Racism has been a problem in our world since whoever it was first decided to state that color or race is equivalent to status. In the United States of America, racism went so far as slavery until the 1860's. Then it was used as a tool to keep White status above all others. Since that time, racism has become less blatantly obvious and more masked beneath other words or phrases. The aspect of racism that is to do with beauty and color has not at all been masked but promoted. Today, women who model are constantly changed to achieve the look designers are searching for. By the end of the process, the pictures no longer look like the models at all. In The Beauty Myth, Wolf states that "airbrushing age off women's faces has the same political echo that
would resound if all positive images of blacks were routinely
lightened" (83). The fashion industry is changing the color of women, and by doing this they are stating that there was something wrong in the first place which is a show of racism. As mentioned in the film, Killing Us Softly 4, by Jean Kilbourne, we are constantly and consistently told through advertising that lighter skin is more desirable.
On a trip in India, I was taken aback when a friend of mine said she was working on getting her skin lighter. When I asked her why, she pointed at a picture of this woman in a magazine. I did not like hearing this. I felt like my friend had lost the sense of herself a bit because she was looking in a magazine and comparing herself to the "model" on nothing but a surface level. Perhaps this thought of mine was a bit harsh. I was reminded of this story when Wolf stated that "To airbrush age off a woman's face is to erase women's identity, power, and history" (83). I thought my friend didn't know who she was any more, that she was anything but a face.
I know that the media are to blame for this imbalance in women. Wolf made the statement: "Editors must follow the formula that works. They can't risk providing what many readers claim they want: imagery that includes them, features that don't talk down to them, reliable consumer reporting. It is impossible, many editors assert, because the readers do not yet want those things enough" (83). I feel this statement gives the idea that editors have no choice but to create this effect of using women as nothing but pictures on pages. I also felt that it was trying to show how magazine companies use excuses such as this to argue themselves out of having to try and find better, less hurtful advertising methods. At the end of this statement, it even seems like editors are trying to turn the blame onto the readers. I feel that there is a lack of responsibility taken by the editors, given that this statement is true.
On a trip in India, I was taken aback when a friend of mine said she was working on getting her skin lighter. When I asked her why, she pointed at a picture of this woman in a magazine. I did not like hearing this. I felt like my friend had lost the sense of herself a bit because she was looking in a magazine and comparing herself to the "model" on nothing but a surface level. Perhaps this thought of mine was a bit harsh. I was reminded of this story when Wolf stated that "To airbrush age off a woman's face is to erase women's identity, power, and history" (83). I thought my friend didn't know who she was any more, that she was anything but a face.
I know that the media are to blame for this imbalance in women. Wolf made the statement: "Editors must follow the formula that works. They can't risk providing what many readers claim they want: imagery that includes them, features that don't talk down to them, reliable consumer reporting. It is impossible, many editors assert, because the readers do not yet want those things enough" (83). I feel this statement gives the idea that editors have no choice but to create this effect of using women as nothing but pictures on pages. I also felt that it was trying to show how magazine companies use excuses such as this to argue themselves out of having to try and find better, less hurtful advertising methods. At the end of this statement, it even seems like editors are trying to turn the blame onto the readers. I feel that there is a lack of responsibility taken by the editors, given that this statement is true.
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