The “Perfect” Body Debate The idea of what the most desirable body type around the world, more specifically in the United States of America, is a highly debated topic that seems to frustrate a lot of people today. For some reason, this body image debate seems to be more between women rather than men. It is not that men may have this problem, but it seems that women are the ones who are often going back and forth at each other. Some women may want to be extremely skinny and will do anything to achieve this look even if it means starving themselves and rarely eating. Some women do not care for this look, and they like to have a little more size than say a supermodel would. Due to this, it has caused an ongoing debate about which side looks better and often causes fights. One of the most popular clothing brand stores named “Victoria’s Secret” released an image of eight “Angels” as Victoria’s Secret likes to call their models. These eight women are only wearing the revealing lingerie, which Victoria’s Secret is known for. While they are only wearing these bras and underwear, it is also noticeable that all of these women have a very slim demeanor. Each woman has that “model look”, which is why they were hired for this particular photo. Only a couple women appear to be smiling while the others have an emotionless face. The caption on the picture reads “The Perfect Body.” In the article, “Never Just Pictures” by Susan Bordo, she talks about how eating disorders have become a major issue in women today. Victoria’s Secret’s models have been known to starve themselves or force themselves to vomit anything that they may have eaten in the days leading up to a particular photo shoot. When the photo shoot gets released to the public, the models are looking as slim as they can possibly be without dying and women desire this look without knowing what those models went through in order to look that way. Photos of these models are part of the problem in America today why teenage girls and women are going through extreme measures in order to obtain this unhealthy look. “Psychologists commonly believe that girls with eating disorders suffer from “body image disturbance syndrome”: they are unable to see themselves as anything but fat, no matter how thin they become” (Bordo). The article then goes on to talk about how girls and women do not feel “socially accepted” because of the way they look. “Eating disorders are overdetermined in this culture. They have to do not only with new social expectations of women and ambivalence toward their bodies but also with more general anxieties about the body as the source of hungers, needs, and physical vulnerabilities not within our control” (Bordo). The company “Dove” saw this image of the Victoria’s Secret models, and they immediately fired back with their own image. This second photo contains six Dove models, but with a different approach to a different audience than the first image. The six Dove models all have a little more size than to them as if they are reaching out to women who are not extremely thin. They are more diverse in terms of ethnicity and body size. Every woman in the photo has a beautiful smile on her face, and every one of them look extremely happy with how they look. The caption on this photo reads “The Perfect Real Body.” Both of these photos have a message for their intended audience, and it is obvious that one side thinks their look is more appealing. Not all women are that thin, and their clothing seems to be made only for those women that are thin. Victoria’s Secret’s image seems to have upset a lot of people, especially women. In fact, Victoria’s Secret is being sued for this image by several companies and women for setting unrealistic beauty standards. People may think that these girls naturally look like that, but in reality, a lot of makeup and photo shop is used in order to make these women “beautiful.” Sure, some of them may look naturally beautiful, but this is not the case for all of them. There are videos on the web that show how enhancements are added to these models in order for them to look “perfect” as Victoria’s Secret would say. The marketing that they use are making women from all over feel insecure about their bodies because they do not fulfill these unrealistic standards that are set by these models. Due to these unrealistic standards, women are over-exercising and under-eating in hopes that they can achieve this body type. The women who try to achieve this body and image may even spend ridiculous amounts of money on special type of products that claim to make them happier and more beautiful. Dove backlashed at Victoria’s Secret’s image by posting their own perfect real body image encouraging women to do whatever they want, and they can still be beautiful. Their idea is that one does not have to look like a model in order to feel beautiful. They believe that no one should have to go through those extreme measures of having to lose weight, buying “special” products, or starving themselves. Due to this advertisement by Dove, they gained thousands of new followers and believers of their products because they were encouraged to feel beautiful regardless of how they looked. This idea of what the ‘perfect” body seems to show where the United States of America is at compared to other countries in the world. Other countries around the world do not seem to have the problem that the United States does. Women are not going through the extreme measures in other countries like they are in the United States. The United States is so caught up in caring so much about how they look that they do not think about how this makes this country look. Honestly, it is embarrassing to think that after everything this country has gone through including the slavery issue and the Women’s Suffrage that this country is still concerned with how people look. One would think that after all of those events in the past about discrimination would have ended, but apparently this country is still stuck in that state of mind. This subject just shows that the United States of America still has a long way to go in terms of social advancement and acceptance.

Works Cited
Bordo, Susan. “Never Just Pictures.” StudyMode. N.P. 4 March 2007. Web. 29 April 2015.