How Hollywood Destroyed Heidi Montag

Before- 2006

After- Now

When The Hills premiered on MTV in 2006, MTV hired normal California girls that were ready to start their new lives in California and begin new friendships that would last a lifetime. One girl that stood out was Heidi Montag. She was a California girl who had a tan, real nose, and the average blonde hair. As the show progressed over the years, the girls began to change and The Hills became more popular in the public eye. Heidi Montag for example was becoming a "fame monster" and Hollywood was controlling her with a firm hold. She began to get skinnier and more tan. Finally, she gave into the pressure of being perfect and decided to get plastic surgery that would ruin her life for forever. With the pressure of a uptight boyfriend, to a lost friendship with one of the original Hill's girls, Heidi was going downhill. Recently, Heidi has realized that what she did to her body was a huge mistake. "I look worse not than pre-surgery," Montag said. "I would love to not be called the plastic girl," Montag said. Knowing that Heidi changed for what the media did to her self esteem was a horrible event in Montag's life. I think she should have never gave in and kept the beautiful self she was before the Hill's destroyed her life. Plastic surgery is never the answer and changing for the public is not the best choice in the world. Reading Heidi's story should be a call for help for people and warn them to not change too much about themselves.

Source:  http://www.examiner.com/celebrity-fitness-and-health-in-national/heidi-montag-s-plastic-surgery-regrets-i-look-worse-now-than-pre-surgery

Dove Campaign For Real Beauty

One of the most widely known companies for beauty is Dove. Dove decided in 2004 that they wanted to start a campaign to "serve as a starting point for a societal change and act as a catalyst for widening the definition and discussion of beauty." What Dove wants is for women all over the world to consider themselves beautiful and not look to the media as what is normal. What really makes this campaign special is not only are they not using payed models, but they are using real women in their campaign advertisements. The real mission of the Dove campaign is "to make more women feel beautiful everyday by widening stereotypical views of beauty." Spreading the word around is easy for Dove because they are using advertising in magazines to television commercials, billboards, and so much more to spread the message of real beauty around the world. Dove found that "81% of women in the U.S. strongly agree that the media and advertising set an unrealistic standard of beauty that most women can't every achieve."Reading this statistic made me know that most women don't want to look like every perfect model in the magazines but want to stop the media from putting an unrealistic image of women out there for the public to see. As Dove continues to spread their campaign all over the world, many women are beginning to see a brighter future for their bodies and unrealistic views are a thing of the past. 

Source: http://www.dove.us/#/CFRB/arti_CFRB.aspx[cp-documentid=7049726]

Whitney Port:" The Hills" Diet

Before: During the City 2009

After: 2011

Reality television is one of the most watched by Americans today. Whether its a reality show about a celebrities life to a challenge, reality television is being seen more and more everyday. One show that most girls watched in 2009 was The Hills on MTV. It was about Lauren Conrad and her friends lives in the fashion industry and in Los Angeles. One of her friends that moved on to make her own show called The City is Whitney Port. Port is usually seen as a fashionista to many and has worked with many designers in the fashion industry, with her own line too. According to Port," she limited her calorie intake to 1,000 calories which is half the recommended amount for a woman her age." Being on television was hard for her because she had to keep up with the pressure of staying thin and "keeping up with the cast" and " the pressures of public life."We all know that actors are becoming a lot more skinny and that is what television wants. I think that with so much publicity, actors tend to view themselves as not thin enough and stress also adds to the weight issue. " Working in Hollywood, there is just a constant pressure to look your best,"said Port. " For all of us on television, it's natural to be like I have to stare at myself all the time, I want to look the best I can,"said Port. With The Hills and The City done with, Port still looks thin and we all know she has lost weight since then. The pressures of the fashion industry must still be creeping in her thoughts. We hope she gains some weight in the future!

Source: http://www.celebrityhealthfitness.com/2781/whitney-port-confesses-to-extreme-dieting-while-on-the-hills

American Idol Weight Controversy

Many television shows you see today have mostly skinny actresses or in shape people all over the screen. On American Idol, being skinny is what they want to see, especially when it comes to the audience that sits in the front of the stage that is mostly shown on television. At last week's elimination, an audience member was put in a frustrating situation. According to fitperez.com, Ashley Kauffman says that when she attended a free taping of American Idol with her five girlfriends, she was forced to sit in the back row, while her friends sat in the front because she was "too heavy." Kauffman says," a staff member pulled her from the front row and told her she was too big and too heavy to sit in the front." Once in the back another staff member said, " this makes sense that you are not with the skinny girls and in the last row." This just makes me sick to my stomach that people would be so cruel to a person like that. This just shows how the media tears us down and strives for the best appearance on their shows. I think that she deserves a big apology and should have never been moved in the first place. Hopefully people will turn American Idol off their television sets until the show apologizes. Media is a sick thing that is becoming worse everyday.

