The Influence Of Body Image In The Fashion Industry

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The body is viewed as a symbol, as well as an important form of cultural communication depending on the societal context. Being indivisibly linked to, and forming part of the society, the fashion industry is known to widely promoted and encouraged, through media and advertising, the unrealistic body images of the emaciated female and the overly muscular male silhouettes, which reflects the fears, values and aspirations of contemporary society. The fashion industry is by no means held responsible for this obsession with slenderness and muscularity, but is seen as a powerful force in the promotion of the thin feminine and muscular masculine forms.

Being at the decisive starting point of the entire fashion chain, the fashion designer plays a vital role in their design creations, in deciding what is “in”, and as such what is the ideal in terms …show more content…

Given the number of women that appear in advertisements aimed at men, it is possible that the male viewer’s image of himself is affected by the female’s images to which he is exposed. Despite men being generally more satisfied with their body image, the increasing pressure seen in marketing efforts to appear physically attractive and muscular may also result in a change in body image perceptions (Gulas and McKeage, 2000), to strive toward developing a muscular body to appear more masculine (Baird and Grieve, 2006).

Considering the preference of fashion designers to base their designs on idealized slender mannequins; the widespread reach and influence of fashion images through media and advertising; and their detrimental effects on consumers from body image dissatisfaction through the portrayal of unrealistic body shapes; as well as the rates of disordered eating and weight control behaviors among professional fashion models, celebrities, consumer youths and

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