My moment came just recently scrolling through my Instagram feed where I love looking at the pretty pictures….anything on edgy fashion and style is like dark chocolate to me. So there I am happily swiping swiping swiping and WAIT wtf is that…it’s a Puma Ad featured on Alton Gray (great retailer in Montreal btw so I don’t blame them).
So here we have this model with impossibly large breasts (for her frame)..tiny-miniscule waist – and yes same meaning I know but I’m making a point – and large sloping hips….this is an impossibility for teenage and tween girls….holy fuck it’s hard enough for me in my 50s to see it without feeling like I need to lay off the chocolate myself.
So this brings me to my righteousness indignation (fancy term for pissed off) about ads like this. I’m not against advertising I appreciate a well photographed image and a great message. What I object to is how these ads are targeted to these young girls (my daughter included) showing them this photoshopped perfection and them thinking that they’ll never be good enough. How can they be it’s not real. I’m feeling like I need to bitch slap PUMA upside the head.
Good luck telling a 15 year old girl that this is not healthy- go on I dare you. Rolling of the eyes, arms crossed, heavy sighing (and that’s just me)…they don’t believe us. As to that why would they because…wait for it….the boys buy into it as well. These images appeal to boys (and girls too whatever) so isn’t their expectation possibly skewed? It’s all fucked.
Some could argue look at publications back in the day – teen and fashion mags from the 80s – that was going on then. Well yeah it did but that doesn’t make it right. We ‘older folk’ didn’t have to deal with a bombardment of perfect images on social media or the Kardashians.
So that was my ahah moment.
FATITUDE 