The Tyranny of Fashion and Societal Images of the Perfect Woman
On the LOG list, a discussion has arisen in which we are marveling at how apparently your average clothing store and fashion designer believes that the average woman is a size 8, when in fact as my good friend Steve points out, it is actually closer to 12 or 13.
Why do stores say the average size is 8?
LOL...I suspect it is because the stores dare not contradict their customers who INSIST that they are a size 8.
But, on a serious note: is it some sort of industry conspiracy? Or is it simply the stupidity, vanity, and lust of society? What does it mean when we lay the issue at the feet of the "industry"? Why is it so important to the industry to say that women ought to be such and such size? And who is influencing who?
I think it is the same age old question: Does art reflect society or influence society? Generally, I think it does both.
In regards to our wives or daughters feeling the pressure to be a size 8 (does anyone understand women dress sizes???? They sound like shoe sizes to me) I think it is a cultural thing...industry is simply catering to what is going to sell. As it is, waifer thin models with implanted breasts and wearing virtually nothing is the ticket to getting things sold.
I don't buy into the notion that barbie dolls and what not are causing our girls to puke their meals into toilets...its much deeper than that and the root is SIN...a lack of holiness...a lack of purification...a lack of illumination...and certainly a lack of deificiation. That being said, I'd be all for a "BaBa" doll who even though she is 75 years old can still do full prostrations and beat the hell out of people with their canes who cross their legs in the nave.
Women (like the rest of us) our oppressed by SIN, not the fashion industry...in a sense, the fashion industry is simply a messenger, albeit a nefarious one. From my perspective, the blame isn't found in the industry, or the stores, or the TV, or the Barbie doll (though they all to varying degrees reinforce the situation)...no, the blame is found in the very heart and mind that is presently commanding these fingers to type on this keyboard. If that heart and mind were purified and illumined (which as we know would have a holy affect on those around said heart and mind) then there would be no audience at the fashion industry shows.
In true Darwinian "fashion", they would adapt and maybe then we'd see "Baba" dolls instead of Barbie dolls.
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But the root of the issue for her was her answer to my question, "Are you afraid [insert boyfriend's name] won't like you if you didn't look like you do?" You guessed that right! Boy you're smart.
And along with the guy thing was her continued frustration to not be able to find trendy cute clothes that fit her in sizes bigger than a 12. Everything "hip" is sized for smaller boned frames. As well as the frustration of a size 12 at one store is different in size than a 12 in another store.
I have the same problem trying to find clothes that fit my petite frame. Some manufacturer's size 4 swim on me whereas others size 6 I can't even get up past my knees!It's doggone frustrating.
I wrote a paper similar to this topic on what "shaped" woman was more appealing to a young man? Statistics showed that a young man was interested in dating svelt thin women. But when asked to chose a womanly shape that they believed was healthy and would bear healthy children, hands down they picked a woman with bigger hips and more weight on her frame.
This makes me absolutely crazy!
+peace
sf
It is the subtle stuff James, and not what comes out of your mouth that matters. It is how you care for yourself, what you put in your mouth, what you snack on, and stuff like that that they watch. It is absolutely true that our actions speak far louder than our words.