FINAL DRAFT
Why body image is being manipulated in UK media products, with special references to the diet and fashion industry.
Body image is defined as an individual’s perception of one’s own body and aesthetics in relation to beauty, often corresponding to an ideal standard present with in society. However it has been a widely debated topic to whether the ideal standard of beauty today is both healthy and realistic. With beautiful, size zero models such as Kate Moss being paraded in front of audiences and extensively edited advertisements constantly bombarding viewers, it is questionable as to what effect these media products have and furthermore why certain institutions use these to convey their messages.
Dr Arc Sigman investigated the immediate effect on the chemical balance of the brain with women, before and after being exposed to an underweight woman. The study concluded that there was a distinct change in cognitive behaviour after being exposed to the underweight woman. The test subjects’ self-esteem lessened and their perception of their own body image became more distorted, they felt lower in self-esteem and displeasure. Dr Arc Sigman’s investigation showed the effect of the exposure of one underweight woman, yet in present culture the audience can subsequently be exposed to a dozen or more ideal, underweight women with in one media product, which has been deduced to have an overwhelmingly harmful effect upon body image.
The Hazard of this issue has been picked up by the Advertising Standards Authority. In 2010; two advertisements for make-up were banned due to an overuse of Photoshop and for portraying unrealistic imaged that did not reflect the products capability. The Lancôme Paris Tient Miracle product claimed to give beautiful skin by aura which is supposedly, natural light being perspired by the flesh. The advertisement has a number of aspects that could introduce and influence individuals to be ensnared by the ideology it presents. Theories such as Two-step flow can be seen at work here, the advertisement uses emotive and desirable language such as beautiful and perfect parallel to a supposed beauty, the celebrity Julia Roberts. This combination of discourse and the use of Julia Roberts connotes that these images are indexical of beauty, this is a dangerous message for women.
Using the Yale-Hovland model of message effectiveness to dissect this text will help understand why the institution has presented beauty in such a way. Firstly the Exposure; this advertisement was due to be placed in a variety of women’s magazines, this ensures that the optimum amount of the preferred audience will see the product. The female audience’s attention would be grabbed by the evident hierarchy of Julia Robert’s beauty and success in comparison to the natural beauty that surrounds her. From this the audience can comprehend that the subtle colours and flowering rose are a natural symbolism for beauty and culturally romance, this image is faded away allowing the product and this women to take dominance in the image, these connotations subject the audience to the ideology that her beauty, which is connoted to be due to the product, is far superior to the rose.
The hierarchy in the image is designed to be accepted by the audience and the information retained in order to seek this dominance in beauty, disrupting the audiences’ body image perception causing cognitive dissonance and hence the finale stage of the Yale-Hovland model of message effectiveness; Change. This change of wanting to become the ideal of beauty presented, and therefore decreasing a likeness to the preferred readings’ own body image would fuel a demand to buy the product. However this beauty is unobtainable because it simply does not exist; created and formed from a computer editing software to form a creature that bares a resemblance to Julia Roberts.
The institute wants the audience to believe that this image is real and that they must strive for it, to increase monetary gain. However according to Petty and Cacioppo’s Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM), the audience must have a preconceive desire for the product before they will engage thoroughly with the advertisement, therefore the audience must already want to enhance their beauty before the text has an effect. So the question rises, whether the institutes are feeding their preferred reading a hegemonic ideal that should be followed, or are the institutes simply interpellating an image the audiences want to see.
Although it appears that audiences want this interpellated ideal. Feeding from it for role models and standards, the specific want for these images must have been previously planted into the subconscious. The use of these over edited images is an example of a hegemonic idea being indoctrinated into audiences, for the image could only have first been seen when shown by the institutes, and hence audiences would not therefore strive for such. There are two apparent reasons for such: firstly, the driving force; monetary gain. The cosmetic industry in Europe is worth 62.7 Billion Euros, using unrealistic images to lower the self-esteem of audiences encourages them to buy products that promise a temporary beauty fix, feeding into the bank of the industry and fuelling an ever vicious cycle.
The second factor has more political stance to its agenda that Feminists and Marxists oppose. Capitalistic institutes are naturally right of centre, which dictates that the objectification of women is acceptable and appropriate. By feeding information that encourages women to actively seek to improve their physical appearance, they are being indoctrinated that such behaviour is necessary to be of any worth in society. In order to be worth something therefore they must be objects, objects that need to be constantly updated and changes to be of subsequent value. This value, based on an individual’s looks, dictates to body image. The commodification of women has a darker motive rooted in obedience, women have been fetishized and as a commodity can also be sold, again for monetary gain, women are being dictated that they must be appealing objects and accept that their image should then be used to make money for the industry, whether directly in advertisements or simply by buying into this hegemonic ideal.
