Running head: BEAUTIFUL ILLUSIONS 1

Beautiful Illusions

Emma Cummings

Arizona State University

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Abstract

Body dissatisfaction is a continually growing phenomenon among women, no matter

what their age. This paper seeks to show the specific evidence and impact that the fashion

industry has on women’s body image. As women view the pictures of fashion models found in

magazines, clothing stores, and television, they compare those images to themselves. As a result,

normal, everyday women are feeling “less than”. The fashion industry wants people to believe

that thinness is better, that worth comes from beauty, and that men only find women attractive

when they look like models. This feeling of inadequacy compels women towards unhealthy

behaviors or procedures in attempt to change they way they look, which causes negative effects

on their physical and mental health. This paper will explain just what those behaviors are and the

attempted solutions.

Keywords: body dissatisfaction, fashion industry, beauty, plus-size

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How does the average female measure beauty? Most women base it off what is fed to

them through advertisements all around. Hence, the bedrock of overall beauty and worth for

most women, young and old, is how well they measure up to societies depiction of physical

beauty. These portrayals of beauty are most commonly seen in fashion models. Although not

every woman flips through high fashion magazines or attends the fashion week runway events,

they do shop for clothing. The advertisements displayed in clothing stores are a subtle and often

unnoticed way that the fashion industry sews the idea of perfect beauty in a woman’s heart. Most

are not aware of it, but images like those seen in Victoria’s Secret engrain the message that “thin

is desirable” in women’s minds. Even if a store did not have any images of women in their

clothing, mannequins are still present. Mannequins are shaped in the same way as a fashion

model: thin, tall, and able to look perfect in any article of clothing. Women are given a distorted,

unrealistic concept of societies qualifications of beauty through images in the fashion industry. It

is for this reason that the fashion industry promotes body dissatisfaction among women by its

prevalence of the thin ideal.

As the intake of fashion magazines increases, so does body dissatisfaction. Park

conducted an experiment on college females resulting in the following proven hypothesis: the

consumption of beauty and fashion magazines does indeed lead to women having an increased

desire for thinness (2005). The increase of body dissatisfaction can easily lead to the slippery

slope of eating disorders. In fact, many women are in the pre-eating disorder phase and they do

not even know it. In his writings, A theory of social comparison processes, Leon Festinger, an

American social psychologist, explains in his Social Comparison Theory (1954). This theory

states that humans assess themselves, including their opinions and abilities, based on comparing

themselves to another (Festinger, 1954). People will either engage in upward comparison, which
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is when they measure themselves up against someone that they perceive to be better than them,

or they will engage in downward comparison, which is when they measure themselves up against

someone that they perceive to be worse than them. Either way, these comparisons are

counterproductive, only producing feelings of inferiority or pride. According to the Social

Comparison Theory, the media, including fashion, serves as a reference point for women to

measure themselves against (Sheldon, 2010). This is an upward appearance comparison for

women as they perceive fashion models to be better looking than them (Arigo, Schumacher, &

Martin, 2013). Consider this: fashion models are taller and weigh less than the average woman,

projecting an unrealistic physical standard of thinness (Sheldon, 2010). These models weigh

15%-20% less than what would be healthy for their height (Wiseman, Sunday, & Becker, 2005).

With these models being glorified in today’s culture, naturally women are going to stumble into

body dissatisfaction as a result.

Contradictory to the previous stance, it is said that the fashion industry and images of

thin women are not the cause of body dissatisfaction, body dysmorphia, or eating disorders, but

rather that deep emotional and mental issues are. One study concluded that not only media, but

the influence of friends and family serve as manipulators to one’s body image (Park, 2005). In a

very recently conducted study, individuals with eating disorders were asked what they thought

the cause of their disorder was. 50% of anorexic participants confessed that cognitive, social, and

emotional issues such as unhealthy relationships, pressures from friends and family, bullying,

perfectionism, stress, anxiety, and depression (Salafia, Jones, Haugen, & Schaefer, 2015). Only

8% of participants said that media standards were the cause of their eating disorder (Salafia,

Jones, Haugen, & Schaefer, 2015). 2% of people without eating disorders said that they are

caused by past traumatic events, while 23% of those with eating disorders said the same (Salafia,
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Jones, Haugen, & Schaefer, 2015). Even heavy focusing on the body from athletic coaches and

trainers can lead individuals down the road of body image problems. This would prove that there

are several major and overlooked components of body dissatisfaction and eating disorder

development.

Although there are other contributing factors to body image related issues like the ones

listed above, the depiction of the thin ideal presented in the fashion industry certainly does not

help. It only reinforces body dissatisfaction. It ignites a drive for thinness. Deep emotional

trauma does play a huge part in the causes of an eating disorder, but that trauma was going to

manifest into something, whether that be alcohol, drugs, sex, or something else. These childhood

horrors are manifested into both body dissatisfaction and eating disorders because the fashion

industry twists reality by projecting the imagery of unattainable physical standards for women.

