Ralph Lauren

This image literally made my heart ache. I am currently reading a mass amount of literature concerning women in the media and the sexualization of young girls. I am also reading a novel called "The Beauty Myth" by Naomi Wolf. Her first chapter, SPOT ON, describes this image.
Wolf writes that when women started gaining political and economic power, social institutions moved to create a stricter hold on women. So while we have progressed from being controlled by rules and laws that prohibited us from being able to vote, work, or have our own reproductive rights and choices, we are now controlled by the Beauty Myth. The Beauty Myth is, "a violent backlash against feminism that uses images of female beauty as a political weapon against women's advancement." Wolf also states that since the Beauty Myth has become a dominating social force, women's eating disorders and cosmetic surgery have held women back from truly being free and/or liberated. The popularity of eating disorders has become a problem of exponential proportions in the United States.
Interesting enough this advertisement encompasses, in my opinion, everything that the Beauty Myth represents. Yes, this women has a sense of agency- she is modeling for a famous clothing brand. We can assume that because she is a model she has a substantial amount of money. But what of her body shape? Maybe this is her natural look, but I doubt it.
Upon further research, I learned that this advertisement was photo shopped. In a statement made by Ralph Lauren this past fall, he stated, "For over 42 years we have built a brand based on quality and integrity. After further investigation, we have learned that we are responsible for the poor imaging and retouching that resulted in a very distorted image of a woman's body. We have addressed the problem and going forward will take every precaution to ensure that the caliber of our artwork represents our brand appropriately."
So while the model is, apparently, not as thin as she is portrayed, she was still photo shopped to appear that way. What angers me about this is that this was done for shock value. While shocking, this still seeps into the minds of women as a norm. Even for me, I struggle that I am not as thin as many famous women I admire. Ads like this reinforce it. At the end of the day, I know enough to say fuck it. But for those women and men who are not aware of how to read the media- this is normal. And that is a dark thought.