Naomi Wolf, author of The Beauty Myth sums the concept up as followed: “…culture fixated on female thinness is not an obsession about female beauty, [it is] an obsession about female obedience. Dieting is the most potent political sedative in women’s history; a quietly mad population is a tractable.” The supposition is that if women feel low, and inadequate due to their weight or natural appearance, it is no longer a question of beauty, it is about how far an individual is willing to strive for and fits into a false standard.
However practising psychologist Nancy Etcoff, at Harvard Medical School, states that the search for beauty is interpellated. In her studies she depicts that striving for beauty is a natural pursuit on a level close to Darwin’s theory of survival of the fittest. The endeavour for beauty is found in countless civilizations across the globe, and she argues that it is completely natural. However Etcoff’s argument is flawed, the normalization of this occurrence and the insinuation that it is a biological affair is simply speculation, as although beauty is sought for, in many cultures, these ideals change flippantly. Darwin’s theory claims that there is an evolution and enhancement that increases a species ability to survive. The standard of beauty does not simply evolve, but rather is dictated to by the institutions. In the Near East a larger stature was once reserved as being the desired aesthetics for the practicality it has for rearing children, however since the infiltration of the west, this standard has change drastically and now a slimmer figure is sought. This is understood to be due to the infiltration of the western culture’s domination over the Near East, subverting previous ideals for profitable gain.
In the topic of banning over air-brushed advertisements, following two of L’Oreal’s foundation campaigns, the ASA have cracked down heavily on standards for cosmetic advertisements due to concerns that these fake and unrealistic portrayals of beauty are distorting body image and warping the public’s view on normal blemishes and abnormalities as well as subsidising to low self-esteem and may even be a contributing factor that leads may to the development of eating disorders according to Guy Parker, Chief executive of the Advertising Standards Authority, who also states that over air-brushing and digital enhancing is misleading in selling cosmetics.
The hegemonic model of ideology that one must strive for perfection and be the dominant idea of what is beautiful, delves deeper with in the institutes as well as on the face value of what is produced. Model Caroline Louise Forlsing has sued Estee Lauder for causing irreversible damage to her career after using a “test shot” in one of their advertising campaigns. The image used of Caroline’s face was not digitally enhanced and lacked make-up. this image taken was initially for a different product and the model claims she never used the product advertised, this denotes that the media text was Photoshopped and does not show the true effects of the product being sold. By using Photoshop to enhance her face Estee Lauder are making a false claim to the capability of their product. The situation itself connotes that the importance of a “fake image” with in the fashion industry is present as by using Caroline Louise Forlsing’s natural and untouched face, she has been devalued and damaged.
The concept of a person’s value being determined by a façade, created digitally is a reflection of Jean Bauldrillard’s theory of Hyperreality; that audience assume and cannot differentiate the unreal from the real. This is prevalent in the case of an application found on MTV’s E-media platform. The epidemic of enhancing ones beauty seems to have an ulterior motive that pushes these airbrushed images to be deliberately exposed to individuals; profit. The MTV website consists of informative pages featuring Celebrity gossip, broadcasted content and articles on popular culture. One particular page was a prime example of institutional inter-textual advertising that blatantly encourages cosmetic surgery through the “reality” TV show The Hills.
The Heidi me app has a basic concept and interface feature. The software allows the audience to manipulate a photo of themselves to replicate any or all of the surgeries that The Hills character Heidi has been through. Although quality was not the priority of this application, the implication is that this seemingly novel app is being used to sell a hyperreal image and encourage cosmetic surgery to the preferred reading. In the last 3 years plastic surgery has risen to over 38,274 procedures a year, and this figure has been predicted to rise dramatically within the next few years.
The Heidi me app represents a hyperreal female body that is designed to encourage the user to actively change their natural body while selling the ability to achieve this unreal image through plastic modification and surgery. It directly publicises and encourages individuals to “improve” themselves. Despite that in most instances the app makes the individual look disfigured due to the poor graphics and interfacing, the ideology to press audience towards surgery is present. The Two-step flow theory can be applied throughout this application as well as on the site. The idea of becoming like Heidi is a representation that she is something to be desired, and is a commodity of MTV, that individuals should aim to look like. The rise in plastic surgery paired with applications such as the Heidi Me app implicates that audiences can no longer connect with and be satisfied with their own natural bodies and are seeking hyperreal ones. This hyperrealism reflected in the want to surgically modify their bodies into something that would not occur naturally.