When past hurts collide with those twisted images, it can absolutely have detrimental effects on

body image struggles (Swiatkowski, 2016). It is a human desire to belong and fit in somewhere.

The fashion industry communicates that you will fit in if you look a certain way. This issue is

hardly a new one. For centuries society has given women a certain physical standard to live up

to, they just vary over the years (Wiseman, Sunday, & Becker, 2005). The more that women fill

their minds with an unattainable standard, the more they believe that that is what is beautiful.

The more they believe that that standard is beautiful and ideal, the more anxiety they get when

they realize that they do not match up to it. The more anxiety they get, the more they try to

achieve that ideal beauty through compulsive behaviors. Though they may think that with

enough dieting and exercise they can achieve that certain body type, they do not actually have

complete control over it, causing appearance anxiety to increase even more. Through all of this,

health may actually decline, and the less time and energy women possess to focus on the
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important things in life. Therefore, not only does body dissatisfaction increase, but so do feelings

of anxiety, loneliness, disconnection, and overall discontentment with life.

In addition to the fashion industry promoting body dissatisfaction among women which

leads to compulsive behaviors, but it can also lead to more harmful things such as plastic surgery

procedures. To backtrack, thinness is not the enemy, rather the lack of variety and authenticity in

projected body types. Many healthy people have thinner builds, but thin does not equivalate to

health. Destruction comes into play when the excessiveness of extreme thinness that is projected

in media leads to women compulsively attempting to alter their bodies so that they may fit into a

certain mold. In opposition, Charlotte and Patrick Markey state that there is little to no fault in

women wanting to surgically alter their appearance since it is attached to their self-worth (2009).

They also conclude that the desire to have body altering surgery mainly stems from bullying or

teasing that was received in an individual’s past, rather than media impacts (Markey, C. N., &

Markey, P. M. 2009). Additionally, adolescents agree that plastic surgery is appropriate when

someone is desiring to feel more confident (Lunde, 2013). From her study, Lunde also finds that

there are no major differences in the acceptance of cosmetic surgery between those who often

view fashion magazines and those who do not (2013). What Lunde failed to consider is that the

fashion industry does not only exist in magazines. It is in every trendy clothing store that

adolescents are frequently shopping in. The fashion industry has sneakily brainwashed people to

believe that it is acceptable to have cosmetic surgery simply to cure one’s dissatisfaction with

their appearance. Fashion has done this by endorsing the idea, through advertisements, that

physical beauty is interchangeable with worth. Thus, causing women to compare and to feel less

than. (Sheldon, 2010).

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Cosmetic surgery seems like the perfect way to be transformed into that mold of

perfection. One investigation proves that women in the middle of their lives have a more positive

attitude towards cosmetic surgery because their self-esteem is lower (Dunaev, Schulz, &

Markey, 2016). This decrease in physical self-esteem is most likely caused by the combination of

aging, having children, and busy schedules that provide less time and energy to exercise.

However, as if these factors are not enough, a woman takes one look at a fashion model in an

outfit that she, a middle-aged mom, would love to wear, but feels like she cannot. Her self-

esteem is lowered even more and body shame creeps in, compelling her towards the idea of

cosmetic surgery. Out of 114 American women, 14% had undergone plastic surgery, 14% had

already planned to, and 35% wanted to (Dunaev, Schulz, & Markey, 2016). Again, the

combination of natural body changes and the unattainable images of women in the fashion

industry results in a higher probability of cosmetic surgery procedures amidst women.

Although plus-size clothing advertisements seem to help body dissatisfaction among

women, they do not negate the negative repercussions of thin ideal advertisements. Labeling

heavier models as “plus-sized” sends out a message that they are not normal, so much so that

they need to be listed under a separate category than just regular, healthy women. Researcher

Amanda M. Czerniawski says from personal plus-size modeling experience that her “…body that

was average in society but ‘plus-size’ in fashion” (2011). Even the definition of plus-size in the

fashion world is skewed. A size eight would be considered plus-size in fashion (Czerniawski

2016), and the average American woman is a size 14. If these size 8 models are being labeled as

overweight or “plus-size”, how is the average size 14 woman supposed to feel about her body?

