Marilyn Monroe Body Image

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Marilyn Monroe was and still is considered one of the sexiest women to ever live. People adored her body because of it shape and curves that it had, not because of her size. Now, almost 70 years later if people look like Marilyn Monroe they are considered plus size and overweight. The simple explanation for this change in the way people look at size is explained through the skewed perception of body image that the fashion industry is portraying. If you pick up any fashion magazine or log onto any fashion media platform you see models that don’t have an inch of imperfection anywhere on their body. According to Rehab.com, models in 1975 were 8% thinner than the average American woman. In 2014, models were 23% thinner (Bahadur 2014). How society …show more content…

Today people are very easily convinced and persuaded by what they read and see. When a person logs onto their social media account and scrolls through their feed they are shown perfect bodies, flawless hair and the most ideal lifestyle. In The Media and Body Image, Maggie Wykes and Barrie Gunter talk about how the advances of today have affected the idea of perfection by saying, “Computer technology has provided the capability of enhancing special attributes to create an almost perfect unblemished form that appears natural” (Wykes & Gunter 2005, 155). The industry is so caught up in perfect and the idolized look that they have created that they will alter and change an appearance just fit into that culturally ideal image that has been …show more content…

A lot of people don’t agree with the fashion media when it portrays images of what is supposed to be the “ideal body” but the problem they have is that the rest of the world does and because of that, people are not excepting of other body shapes and sizes (San Francisco State University 1988). Whether people choose to pay attention to the advertisements and media is up to them, but even if they don’t, they will never be able to completely escape it. From billboards to magazine covers waiting in line at the grocery store, people will be exposed to the messages they are sending. The fashion industry has embodied certain acceptable and unacceptable codes and conventions and has created new rules for the fashion world and they expect everyone to follow them (Craik 1994, 5). According to the Better Business Bureau a typical high fashion model will be between 5’9” and 6’, weigh no more than 130 pounds, have long legs, wide set eyes and blemish free skin. In a society that thrives on media such as television, advertisements and social platforms what people see is what they are inspired by. All these images put out there by the fashion industry are instructions on to how to look, dress and feel about our bodies (Bloomingfield-Deal 2016). The beauty standards that are shown to people through the fashion industry and media are almost like trends. Whenever a

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