Sophia Bush has recently declared "war" against Urban Outfitters; UO came out with a shirt that said "Eat Less." This clearly addresses the issues regarding women and the demand in upholding a particular image. Bush wrote a letter to Urban Outfitters, saying:"You should issue a public apology, and make a hefty donation to a women’s organization that supports those stricken with eating disorders. I am sickened that anyone, on any board, in your gigantic company would have voted ‘yes’ on such a thing, let alone enough of you to manufacture an item with such a hurtful message. It’s like handing a suicidal person a loaded gun. You should know better.”
It is no surprise that our media idolizes a woman that is tall, skinny, and beautiful. Many advertisements and products entice women to go out and buy them in hopes of attaining the image of youth and beauty. Women go through particular procedures every night, including myself. Every night I go through the daily process of washing my face, removing my makeup, putting on hydrating lotion,etc. This has become an unwritten rule within our culture; it reinforces the value of self-image and the belief that “cleaning up” will preserve that image. This particular socialization occurs in women more often than men. The process portrays the importance of self-image to the individual, and the influence of consumerism in our society.
Our culture embodies the image of youth and beauty. It inspires individuals to seek the perfect image with hopeful examples that make it "attainable." So individuals go out and buy products, work out, and take care of their skin every night in hopes of attaining or maintaining the image society has imposed--to be beautiful. In many ways, it signifies a culture in where happiness is sought, but not always attained.
Tying it back to Sophia Bush's recent boycott against Urban Outfitters, I believe our society is waking up and becoming aware of the damage words like "Eat Less," can have on our society. It is oppressive to have a shirt that quotes personal insecurities many teenagers and women might be dealing with. The fact that it's receiving a lot of negative attention means that society is slowly changing the socialized image of a "perfect woman."
Observation: The New Hunger Games has spurred fashion designers to make a new clothing line, the Capitol Couture, which seems to be sending the wrong message.
Good blog post. I cant believe that they actually made a shirt that says "Eat Less." I feel that the clothing that is being made nowadays are really offensive to certain groups of individuals in our society. I also feel that beauty is something that society tries to define for us, but how can someone define what perfect beauty is?
ReplyDeleteWow, thank you so much for this post. Like Chanin, I cannot believe that they would actually produce a shirt that said that. It is so completely insensitive. This culture that places unrealistic expectations on women is sickening and needs to change.
ReplyDeleteSidenote: I LOVE Sophia Bush and this makes me love her more.
Comment #19
ReplyDeleteVery well written post! Unrealistic social standards seem to be rampant in our society, and clothing lines like Urban Outfitters don’t seem to be helping the situation. As a guy, I notice a different set of standards and stereotypes for what the ideal man should look like; such as being tall, well built, and generally handy with fixing things. I’ve never fallen into any of these categories, and I doubt I ever will, but I still find myself pursuing them because of the standards set by society.
Eating is amazing and I might just be personally offended that someone would even think about making a shirt that told me to eat less. This isn't the first time UO has created something offensive, they have very strange standards. On a side note it is always important to remember that although it seems unrealistic to have a really thin body or wear a size 0 there are actually a lot of people that have problems gaining weight and sometimes with the promotion of healthy body image comes the shaming of thin bodies which can be equally detrimental to the shaming of others.
ReplyDeleteOh my, I can't even imagine how they thought that would be okay! This saddens me. This just shows us how much room our society has for improvement!
ReplyDeletewow...thats bad. I usually love Urban Outfitters and find their graphic shirts to usually be ironic or funny, but this is just wrong. Its sad that our society encourages eating less as the correct thing to do.
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