In an opposing stance to the lack of influence that plus-size modeling has on body

positivity, it is believed that plus-size modeling images in the fashion industry are creating a
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more diverse portfolio of women, which does results in body positivity. A study was performed

and women who viewed images of plus-size models reported having a higher level of body

satisfaction than when viewing thinner models (Clayton, Ridgway, & Hendrickse, 2017). In an

even more recent study, 145 women varying from ages 18 to 41 years old were given a body

satisfaction questionnaire, a visual analogue scale, and upward and downward comparison

stimuli (Moreno-Domínguez, Servián-Franco, Paso, & Cepeda-Benito, 2018). The stimuli used

in this experiment were 24 images of thin women and 24 images of larger women (Moreno-

Domínguez, Servián-Franco, Paso, & Cepeda-Benito, 2018). In response to these stimuli, the

participants had a better body image outlook when viewing the heavier models verses the thinner

ones (Moreno-Domínguez, Servián-Franco, Paso, & Cepeda-Benito, 2018).

Though images of plus-size models may have a more positive impact on women’s body

image, the fact of the matter is that there are still a higher number of thin models verses plus-size

models in the industry. Even if there were a continued increase of plus-size models, the problem

would not be solved. First and foremost, there is no moderation or in-between when it comes to

fashion models. Either extremely thin or excessively overweight models are advertised, leaving

the average sized woman without any representation. Owen and Spencer surveyed both women

and men to see how viewing advertisements of normal women at healthy weights affected them,

and the result was a more positive body perception (2013). It may seem as if plus-size models

would normalize body image and lead people towards body acceptance, but many of the models

that are considered “plus-size” are not as large as they are portrayed. Agencies use “fat pads” to

create the illusion that a woman has larger breasts, a bigger butt, and heavier thighs while

maintaining a thinner face and waist (Czerniawski 2016). Even when walking by a clothing store

fit to tailor to larger women, the mannequins still impress a standard on them. Though these
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mannequins are larger than one’s you would usually see, they still have fit and trim bodies. Their

hips and breasts are wider, and though their midsection is as well, it still seems to be flat and

toned. The fashion industry sets certain standards of beauty even with larger women. It does not

matter who you are or what you weigh, the fashion industry will always have an opinion on how

you should appear, regardless of how accepting of all body shapes they suggest that they are.

Disclaimers of photo editing on fashion magazines will not affect how women view

them. In 2016, four experts decided to test out this theory. They presented women with images of

bikini models that had disclaimers written in, however it was ineffective with only microscopic

benefits (Paraskeva, Lewis-Smith, & Diedrichs, 2016). On the flip side, adolescents have

reported that they believe disclaimers would help from making major comparisons with

airbrushed models (Paraskeva, Lewis-Smith, & Diedrichs, 2016). In contradiction, studies have

shown that disclaimers actually open up the doorway to increased negative body thoughts

(Selimbegović, & Chatard, 2015).

Not only are normal, everyday women influenced by the fashion industry’s drive for

thinness, but so are the actual fashion models. The models in fashion magazines have an

extremely high drive for thinness due to the expectations that are put on them. Many of these

models have self-reported that their employers are often commenting on their weight or level of

fitness and relating it to their career success (Rodgers, Ziff, Lowy, Yu, & Austin, 2017). Not

only are their agents hinting towards weight loss and muscle gain, but they deliberately ask their

models to lose weight (Meyers, 2018). Because of this, models participate in various behaviors

in attempt to change their bodies which include purging, food restriction, skipping meals, over

exercising, diet pills, and detoxes (Rodgers, Ziff, Lowy, Yu, & Austin, 2017). These behaviors
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are extremely harmful to the human body, preventing it from functioning as it was designed to

do so. Models are physically and mentally breaking under the pressures of their career.

On the contrary to the previous evidence, two experts report after comparing professional

fashion models to sufficiently matched women that the longer models were in the industry, the

higher level of body appreciation they possessed (Swami & Szmigielska, 2013). The drive for

thinness may be greater among professional models, but body dissatisfaction is sparse (Swami &

Szmigielska, 2013). Models may think that they like their bodies, but the way they treat them

proves just the opposite. It is no wonder why these models think they are beautiful if they

themselves are the standard of beauty in society. They have already achieved the ideal. However,

the usage of the previously mentioned weight-control behaviors such as taking laxatives,

purging, rigid exercising, and food restriction that these models are engaging in merely serve the

purpose of changing the way their bodies look, showing that they have little respect, acceptance,

or appreciation for them (Preti, Usai, Miotto, Petretto, & Masala 2008).

To wrap up, several viewpoints on this social issue are argued, including root causes of

body dissatisfaction, body dissatisfaction leading to cosmetic surgery, plus-size modeling,

photoshopping disclaimer effectiveness, and the condition of fashion models. There is far more

evidence that the fashion world is harmful towards women’s body image than there is for any

opposing viewpoint. This means that the fashion industry is harmful to women and their self-

perception. This issue will never completely go away, because fashion will never completely go

away. However, improvements can be made by adding a considerably greater variety of women-

including shapes, sizes, colors, and features- to the fashion industry. Across the board, the

fashion industry advocates body dissatisfaction among women by its predominance of the thin

ideal.
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