Is anyone else disturbed by the ads that feature body-morphed spokespeople?
Please follow me on Twitter, and “Like” the Facebook author page. Don’t forget to subscribe (the box is on the right side of the page) to be eligible for free e-books and other benefits!
I don’t know about the rest of you, but I look at television with a critical eye. I’m always suspicious about what I see in commercials featuring beautiful women.
I like pretty women: I married one! And beautiful females are a blessing to my eyes. But I’m disturbed by how we’re defining that beauty. It is no longer a great smile, nice hair, pleasant demeanor. Nope, we’re taking the female figure and digitally altering it to meet some stereotype that an ad executive has designated as ideal.
Air brushing has gone on for decades. Photos have been cropped, makeup applied, lighting altered, photoshop applied where needed. But now we’re seeing it on television where body shapes are apparently being digitally altered.
Because I don’t need any lawsuits, I’m not going to point a finger and say that’s what happened in a certain commercial that’s currently running nationally. But I do wonder about the delineation shown on parts of the spokesperson’s figure and how her necklace vanishes into the collar line. Kind of looks “funny” to me. You’ll have to be the judge. But next time you see “that” commercial, look at the hemline, hips, collar, etc. It sure looks like Industrial Light And Magic had a whack at it!
Women are beautiful because of who they are, not what they look like. There is a certain physical element to any attraction, but the ones that last are based on personalities and common interests. You start out the race looking one way, finish it looking another way. And if the entire “love” of the affair is based on smooth skin and tight curves it’s got a shelf life shorter than some canned foods. You will change. You will expand, wrinkle, sag, and generally decline.
That’s part of life. And when we digitally alter people to meet an ideal of appearance we send the implicit message to our youngsters that if you’re not beautiful you need to change. You need to have plastic surgery, botox, and a radical diet so that you can be “beautiful.”
I’m opting out. I’m hoping that you’re raising your children to be lovable because they have sterling personalities, not because they have ideal bodies.
You can digitally alter people on the screen, but they have to be in the real world to be loved. I live in that world and love based on that most important feature of all: personality.
That is all. Resume your normal programming.
.
