Every woman has the desire to be appreciated and being told that they are beautiful. However, certain advertisements have often depicted beautifully as ” being slim.” This has resulted in most plump ladies feeling worthless or less attractive hence instituting different measures geared towards gaining the ideal body shapes that the world desires. One way such women have achieved this is by reducing the consumption of specific vital nutrients that are crucial for their survival and wellbeing (Percy & Lautman, 2019). As we all know, the consumption of all nutrients is an important aspect; as a result, reducing their consumption below the minimum required levels may result in a person suffering from various medical conditions, including mineral deficiencies, among others. Today’s advertisements and music are among the contributing factors pushing many women to develop certain eating disorders to attain slim bodies. As a result, advertisements and music industries should be careful about the images they display, especially among women, since some use the messages given in their advertisements to make decisions that can, in the long ran lead to long-term consequences (Percy & Lautman, 2019). This essay, therefore, seeks to critique one advertisement and one music video in regards to how their message is linked to body image and eating.
Protein World Advertisement
The first advertisement that I would like to criticize is one made by Protein world. The ad was dubbed “are you beach body ready?” When analyzing the advertisement, the company has used a slim body to propagate its views to its audience. Although the company’s primary aim was to advertise, its banner resulted in a worldwide debate concerning how it viewed other body images. Despite the criticism, the company went ahead and launched this campaign in North America without making further alterations. The company’s primary aim was to offer its target market information on how taking certain protein supplements would suppress one’s appetitive, leading to one losing weight and becoming slim. However, this may not be ideal because it presents a body image with unattainable body standards. This aspect prompted this advert to be banned in the UK because it was deceiving. A large section of individuals, especially ladies, were left questioning themselves if they had a beach body and the steps they should follow to attain such a body. Protein is an essential component that should not miss in our diets; this is because it helps in bodybuilding, brain development and helps us to function properly. With the protein world advocating for a beach body, what would obese women do to attain the standards set by the company?
Although this is just an advertisement by Protein World Company, the presented message may corrupt the minds of a large section of women who constantly strive to attain ideal beauty and body standards. Most of them who do not achieve such may develop self-hate hence continually competing against others to attain the “beach body.” Additionally, such messages may contribute to women creating dominantly pessimist self-schemas, thus leading to eating disorders. For instance, in the Protein World Advert, a slim girl with a flat tummy, tiny waist, and considerably broader hips is used. However, it shows that the advertisers did not follow stipulated advertising ethics. For instance, both fat and slim bodies go to the beaches because it’s a public place. The company using a slim body as perfect for beaches leaves us with the message concerning where people with fat bodies should go for recreation.
Most individuals who develop eating disorders may do so due to their body image not being ideal. As a result, Protein World tries to communicate that tall and slim bodies are suitable for going to the beach. Women who watch this advertisement and do not fall under the mentioned category may believe that is how they are supposed to look like hence they do not qualify to cruise on the beaches. The message by the company is mainly trying to sell its weight loss supplements to a particular market segment, which may be the fat ones. This may result in some women avoiding taking some food nutrients. Most advertisements dealing with weight loss often lead to eating disorders; as a result, advertisers should be careful about the impact they leave on their target markets.
Music Video: Mrs. Potato Head by Melanie Martinez
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wkri1NUq9ro
Our societies play influential roles in dictating how we should look, dress, and even present ourselves to others, especially men. Although women are constantly trying to love and appreciate themselves, societies are continually bringing more social beauty standards that every woman should have. In our modern communities, most men have set standards about how women should look before them; this has resulted in most women developing mental conditions trying to please and look attractive in front of men (Percy & Lautman, 2019). When analyzing the music video, ”Mrs. Potato head.” It presented crucial information regarding the social pressures in our societies; the males play an influential role in influencing women to have the ideal bodies. The music goes ahead to offer insights concerning how Hollywood has crated perception regarding how a perfect body should look like. The music video starts with a young Melanie sitting in front of a TV watching an advertisement relating to dieting pills while eating cookies. According to the video, a woman who wants to attract men should have a small waistline. This video prompts Melanie to stop eating her cookies, stand from where she was sitting, stuffs her breasts to make them look enlarged, and then takes the dieting pills. The music video constantly showing women taking dieting pills shows how the entertainment industry is offering a platform where women can develop irregular eating patterns with the sole aim of getting a “perfect body.”
When Melanie finally returns to the room after taking the dieting pills, she changes the television channel, and a song commences with Mrs. Potato greeting her husband. Her husband then offers Mrs. Potato flowers and a doctor’s appointment where Melanie was to undergo a facelift procedure. Although she had not consented to the procedure, she had to agree for the sake of looking attractive to her husband. The later scenes reveal the huge amount that Mrs. Potato’s husband paid for her wife’s surgery. Mrs. Potato also goes for other modifications, including having implants in her breasts, augmentation, and many other modifications on her body. However, after the surgery was unsuccessful, Mrs. Potato was dumped by her husband, and her husband had to go for another woman.