Offering the fetishized object of Heidi as a symbol of beauty and sensuality would clarify why MTV would encourage individuals to Heidi themselves. It reveals how the institute has penetrated and is using television shows like The Hills to demoralise and sell to the audience. Further demonstrating this, via the search engine Google, when searching for information on the Heidi me application there were at least three cosmetic surgery companies claiming they could “Heidi-afie” the customer through surgery. Further researching this, the culprit for this Frankenstein application was found, selling cosmetic surgery with Heidi as the endorser, while neglecting to mention Heidi had nearly died during the lengthy procedures. This level of cognitive dissonance however is found throughout the industry, audiences frequently invest in products without informing themselves of the effects of those products. My media coursework, a magazine style segment of an episode called “Bare Beauty”, fabricated by myself, deals with the capabilities of cosmetic products as well as informing audiences of the chemicals effects of certain products such as Mascara.
The standards for body image are frequently being changed and distorted further into disfigured hyperrealistic images of what is even remotely possible for the audience, to demoralise and distort cognitive thinking within the preferred reading .This destruction of the boundary of what is and is not possible in regards of body image in UK media products by the diet and fashion industry are done so for one thing. The right of centre institutes want to commoditize the affected audience so as to sell the obedient individuals and to encourage them to want products that promise the impossible. It is apparent that most ulterior motives are for but one thing; money. The audiences’ wellbeing, sense of self and self-happiness are all but being stripped and sold away for a profit by the big industries, tricked into the distrustful arms of the cosmetic industry who promise a quick fix to an aesthetic “abnormality” that simply does not exist.
Word count: 2,278
DRAFT TWO:
Why body image is being manipulated in UK media products, with special references to the diet and fashion industry.
Body Image is defined as an individual’s perception of one’s own body and aesthetics in relation to beauty, often corresponding to an “ideal” standard present with in society. However it has been a widely debated topic to whether the “ideal” standard of beauty today is both healthy and realistic. With “beautiful”, “size zero” models such as Kate Moss being paraded in front of audiences and extensively edited advertisements constantly bombarding viewers, it is questionable as to what affect these media products have and furthermore, why certain institutions use these to convey their message. Dr Arc Sigman investigated the instantaneous effects of the chemical balance of the brain, within women before and after being exposed to an underweight woman. The study concluded that there was a distinct change in cognitive behaviour, after being exposed to the underweight woman. The women’s self-esteem lessened and they’re perception of their body image became that of dislike and loathing. Dr Arc Sigman’s investigation showed the effect of exposure of one underweight woman, yet in present culture, the audience can subsequently be exposed to a dozen or more “ideal”, underweight women with in one media product which has been deduced to have and overwhelmingly harmful effect upon body image.
The malevolence of this issue has been picked up by the Advertising Standards Authority, in 2010 two advertisements for make-up where banned due to an overuse of Photoshop and portraying unrealistic images that did not reflect the products capability. The Lancôme Paris Tient Miracle product claimed to give beautiful skin by “aura” which is supposedly, natural light being perspired by the flesh. The advertisement has a number of aspects that could introduce and influence individual’s to be ensnared by the ideology it presents. Theories such as two-step flow can be seen at work here, using emotive and desirable language such as “beautiful” and “perfect skin” parallel to a supposed beauty the celebrity Julia Roberts. This combination of Discourse and the use of Julia Roberts connotes that these images are indexical of beauty.
Using The Yale-Hovland model of message effectiveness to dissect this text will help to understand why the institution has presented beauty in such way. Firstly the Exposure, this advertisement was due to be placed in variety women’s magazines, this ensures that the preferred audience will see the products. The Female audience’s attention would be grabbed the evident hierarchy of Julia Robert’s beauty in comparison to the natural beauty that surrounds her, from this the audience can comprehend that the subtle colours and flowering rose is a natural, and often thought of as symbolic of beauty and romance, this image is faded away allowing the product and this women to take dominance in the image, these connotations subject the audience to the ideology that her beauty, which is denoted to be due to the product, is far superior to the rose. This hierarchy in the image is designed to be accepted by the audience and the information retained in in order to seek this dominance in beauty disrupting the audience’s body image perception causing cognitive dissonance and hence the final stage of the Yale-Hovland model of message effectiveness, change. This change of wanting to become the ideal of beauty presented, and therefore decreasing a likeness to the preferred audience’s own body image would fuel a want to buy the product. However this “beauty” is unobtainable because it simply does not exist, created and formed from a computer editing software to form a creature that bares a strange resemblance Julia Roberts look alike.
