with models who are too thin. The plus-size model, Crystal Renn, shares a similar opinion, according to whom size 42 should be the standard size instead of 32. What Karl Lagerfeld and Anna Wintour would say to the suggestion is probably obvious, as is the fact that girls with a he althier self-image would probably be running on the street in this case.
The sad truth, however, is that in the fashion industry, designers are constantly moving towards smaller sizes, as it is much easier for them to fit a dress on a thin, flat girl than on someone who certainly has a bottom and breasts. Since the fashion world has the most intense formative power of the exterior, more than one measure and regulation have already been put in place to avoid sizes 32 and 34 becoming standard sizes - unfortunately with not very bright results.
According to Renn, it would be much easier for designers to work with larger girls. It would be a gift for a designer to make a dress for a size 42 girl. Smaller sizes, 36 and 38, could be used to compartmentalize the Danube, on the other hand, this is not the case with larger sizes. Not to mention that the clothes could easily be adapted for girls size 32 or 34, while this would not work otherwise.” While Renn dreams of a bigger size, designers still try to make the whole world a standard size 32. Although fashion houses such as Ralph Lauren have already realized that it is worthwhile to work with plus size models, fashion magazines have remained with the well-proven photoshop, which in the meantime is constantly increasing the number of websites supporting anorexia.
The British designer Caroline Castigliano has a similar opinion to Renn's, who, according to her, could not help but be horrified when, 3 weeks before her show at London Fashion Week, reed-thin models appeared one by one at her castings, the Daily Mail reported. "This is the first time in my 22-year career that I had difficulty finding eight girls who were he althy and in shape. Almost all of them had their spines, hip bones out, not to mention that they hardly had any breasts, despite trying to stuff them one by one bra. One of the girls wanted to be in the show so much that she put 3 stockings on her legs to make her look as cute as possible. The saddest part of it all is that these girls really believe that the fashion world requires them to be as thin as possible," said the designer, who only works with he althy girls aged 23-26, with a minimum size of 38.
„Supermodels like Cara Delevigne, Karlie Kloss or Jourdan Dunn represent a completely different ideal than the supermodels of the eighties and nineties, Claudia Schiffer, Elle Macpherson or Christy Turlington. I'm not saying that there aren't curvy and thin models these days, because there are, just think of Miranda Kerr or Rosie Huntington-Whiteley. They, on the other hand, are more of a rarity among skinny girls.
Although the current model ideals are indeed different from ten or twenty years ago, the main thing is how we relate to them. We don't have to decide who they are, why they look the way they do, but what they embody in our own perception and how we relate to them?
Although the results of the study may give cause for hope, the sad truth is still that out of 12 teenagers 5 suffers from severe anorexia due to chasing the self-image shaped by fashion magazines. How important are models in your life and how do we view them?