The title of one of my favorite Wayne Kramer songs says it best: 'Somethin's broken in the Promised Land.' Yes folks, in this ineffable year of our lord, 2008, Eva Longoria became tabloid fodder by gaining 7 lbs. and looking (god help us) like this. Eva’s weight gain was actually described as ‘shocking’ in one source I weighed in on. ‘Eva’s Pregnant!’ reported another with supreme confidence. The mind recoils from such inane commentary, requiring a moment to actually grasp the significance of what it is hearing. One can only hope that the publications running the stories were simply going for the green and trying to offer up a piece of crass, quickie-sensationalism that could sell a few papers. One can hope. Problem is, there is always that nagging feeling that this fetish with emaciation is real, that those who notice it and report it actually believe that their subject has become less attractive (and by extension, less desirable) having added a few pounds to her previously pencil-esque physique. Well, it’s one thing to think such supremely irrational thoughts in ones own head, it’s quite another to continue preaching the gospel of the Anorexic Ideal, not only to actors and models who may have better resources for dealing with the issue, but to the even more vulnerable ordinary women in all walks of life. Shame on you.
So, how does it happen? How can a supposedly evolving culture continue to degenerate into abject irrationalism? How is it we cannot seem to wake up from the nightmare of media mind control? Is the tail wagging the dog? Does majority taste dictate the trends, or vice-versa? Are we really such sheep that we’ve allowed our very lives to become extensions of the media? The fact that these questions must be asked is indeed symptomatic of our modern post-modern condition and they point to a disturbing truth. Truth is, our individual lives have ceased to be autonomous entities, having de-volved into shadows, mere extensions of the real things (products and corporations) whose images are fed into our psyches by the kingpins of the power structure as so much data is fed into a computer. We are taught NOT to think, but to emulate. Not to be unique, but to be the same. To follow not our hearts and intuitions but the images on our big-screens and computers. Only in these ways may we be assured of our ultimate acceptability, which is to say, our capacity for remaining consummate consumers. Those pulling the strings are apparently convinced that those who subscribe to the Myth of the Skinny Woman will be the superior customers. And they hit the public squarely in its Achilles’ heel; in its perceptions about Acceptability.
Fat Britney at the VMA's 2007. She was called 'a cow' by Hollywood entertainment reporters. ?????????
Acceptability represents the highest good. Everyone has to be acceptable on some level to someone. So why not be the MOST acceptable woman you can be and be acceptable to the entire world? Just like Eva Longoria before her scandalous weight gain. If you don’t, your acceptability diminishes incrementally and apparently BY THE POUND, according to these reports. We can see, then, that by availing itself of this simple but extremely effective tactic, the Corporate Demagogue manipulates your behavior by threatening your sense of ultimate acceptability through the use of IMAGE. Image is inextricably linked with Identity and this connection is a topic for another time. Having made a note of the idea, let’s move on, confining this discussion to the question of Image as it relates to the contemporary woman.
IMAGE
Of course, our introductory paragraph speaks volumes about image-expectation among women. Obviously, it’s not just ‘thin’ that’s in, but more accurately, ‘ultra-thin.’ Such an ideal is understandably quite intimidating to a majority of women. They know instinctively that the image is unnatural. And yet it seems to remain compelling, for reasons that resist articulation. It’s like a magic spell, bidding women to embrace what they know to be insane for the promise of ultimate cultural acceptance. That’s the function of Image in the media. It is calculated to override logic. It is there to OVERRULE your common sense, the wishes of friends and family, and everything else you know in an effort to win your consent. In Media Culture one picture is indeed worth a thousand words, and probably a lot more than that. Image-power is nothing short of remarkable. One photograph has the ability to dictate more than just looks and attitudes, it has the ability to dictate identity itself. Whether we approve of or disapprove of a given image tells us—and everyone else—the basics about who we actually are.
A Real Woman strolling the Southern California Beaches.
The scary part of the equation is our willingness to surrender to Image while being fully conscious that it is irrational, and fully conscious that we’re surrendering. We think of comparing the syndrome to that of moth to flame, but in reality it’s far worse. As far as we’re able to tell, the poor moth doesn’t KNOW it’s going to burn up in the flame. It’s simply doing what it does, gravitating toward maximum light. I suspect that if a moth could understand the fiery fate that awaited it, it would be smarter than we humans and avoid the blaze. But we are such creatures of habit, and so emotionally malleable that we buy into manipulation with the kind of predictability that advertisers liken to ‘shooting fish in a barrel.’ Not much of a challenge. And so it goes. Advertisers create images in order to connect their clients with the world, the world accepts or rejects the clients and their products via apprehension of the Image, and the real people that make up the world learn to define themselves by the Images they accept and reject.
What has happened in this cultural exchange? 1.An image has taken on the power to render a negative value judgement with respect to a real person. 2. The person has taken the value judgement to be real. 3. The value judgement IS real if enough other real people in the life of the original real person also believe the image represented reality with accuracy. Now, multiply the effect of this one small episode by, let's just say, 5 per week, 20 times per month, 240 times per year. That's two hundred and forty messages a woman will process telling her that she’s ultimately unacceptable; unacceptable to 'people who matter,' at any rate. The emotional depths at which we actually become the media image is stunning. Indeed, for many, there is no difference to be found between the contrived image and the self-image.
Tyra and Jennifer Love were skewered by the press for their appalling weight gains evidenced in these photos.
At some point, we realize that the only way to sanity is to stop letting the corporations do our thinking for us. The most precious power we possess is that of thinking for ourselves. Image is not destructive by definition. But it is critical that we as individuals control our own relationships to it. Most people are by nature less than fully confident in themselves, and when they attempt something creative on their own, it can be very hurtful when that act is treated with derision or apathy. We all know how that feels. We want to be validated. In the same way, we want our public personas to be validated. We want to be praised, and told that it’s 'all good.' All too often, we are rewarded with rejection instead. And so, we learn that doing things our own way involves a much greater risk than following the crowd. The crowd rewards homogenization, not by an abundance of praise, but in the negative sense by simply offering up no criticisms. No risk, no repercussion. Safety is assured. I cannot over-emphasize how important it is that we summon the courage to go against this grain of conformity and let go of our safety. The corporate image must not be allowed to dictate who we are. We have to relegate it back to its proper place. It is there to offer choices to the REAL power broker, and that is YOU. That is US.
BBW Model Carrie takin' the fight to the streets. Redefining the concept of 'Hot!'
So, how does a Real Woman respond to the notion that the media labels a woman ‘fat’ if she exceeds 130 lbs.? She doesn’t. She just keeps right on doing what she does best; promoting the BBW Lifestyle. That’s the answer, girls. The solution to this Anorexia fetish is to create an even bigger Fat Fetish. Plus Size models need to keep up the good work, and more importantly, to increase it and improve it. Only when we get the general quality AND quantity of BBW publications ratcheted up a few notches can we begin to compete. And competing, ladies, is the name of the game. This whole public opinion thing is a game of fighting fire with fire. And Real Women need bigger fires and more beautiful fires. So in closing, I’d like to encourage all you big beautiful women out there to stand up and be counted. If you’ve had the inclination to model or to do something else that’s high profile, the time is right. There are many of us out here now. Today, support is greater than ever for Real Women and their ambitions and I encourage you all to take advantage. Let skinny girls keep ruling the Media Image War? I think not.
Two images of Real Women in swimwear. The greeting card is intended as a slur, the Corona Girl as eye candy.
11 years ago
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