The Institute wants the audience to believe that this image is real and wants the preferred reading to strive for that, in order to increase monetary gain. However according to Petty and Cacioppo’s Elaboration Likelihood model (ELM), the audience must have a want for the product before they will engage thoroughly, therefore the Preferred reading must have had a preconceived thought that they must enhance they’re beauty before the advert has any affect, So the Questions rises whether the institutes are feeding the audiences a hegemonic ideal that the should follow or are the institutes simply interpullating and image the audiences want to see. I have determined that all though on face value it appears that the audiences want this interpullated ideology, feeding from it for role models, the specific want of these images most have been previously planted into the subconscious. The use of these over edited images is in fact an example of a Hegemonic idea being indoctrinated into audiences, for if audiences didn’t see an impossible image, then they would not need to strive for such. Reasons for this can fall into two catagories, the first is the driving factor; Monetary gain. The cosmetics industry in Europe is worth 62.7 billion Euros, using unrealistic images to put down audiences encourages them to spend more on products, feeding in to the bank of the Industry and fuelling an ever vicious circle. The second factor is a more political stance that feminist and Marxists Oppose. Institutes are naturally right of centre, which dictates that the objectification of women is acceptable and appropriate. By feeding information that encourages women to actively seek to improve their physical appearance they are being indoctrinated that they need to, to be of worth. In order to be worth something therefore they must be objects, objects that need to constantly be updated and changed to subsequently be of value. The value then dictates to body image. If one is not of any value, dictated by their looks, then they have a low opinion of their body image. A darker motive for this Objectification of women is rooted in obedience.
Naomi wolf, author of the Beauty myths sums it up as following: “A culture fixated on female thinness is not an obsession about female beauty, [it is] an obsession about female obedience. Dieting is the most potent political sedative in women's history; a quietly mad population is a tractable.” The reposition is that if women feel low, and inadequate simply due to their weight, or they’re natural appearance it is no longer a question of beauty, or in fact how beautiful you look, it is more about how far you fit into a made up standards. However Practicing Psychologist at Harvard Medical school, Nancy Etcoff states that the search for beauty is interpullated, as in her studies she depicts that striving for beauty is a natural pursuit on a level close to Darwin’s theories of Survival of the fittest. The endeavor for beauty is found in countless cultures and civilizations across the globe, and she argues that it is completely natural. However her argument is flawed. The normalization of this occurrence and the insinuation that it is a biological affair is simply speculation, as although yes beauty is sought in many cultures, these ideals change, flippantly. Survival of the fittest claims that there is and evolution that enhances that species ability to survive. The standard of Beauty does not simple evolve, it is rather dictated to by media institutions. In the middle east a larger stature was once reserved as being the pinnacle of beauty, however since the infiltration of the west, this standard has changed drastically and now a slimmer figure is sought, for no reason than the fact that the exposure of westernized images have polluted the middle east, and demonstrating the ideals. Therefore I can deduce that in fact, it is a Hegemonic ideal infiltrating audiences rather form the institutes for profitable gain with a political agenda rather than interpullation at play.
In topic of banning over air-brushed make up products, following two of L’Oreal’s foundation adverts. the ASA have cracked down heavily on standards for cosmetic advertisement due to concerns that these fake and unrealistic portrayals of beauty are distorting body image and warping what the public views as normal blemishes and abnormalities as well as contributing to low self-esteem and may even be a factor that causes many to develop eating disorders according to Guy Parker, chief executive of the Advertising Standards Authority who also states that over air-brushing and digital enhancing is misleading in selling cosmetics.
The hegemonic model of ideology that one must strive for perfection and be the dominant ideal of what is beautiful delves with in the institutes as well as on the face value of what is produced. Model Caroline Louise Forlsing is sued Estee lauder for causing irreversible damage to her career after using a “test shot” in their advertising campaign. The image used of Caroline’s face was not digitally enhanced and lacked make up. The image taken was initially for a different product, and the model claims she never used the product advertised, this denotes that the media text was photoshopped and does not show the true effects of the product being sold. By using makeup and Photoshop to enhance her face Estee Lauder is making a false claim as to the capability of the product. The situation itself connotes the importance and necessity of a “fake” image with in the fashion industry is present as by using Caroline Louise Forlsing’s natural face, she has been “devalued”.