The opening scenes of this music video are influential in revealing the risks that women go through to attain the perfect body image for their husbands. For instance, taking dieting pills is not ideal because it deprives the body of some vital nutrients for survival. Instead of a woman taking g actual food, they instead opt to take diet pills. Occasionally, dieting pills do not have all the essential nutrients needed for growth and survival. However, this video portrays that taking them helps women attain slim bodies. His is one of the perfect examples of how music can negatively influence the behavior of women, with most of them pushing them into developing eating disorders.
The relationship between eating disorders and Western Culture
For a long time, the corporate world has been using advertisements to communicate about specific issues happening in our societies. Additionally, advertisements and music have been used to understand certain human behaviors and why some people behave in specific ways. One crucial aspect is how western culture influences people, especially women, to develop eating disorders (Percy & Lautman, 2019). When analyzing the Western culture, women are believed to be beautiful if they meet certain qualities such as being slim, tall, having big breasts, broader hips, and a fair complexion. These beauty standards have been set in advertisements and music where only slim models are featured, leaving the fat ones aside. When a woman views some of these advertisements, especially those related to body image, they tend to develop the desire to have such bodies without knowing that such embodiments may be manipulated to get the attention of the targeted market segment. Some women go ahead and adopt the standards set in these advertisements, which predisposes them to more health consequences in the future.
In recent times, Ralph ran an advertisement on her website where he presented an unattainable body image. Initially, the model that was used weighed 115 Lbs. The model was, however, later fired for being too fat. When one is perceived to be too fat by the media and society, they tend to institute measures geared towards obtaining a slimmer body. Before modernization, eating disorders were mainly prevalent in third-world countries. However, the spreading of advertisements and music to third-world countries has resulted in many women in third-world countries developing the same. Additionally, young women are the ones suffering from these disorders when compared to men. This is attributed to the fact that they often want to practice the messages they have learned in the advertisements and media.
The emergence of the internet has provided a platform where different information can be shared and are easily accessible by the young generations, especially women. YouTube has also provided a platform where teens can watch different music that is based on their preferences. With the availability of this information online, most young women have developed a perception of their bodies (MurrayStuart & McLeanSiân, 2018). For instance, most advertisements in the Western Culture are constantly using slim models in their advertisements compared to the fat ones. Using these models openly communicates about how a perfect woman should look like. Although some of these advertisements strive to communicate to their viewers concerning the need to adopt healthy lifestyles, I am sure that these messages have resulted in many women wanting to obtain slim body features hence pushing them into developing eating disorders.
A wide range of factors leads to the emergence of eating disorders, with one of them being social and cultural factors. Advertisements and music are ideal platforms where culture is transmitted from one society to another (MurrayStuart & McLeanSiân, 2018). Social and cultural factors that can push one into developing eating disorders include individual interaction patterns and the desire to have certain types of bodies, such as the thin and slim ones. Most Western cultures depict that to be successful in the beauty industry; they need to be tall and slim. This has resulted in women who desire to venture into this industry developing irregular eating patterns.
Although women are among the ones that have been largely affected by these advertisements, men are also succumbing to them. This is because some advertisements depict men as being heavily built with six-packs. Based on such aspects, I believe that the media is among the factors that have contributed to the growing number of eating disorders among both genders. Although the advertisement industries are geared towards raising awareness about health-conscious foods, they have set unattainable body standards. When a company encourages people to follow a given eating pattern that is not backed up with research, it may result in no more harm than good.
Eating disorders are caused by various factors, including genes and other hereditary factors. However, our socio-cultural environments influence how people should behave. As predicted in the song “Mrs. Potato, women need to have slim waistlines to be attractive to their men. This has contributed to them going the extra mile to obtain slim waistlines, including surgery and ingesting dieting pills. As a result, I believe changes in our societies, including advertisements, have played influential roles in the rising cases of eating disorders.
In conclusion, despite eating disorders being in existence in the past, western culture through advertisements has contributed to more cases. Most western cultures emphasize that ideal body standards include being tall, slim, having big breasts, and broad hips. As a result, women have developed unhealthy eating patterns. Some of the products advertised are harmful to women’s health, although they do not care, and they go-ahead to take them. In my opinion, I am confident that culture has played an influential role in the rising cases of eating disorders, especially among women.
References
MurrayStuart, B., & McLeanSiân, A. (2018). The contribution of social media to body dissatisfaction, eating disorder symptoms, and anabolic steroid use among sexual minority men. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking.
Percy, L., & Lautman, M. R. (2019). Advertising, weight loss, and eating disorders. Inattention, attitude, and affect in response to advertising (pp. 301-312). Psychology Press. https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781315807386-17/advertising-weight-loss-eating-disorders-larry-percy-martin-lautman
