thin is in : beauty in a thin culture

7/30/2019 Thin is In : Beauty in a Thin Culture

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Thin is beautiful and healthy (pg 17, cult).. The first advertisement selected is from a

leading manufacturer of Vitamins and Supplements; Jamieson Vitamins. This ad displays

a nude woman posed with her arms outstretched over her head, showing off her slim and

toned body. Printed on the Womans back are the words Listen to your body, with an

explanation printed underneath. This further indicates that this woman is abundant with

confidence, as only such a woman who is fit and thin can have such pride and confidence.

In the ad the womans silhouette is that of a slim and slender woman. If we examine the

ad further we can see that this woman exudes a sense of self confidence, for she is able to

stand nude and have her body photographed. The indication is that confidence comes

based on outward appearances reinforcing the system of male patriarchal control. Thus

the emphasis of the ad is the importance of the body further reinforcing the mind body

dichotomy that characterized our culture. The ad perfectly reflects one of the issues

concerning eating disorders, that if one does not have the idealized slim and toned body

they are not healthy. The ad ties the two themes of slim with healthy, indicating that if

one is slim one is healthy. This has become one of the central reasons women go to the

gym, not to become healthy but to lose weight. As set point theory demonstrates, this is

not necessarily the case. The ad therefore reinforces the need to be thin and associates

this body image with health. The further underlining message that this ad sells, is that

maintaining a slim physique means the woman is living a healthy lifestyle. Thus, if the

person fails to meet such a feminine ideal, she is not considered healthy. Finally it is

interesting to note that if this woman, who many would regard as having the perfect and

ideal body is in need of a vitamin supplement, that she herself is not good enough, then

the implication for the individual whose body does not look like this is alarming.


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Advertisement #2- Sex

The Sexual Revolution has finally reached the feminine care aisle, but exclusively

targeted towards size 2s. This ad is for a brand of sexual products, created by Trojan, and

marketed to women called Elexa. This ad shows five identical stylized images of woman

with the text The Sexual Revolution has finally reached the feminine care aisle. While

at first glance this ad seems to challenge male patriarchy in regards to sex, if we look

deeper we can see that this ad does contain some disturbing elements. The stylized

figures used in the ad seem to be an attempt to create a kind of every-woman, since there

are no illusions to eye color, hair color or race. While the ad seems to filter these

distinctions, one distinction remains that all these models are no larger than a size 1 and

are tall and slender, with curves. The ad aptly fails to display women of different sizes.

Such an ad is a powerful socializing agent that is transmitting ideologies of sexuality and

thinness to their female receptors. The images of the women in the ad are very subtle, if

this silhouette was of a real woman, her dress may probably be a size 1 or even a 0. This

silhouette indicates that a woman has to be one of a sexy, thin woman in order to be able

to express her sexuality with the use of such sexual oriented products. In the text Cult of

Thinness , Hesse-Biber discusses such issues of thinness in association with sexuality. It

is become internalized for woman to believe that, If you are female thin will get you a

husband (pg 17, cult). Woman are starting to believe that in order to maintain a strong

and captivating sexuality they have to maintain a slim figure. It is through such ads,

magazines, television shows and the whole message of the media that, A woman sense

of worth in culture is her ability to trap a man (pg 17, cult), and not about who she is as

a person. This further disempowers women in a patriarchal society into trying their


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hardest to fit into an ideal and accepting category of beautiful women, so that they may

be appealing to men. The patriarchal society we live in continue to pressure women into

maintaining a so called fit exterior, as it is the body that a man finds the most attractive.

Advertisement #3- Success

To be thin is to be successful and To be fat is to have no ambition (pg 17, cult). This

advertisement portrays the image of success and how it is associated with thinness. This

advertisement represents the brand Roberto Cavalli. In this picture a thin and beautiful

woman wearing designer jewelry, is stepping out of a Farrari. Such luxury reflects her

wealthy and upper class lifestyle. The message sent from such an ad is that this woman is

a representation of the new American elite. These have the obligation to maintain a slim

and slender image, if they wish to be part of a world exclusive to thin woman. This

woman in this ad is perfect in almost every way, and that the only way to reach the upper

echelons is to meet such unrealistic expectations of perfection. The ad has a man sitting

in the Lamborghini behind the steering wheel, this reflects the capability of only a slim,

beautiful woman who is able to get a welthy and successful man highly based on her

exotic exterior. This further shows those women who meet such thin ideals may have the

chance to marry a rich man, as a man is usually not interested in a larger woman. This

woman reaps success of the man in the car, (article- Dalia) . . In the ad the woman is

getting out of the car, while the man still remains seated. This illustrates the womans

pride and independence. The woman in the ad has an expression of seduction on her face,

further implying that a woman with such physique may easily be seductive and get what

she wants. This ad takes place at night, they could be pulling up to a club or a high class


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social event, people who do not fit the ideal image, may be excluded from such a world.

These further implies that only the slim and sexy live such extravagant lifestyles, going

out to classy places, drinking and dancing and having fun.

thin is in : beauty in a thin culture

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