Plus size?

Ok, let’s get one thing straight: idolizing of body images has been going on ever since the first human learned how to draw a stick figure on the cave wall. From the Venus of Willendorf to The Birth of Venus, and all the odalisques that came after. Society has always had an ideal of beauty, and that ideal was almost always a woman figure after the Greek trend of muscular boys died out. It seems almost natural that every form of society has such an ideal. So why are we so concerned about how advertisements portray women today?

What this argument doesn’t consider is the unique situation present today that had no parallel in any other historical era. Information, mainly images, has never been so easily accessible or distributable as today. Billboards, internet, TV and much, much more. These are not just pictures hanging in an art gallery that only a few select groups of people might see, but viewable to everyone. Every gander, every race and every age group. When seeing an idolized image that often, its message stops being: “Oh, look how pretty this looks!” 

But rather: “You should look like that.”

That is why the major outcry over Cosmopolitan labeling a perfectly healthy model as “plus-size”. 

There is a theory why advertisement is the way it is, especially in the beauty industry. Many of you might have heard about it, but considering Cosmopolitan’s actions it is still worthy of being addressed. There is a lot of money to be made off of people unsatisfied with their looks. Cosmetics, clothing, dieting aids… All to help people achieve their dream of looking just like that (photo-shopped) lady on the poster. And if you make that image harder to obtain that the damn crown jewels of England, the more distort people will buy your product with magical slimming, rejuvenation or “health” effects. Misery makes money.

Thankfully, there seems to be a turn of the tides, as the internet also gives the people the chance to express their disapproval.