Source: http://fitperez.com/2011-04-12-girl-too-fat-for-front-row-at

A Website that Offers Hope: About-Face.org

Recently I came stumbled upon this website that helps women to stray away from the pressures of the media. Finding this website was a relief because it was great to see some people notice how bad the media is destroying our ideas of perfect and what we want to look like.  About- face.org calls what the media is doing to girls a " toxic media environment" which leads to "depression, anxiety over weight and appearance, extremely unhealthy diets and exercise regimens, and eating disorders." This website is great because it "equips women and girls with tools to understand and resist harmful media messages." I think what they are doing is so empowering and it is helping the epidemic of wanting to look perfect. What is really cool is that they have workshops to help girls learn about how they are treating themselves and how they should "execute their actions." When looking on the website, you see that they have a blog, a place to donate, a making changes section, your voice section, and resources to help stop the media from destroying you. It also has a two galleries which are a list of the top ten offenders in the media to top ten winners in the media. I think everyone should look to this website as a tool to love your self on the inside and out and stop the media from controlling how we view our bodies. Overall the ultimate goal of about-face.org is to "imbue girls and women with the power to free themselves from the burden of body-image problems so they will be capable of fulfilling their varied and wondrous potentials." I think it says it all. Lastly a quote from about-face.org, " Don't fall for the media circus!"


Source:  http://www.about-face.org/

                                                                  Candice Swanepoel
                                              

Most people today view magazines for the advertisements. With many companies ads in magazines, it gets them a lot of attention from the customers. Many clothing companies also put many ads in magazines and that is what most women and men are looking at. Seeing what is in style and trendy is what most people want to see. One problem that sparks controversy is photoshopping advertisements. From airbrushing and retouching, advertisements are always redone, which is what most people like to see. When it comes to being an art director that does all of the retouching, paying close attention is key. Putting out an ad that is retouched should always be looked over by many people just so you don't mess up. That was not the case for Ralph Lauren and Victoria's Secret. In an advertisement from 2009 that is still getting talk is about model Filippa Hamilton. They warped her body so much that she looks "emancipated" and her wait is obviously too small to be proportional to her body. If that is the image that Ralph Lauren wants to display then go ahead, but girls will begin to think that is the normal. Another company that has sparked some controversy is Victoria's Secret with model Candice Swanepoel. They made her arm appear to be added on. It looks distorted and not right with her small frame. On another model her legs seem to be missing some bulk and it looks like she has stick legs. Most of Victoria's Secret ads show more shapely models but this is just not normal for their standards. Overall I think photoshopping should only be used for retouching, not to change someones waist or legs.

Source: http://shine.yahoo.com/event/fallbeauty/image-of-ultra-thin-ralph-lauren-model-sparks-outrage-521480

Demi Lovato: Love is Louder than the Pressure to be Perfect

Disney star, Demi Lovato recently opened up about her eating disorders and cutting issues to the news. Demi has been in many movies, magazines, and television shows that being in the public eye is constant. Also with going on tour all the time the pressure to be perfect is always creeping up on her. When she first came out with her issues to the public, I thought that it was so brave or her to do and go to treatment. Having that personal of an issue be public is probably one of the hardest thing a celebrity can do. In a recent interview with ABC News, Demi opens up about the issues she has faced since she was 8 years old. She was constantly being bullied and it finally came to a point where hurting herself was the only escape. " I developed an eating disorder and that's kind of what I've been dealing with ever since," Lovato said. Then at just 11 years old, Lovato began to cut herself. "It was a way of expressing my own shame, of myself, on my own body," she told Robin Roberts of ABC News. After going through the pain of cutting and her eating issues, Demi also began to feel depressed and not eat with performing her concerts. Finally, Demi checked into treatment and has become a complete different person ever since. "For the first time I started to feel," said Lovato. I think that what she experienced is what many girls go through whether celebrities or not. They tend to hid the fact that they are hurting themselves and never have the courage to speak up. With Demi speaking up, many girls have began to open up about their eating disorders or their cutting problems and expressing them to Demi on her Twitter and the world. I think she has done a very courageous thing and she is an inspiration for all teenage girls going through the pain of being perfect. Lovato also has recently teamed up with Seventeen magazine to spread the word that "love is louder than the pressure to be perfect" which is a campaign to stop the pressure of being perfect and be the person you are and not look to eating disorders or cutting. Overall, Demi Lovato is a role model to girls everywhere and she is doing a great job at being herself.