The epidemic of “enhancing” ones beauty seems to have a dominating goal at the end that pushes these images to be exposed to individuals, money. An example of this was found on the MTV website, the website includes informative web pages on the shows available and has a pleather of hyperlinks to other institutes and web pages featuring celebrities. On one particular and seemingly simple page was a prime example of institutional inter-textual advertising that blatantly encouraged cosmetic surgery through the medium of a “reality” TV show; “The Hills” .
After watching an episode of the “reality” show the Hills, I adventured onto the e-media platform to explore the MTV site, and unsurprisingly the page lived up to my lack of expectations and seemed to choose a quantity over quality in relevance to what was available, similar to the range available on their broadcasting platform. However despite the generic bombardment of celebrity gossip and over sexualised images, one thing did catch my eye, not because it was a pinnacle of ingenious design or raised the eyebrow of intellectuals for being shocking and eccentric. Hell it wasn’t even remotely exciting or invoking. But it did catch my eye, so something about it must have been fascinating, right? Well yes the nature of it did provoke me more in shock at the essence of. In order to investigate this strange little piece of technology I clicked on the app (application) and assume that it was designed to either manipulate a passive audience into wanting what the app was selling or to stir up a panic over its morality.
The “Heidi me” app, as it was so named with its simple concept and appalling interface feature was simply a little program that allowed you to manipulate a photo of yourself to replicate any or all of the surgeries that “The Hills” character Heidi had gone through. Although once again quality was not the main priority of this application, the implication of it was the issue that this seemingly “harmless” app was being used to sell cosmetic surgery to fans of “The Hills”. Plastic surgery has been on the rise in the last 3 years and last year 38,274 procedures occurred. And this figure is predicted to rise dramatically in the next few years. The issue with the “Heidi Me” app is the representation of the female body and how it directly publicises and encourages individuals to “improve” themselves. Although this App in most cases makes the individual worse with the poor graphics, the ideology to press people into it, is still there. In the future, better apps could be regurgitated with this same idea. The two-step flow theory can be applied all through this application and on the site. The idea of becoming like “Heidi” is a way to represent her as something to be desired, individuals want to be her, therefore she is perfect, and we “must” strive for aesthetic perfection, and are then left with a pressure of guilt if we do not try.
The “Heidi Me” app had various features that allowed you to “replicate” her many surgeries on a photograph of you. This encourages you to dabble in how you can be “improved” and “better” yourself. It designates a heavy reliance on how despite that “Heidi” is an unpleasant person in the show, because she is what MTV denotes as beautiful, it doesn’t matter and she has become superior to the other characters who do not have this app via segregation, and more importantly, she is illustrated through her presentation, as being better than the audience. On The Hills page, she is the centre fold between two other cast members and stands out more. An app just for her reinforces this ideology that she is better than the others. It plays heavily on the insecurities that the predominantly female audience may have. This also strikes as odd, as a heavily manufactured and plastic-cased woman is being presented sexually to other women, and unless every female watching is homosexual the only other explanation is to offer Heidi as a role model as to what other women should be.
Offering Heidi as a symbol of Beauty and sensuality would clarify why MTV wants to encouraged individuals to “Heidi” themselves. It shows how the cosmetic institute has penetrated and is using shows like The Hills to demoralise, put down and sell to the audience. Further demonstrating this, I wandered the Internet via a search engine, looking for more about the “Heidi me “ app, perhaps a designer for it or a news article covering it, and was unsurprised to find three cosmetic companies claiming they could “Heidi-afie” an individual through cosmetic surgery. From this the culprit who thought up the awful Frankenstein piece was found, selling his cosmetic surgeries using Heidi to endorse such, but forget to mention that Heidi herself, nearly died during the lengthy procedures.
