Image Building

One of the issues my students really dig into, and one that is often prompted by postmodern English textbooks, is the media’s impact on “body image.” Just exactly why are all the models and superstars on TV and in the movies, not to mention all women and now even men in TV ads and billboards and clothing stores, super thin or super “well built”?

I think of all the physical not to mention emotional stress this puts on us. It’s one thing to be healthy, but quite another to feel one has to look a certain way in order to be considered ‘attractive.” And I like to illustrate this dilemma buy showing my students pictures by 19th and early 20th century painters, such as Henri Matisse or Cezanne or Renoir, when women were “full bodied” and proud of it!

What happened in a mere 100 years?

However, the times are a ‘changing. For a real surprise in the fashion world, check out this article from today’s Washington Post about a designer who has decided to fight (or maybe it’s just smart marketing!) the recent body image trend. There appears to be hope after all: maybe soon it will be socially acceptable to loosen your belt buckle!