Source: http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/demi-lovato-interview-teen-star-opens-bulimia-cutting/story?id=13405090&page=1

Chubby Fashion Models "Will Make Women Fat"

One of the problems dealing with fashion today is the catwalk and which models walk the walk. Recent controversy came up when Italian researchers came to a conclusion that when chubby models walk the runway, it will give a bad impression of how models should look, which causes women to become fat. According to Dr. Davide Dragone at the University of Bologna in Italy, "curvier models would lower the incentive to lose weight. making eating habits and health deteriorate." We all know when skinny models walk the runway, everyone admires their bodies and wants to become what they see, but no one acknowledges the fact that they are too skinny and will pass out in a matter of seconds due to nothing in their bodies. If curvier women were to walk the runway, the fashion society and many others would argue that it is not the right thing in the fashion world and no one wants to see a fat girl in designer clothes on a runway. Only a few would agree that curvier women on the runway would be an inspiration because they look normal to others and that is how we all need to be, healthy and normal. According to Dr. Davide Dragone and Dr. Luca Savorelli," to promote chubby fashion models when obesity is one of the major problems of industrialized countries seems to be a paradox." I do agree that obesity is a huge problem in industrialized countries like the United States but having a normal, healthy women walk the runway won't spark people to become sick and develop eating disorders due to the fact that the "regular" models are way to skinny. Models all over the world are always being looked at and judged and I think to have all shapes and sizes is a good thing to the men and women that compare their bodies everyday. Skinny models should start to become a thing of the past. Bring in the healthy models!

Source: http://www.metro.co.uk/lifestyle/861331-chubby-fashion-models-will-make-women-fat

Is Fashion Week Bad for Body Image?

With Fashion Week ending this week, I decided to add it into my blog. Fashion Week is the home of rail thin models and non existence food. When girls see how thin the models when they walk down the runway, it makes them change their ideas of "normal." I think that Fashion Week hurts many girls around the country, from normal girls to the models themselves. Media thrives off of Fashion Week and publicity is crazy. One article that stuck out to me was about Fashion Week being bad for body image and I totally agree with the author. The models at Fashion Week have it well. They "attend lavish parties" and all of Hollywood's finest watch the shows. "It is no wonder that supermodels have become role models for many women in our society," says Robert Tornambe, M.D. Seeing the bones poke through most of the models skin is horrible to look at because you know they are in pain whether physically or mentally. "Many are in their teens or early 20's, nearly six feet tall and have a BMI in the minus column,"says Tornambe. Looking at how women are supposed to look you never really know what is the average women and what she really looks like. " The average dress size for women is 12 to 14!," says Tornambe. Tornambe really does understand how much women want to look like a runway model. "Women are unduly influenced into negative opinions about themselves and forced to chase an illusion," Tornambe said. I think that every Fashion Week has problems with the models weight, but women should look more at the fashion rather than supposedly "role models" into today's society.


 Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-tornambe-md/is-fashion-week-a-good-id_b_822569.html

The Psychology of Beauty-Media affects body image (Dove)

When searching the web for videos dealing with body image and the media, I stumbled across this video that shows the negative effects of the media when dealing with body image. Even though most of the footage in the video is half naked women, the video really gets a point across. Seeing the different aspects that media affects the body is astounding. From plastic surgery to diet pill ads, the media controls everyone's vision of their body. Dove intended that the audience be shocked from the raw footage and seeing how much the media is in on the way we view our bodies. Making this video shows how much women really care about their bodies and would do anything from fad diets to plastic surgery to get the way the celebrities look or just have the "normal" body. After reading some of the comments on YouTube following the video, you really understand what those women are saying from being thin is not always beautiful and having the ideal body is never really attainable because no one is perfect. Seeing half naked, skinny, and beautiful women is all over the media these days. From advertisements, commercials, and television shows, the perfect body is getting out of hand. This video has been going around the web since 2009 and even if no one sees it or even if one person does, that one person could change a generation and start to have "normal" be the best thing a girl could be. Overall, Dove did an amazing job with the concept of the video and really captured my attention.

