Sports Illustrated Missing the Mark
Interestingly, Sports Illustrated swimsuit news today has three articles about body positivity and body acceptance. But are they really saying anything?
The cover is an article about supermodel Robyn Lawley announcing her boycott of Victoria's Secret Fashion Show. She started the #WeAreAllAngels and call for the inclusion of "women of all shapes and sizes." Before reading the article, a video of Lawley appears of her walking and running and laying down on the beach and in the ocean, the camera pans over her stomach, inner thighs, butt, and breasts. She is white and thin, but with supermodels chest and hips. The video objectifies her, she is portrayed from the male gaze. She isn't being valued for her activism, and she is still being presented as the ideal female body type (because she is), and considering the audience is probably mostly men, she is not challenging anything, I am sure she means well, but SI is missing the point completely. They contribute to this lack of body type diversity, lack of any diversity at all.
The other two "body positivity articles" again miss the mark. "Gigi-Hadid on Weight-Loss Criticism" I know I'm Skinny...I Want An Ass Too."
Why not have someone who is not skinny and does not have the ideal feminine hour glass shape?
And lastly, the only plus-size model who appears on the SI swim website today:
Like we talked about, she is a plus size model but still fits the hour-glass shape.
What kind of "body acceptance" are these women and SI advocating for? There is barely any body diversity here, all fit the cis-heterosexual female ideal, and all are white, and each women is objectified. Additionally, all the ads are about investing in beauty- beauty products and diamonds, etc. Showing the link between beauty and capitalism in magazines.
The cover is an article about supermodel Robyn Lawley announcing her boycott of Victoria's Secret Fashion Show. She started the #WeAreAllAngels and call for the inclusion of "women of all shapes and sizes." Before reading the article, a video of Lawley appears of her walking and running and laying down on the beach and in the ocean, the camera pans over her stomach, inner thighs, butt, and breasts. She is white and thin, but with supermodels chest and hips. The video objectifies her, she is portrayed from the male gaze. She isn't being valued for her activism, and she is still being presented as the ideal female body type (because she is), and considering the audience is probably mostly men, she is not challenging anything, I am sure she means well, but SI is missing the point completely. They contribute to this lack of body type diversity, lack of any diversity at all.
The other two "body positivity articles" again miss the mark. "Gigi-Hadid on Weight-Loss Criticism" I know I'm Skinny...I Want An Ass Too."
And lastly, the only plus-size model who appears on the SI swim website today:
What kind of "body acceptance" are these women and SI advocating for? There is barely any body diversity here, all fit the cis-heterosexual female ideal, and all are white, and each women is objectified. Additionally, all the ads are about investing in beauty- beauty products and diamonds, etc. Showing the link between beauty and capitalism in magazines.
I definitely agree with all of your points and see that these kinds of toxic media outlets are giving women awful body image issues. The more we see these size 0 women in the media, the more we think that everyone is supposed to look like.
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