Thursday, June 16, 2011

Too scared to venture in

It has been too scary to get back to blogging about body. Why? Because writing about it, thinking about it bring it to the surface in an uncomfortable way. Not that it is ever COMFORTING to think about my body. But at least when I don't think about it I don't think about it. I may subconsciously be thinking about it all the time but .... its like that background program running on your computer. It loads up when you start your computer and keeps humming away in the background, affecting the overall CPU performance.

But if I stay away from the dialogue then how am I affecting positive change? Right. So, I am back.

A few things got my attention today. Here is one of them.
Dove beauty ad
So, one would start out as a black woman with not so good skin and by using this product become a white woman with smooth skin. Why? Do all white women have beautiful smooth skin? Do all black women have bad skin? Does this shower get product contain bleach? And why would I want to be white? Do I need to be white to feel good about myself? Truly disturbing. I learnt about this photo from the following blog (http://www.laurietobyedison.com/discuss/)

The day gets better. Check out this Yoplait commercial. So if you have been dieting and feeling good about yourself and look as thin as the women in this commercial...guess what? You are gonna feel fat once you watch this commercial. Because CLEARLY you are not thin enough still.



Then there is this video which I am not even sure how to process.


So, when I first came across this I thought wow! Empowered and empowering teens. Yes we need that.

Then I looked at the girl and thought - really? YOU are supposed to be the "fat" "non-pretty" one? Then I am the ugliest there can be.

Then I went...woah woah...back off. This girl FEELS these things. You cannot judge that. And this is probably also the more PC response.

BUT I can't help but feel jealous about how she looks and feel resentful that the issue of body-image is in her hands. Or I should say in her hands ALSO.

If you are reading this blog and have made it this far....what do you think? I want to be a better person but....hmmm.

2 comments:

  1. It's funny that you mention this. I was thinking about it just yesterday. Not only about the thin, flowingly gorgeous haired woman with amazing make up on in just about every commercial... but the dating commercials in particular. Match.com or eharmony to name examples, they're all straight. Hundreds of these commercial samples showing true love found on their website. They're all the typical heterosexual couple. Advertisements these days are tailored to make us WANT to be a certain thing. That if we buy the product or join their cult, we will feel the way these confident individuals feel. And hopefully that'll lead us to looking in the mirror and seeing this beautiful, blonde, toned white woman with this man who loves every inch of you. Get real.

    It's frustrating because even a yogurt commercial can make me look down at my self and see 'disgusting'. I completely understand.

    Maybe if I put on a tighter waisted jacket and stop breathing, I'll look that good.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hey Jcq.

    "Tighter waisted jacket and stop breathing"- that's funny.

    I hadn't thought about the Match.com or E-Harmony commercials. But you are right. At the end of the day all commercials make you feel like you are not complete without this product. So, we always feel like we are LACKING in something or the other.

    By the way, you are a fantastic artist. I checked out your profile and blog. I especially loved the self-portraits. I hope to one day meet you. That would be awesome.

    Thanks for writing.

    ReplyDelete