90210 Actresses Show A Lot of Skinny

Television actresses are becoming more and more skinny by every episode they appear on. One of the shows that I watch frequently is 90210 on the CW. Every episode, the actresses appear too skinny and have perfect hair and makeup. Seeing their collarbones pop out and small torsos makes everyone question if they are too skinny for television. According to Entertainment Weekly and Us Weekly, "they are shocked to discover that several female members of the cast of 90210 appear to have last eaten in fifth grade." The main female characters in the show are Shenae Grimes (Annie), and Jessica Stroup(Silver), Annalynne McCord(Naomi), which all appear to have skinny bodies."There is no denying that Stroup and Grimes look more frightening- you have to wonder if the show's producers tried to save money by casting by the pounds,"says Mary McNamara. From covers on tabloids these ladies have been seen as too thin and most importantly perfect for the ideal ladies in show business. I think with many skinny actresses in television today, 90210's wonderful ladies have been the skinniest yet. Having young girls seeing these stars on television only makes their body image worse. With eating disorders becoming more and more of a trend, television actresses seem to have the ideal body and that is what girls are trying to look like. Watching the show recently, you can tell that they have put on much more weight now from 2008, but they are still thin and too perfect for the average girl to be idolizing. 


Source: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/showtracker/2008/09/actresses-show.html

Sofia Vergara slimmed down for Pepsi Ad: Photoshop Blunder

Seeing skinny celebrities on magazine covers and ads is always common in today's society. Photoshop has become a photographers best friend when it comes to making an ad stand out. From slimming down arms and legs to lightening skin, photoshop has always been the key ingredient for a perfect ad. Basically every magazine cover you see has at least been touched up. In recent photoshop news, a Skinny Pepsi ad with Modern Family actress Sofia Vergara has become controversial. Vergara is mostly known for her curvacious body which stands out among all of the skinny actresses in today's media. Steve Hall of industry blog Ad Rants wrote," Women with big boobs aren't skinny, they are top heavy and top heavy is bad when it comes to our current culture's definition of rail thin beauty." I totally agree with Hall's comment. Most women that are curvy and are not rail thin are not seen as beautiful or accepted in the media today. When looking at all of the different comments about this ad, you see how negatively people have responded to it. Pepsi came out with a statement regarding the ad saying"our slim attractive new can is the perfect complement to today's most stylish looks," says Pepsi Co's Jill Beraud. Obviously Pepsi agrees with being skinny is more accepting and more stylish. Overall I think Vergara should not have been portrayed like that. If they wanted a skinny model on the cover they should have thought about that before taking away a beautiful women's curves.

Source:  http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1358498/Did-Pepsi-digitally-slim-curvy-Sofia-Vergara-ad-new-skinny-can.html?ito=feeds-newsxml

Glamour Magazine: Shocking Body Image News

Everyday a person is thinking to themselves that they look terrible and have something wrong about them. When reading this article from Glamour magazine, I really saw how statistics show me how many people are hurting their bodies and talking down to themselves from looking at all the celebrities in the media. In a recent study, Glamour magazine surveyed more than 300 women of all different sizes. What came out of it was that "on average, women have 13 negative body thoughts daily." Hearing that news was devastating. Once you think about how much women criticize their bodies, I feel like that is horrible to hear. Personally I can see that because not everyone is perfect and you can't help but think about your body daily. According to Kearney-Cooke, "our unattainable cultural beauty ideals, our celebrity worship all play a part." I completely agree with what Cooke is saying. In todays culture the only way to be accepted as beautiful is to be skinny, made up well, and have no flaws. I think many people idolize different celebrities and follow their beauty regimen from the same hairstyle to getting their bodies to look like theirs."There are so many times you can be hit with the message that your body isn't right- whether you see it on TV, hear it from your mom or just feel it," says Nichole Wood-Barcalow, Ph.D, a psychologist at the Laureate Eating Disorders Program in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Reading the rest of the article you really get to see that its not all your fault that you think negatively about your body everyday. Overall, I think this article was interesting and shows how much women think about their bodies.

Source:  www.glamour.com/heath-fitness/2011/02/shocking-body-image-news-97-percent-of-women-will-be-cruel-to-their-bodies-today

Commonplace Blog!

This is the start of a powerful commonplace topic that faces many people throughout today's society. Body Image is changing everyday and seeing how the media warps the perfect body into being the ideal body, many people are struggling with fitting into that category of being normal and skinny. I want to research and show how much the media is controlling peoples views on their bodies. From television to magazines, the issue of looking perfect is becoming more dangerous everyday. Hopefully by the end of this blog I will show how much the media negatively affects people around you. This is the start to a new movement of being perfect just how you are.