DRAFT ONE :
Why body image is being manipulated in UK media products, with special references to the diet and fashion industry.Body Image is defined as an individual’s perception of one’s own body and aesthetic in relation to beauty, often corresponding to an “ideal” standard present with in society. However it has been a widely debated topic to whether the “ideal” standard of beauty today is both healthy and realistic, With “beautiful”, “size zero” models such as Kate Moss being paraded in front of audiences and Extensively edited advertisements constantly bombarding viewers, it is questionable as to what affect these media products have and furthermore, why certain institutions use these to convey they’re message. Dr Arc Sigman investigated the instantaneous effects of the chemical balance of the brain, within women before and after being exposed to an underweight woman. The study concluded that there was a distinct change in cognitive behaviour, after being exposed to the underweight woman. The women’s self-esteem lessened and they’re perception of their body image became that of dislike and loathing. Dr Arc Sigman’s investigation showed the effect of exposure the one underweight woman, yet in present culture, the audience can subsequently be exposed to a dozen or more “ideal”, underweight women with in one media product which has been deduced to have and overwhelmingly harmful effect upon Body Image.
The malevolence of this issue has been picked up by the Advertising Standards Authority, in 2010 two advertisements for make-up where banned due to an overuse of Photoshop and portraying unrealistic images that did not reflect the products capability. The Lancôme Paris Tient Miracle claimed to give beautiful skin by “aura” which is supposedly, natural light being perspired by the flesh. The advertisement has a number of aspects that could introduce and influence individual’s to be ensnared by the ideology it presents. Theories such as two-step flow can be seen at work here, using emotive and desirable language such as “beautiful” and “perfect skin” parallel to a supposed beauty the celebrity Julia Roberts. This combination of Discourse and the use of Julia Roberts connotes that these images are indexical of beauty.
Using The Yale-Hovland model of message effectiveness to dissect this text will help to understand why the institution has presented beauty in such way. Firstly the Exposure, this Advertisement was due to be placed in variety women’s magazines, ensure that the preferred audience would see the products. The Female audience’s attention would have been grabbed the evident a hierarchy of Julia Roberts beauty in comparison to the natural beauty that surrounds her, From this the audience can comprehend that the subtle colours and flowering rose being a natural, and often thought of as a symbol of beauty and romance, this image is faded away allowing the product and this women to take dominance in the image, these connotations subject the audience to the ideology that her beauty, which is denoted to be due to the product, is far superior to the rose. This hierarchy in the image is designed be accepted by the audience and the information retained in in order to seek this dominance in beauty disrupting the audience’s body Image perception causing cognitive dissonance and hence the final stage of the Yale-Hovland model of message effectiveness, change. This change of wanting to become the ideology of beauty presented, and therefore decreasing a likeness to the preferred audience’s own body image would fuel a want to buy the product. However this “beauty” is unobtainable because it simply does not exist, created and formed from a computer editing software to creature to strange Julia Roberts look alike.
The Institute wants the audience to believe that this image is real and wants the preferred reading to strive for that, in order to increase monetary gain. However according to Petty and Cacioppo’s Elaboration Likelihood model (ELM), the audience must have a want for the product before they will engage thoroughly, therefore the Preferred reading must have had a preconceived thought that they must enhance they’re beauty before the advert has any affect .
In topic of banning over air-brushed make up products, following two of L’Oreal’s foundation adverts. the ASA have cracked down heavily on standards for cosmetic advertisement due to concerns that these fake and unrealistic portrayals of beauty are distorting body image and warping what the public views as normal blemishes and abnormalities as well as contributing to low self-esteem and may even be a factor that causes many to develop eating disorders according to Guy Parker, chief executive of the Advertising Standards Authority who also states that over air-brushing and digital enhancing is misleading in selling cosmetics.
The hegemonic model of ideology that one must strive for perfection and be the dominant ideal of what is beautiful delves with in the institutes as well as on the face value of what is produced. Model Caroline Louise Forlsing is sued Estee lauder for causing irreversible damage to her career after using a “test shot” in their advertising campaign. The image used of Caroline’s face was not digitally enhanced and lacked make up. The image taken was initially for a different product, and the model claims she never used the product advertised, this denotes that the media text was photoshopped and does not show the true effects of the product being sold. By using makeup and Photoshop to enhance her face Estee Lauder is making a false claim as to the capability of the product. The situation itself connotes the importance and necessity of a “fake” image with in the fashion industry is present as by using Caroline Louise Forlsing’s natural face, she has been “devalued”.
The epidemic of “enhancing” ones beauty seems to have a dominating goal at the end that pushes these images to be exposed to individuals, money. An example of this was found on the MTV website, the website includes informative web pages on the shows available and has a pleather of hyperlinks to other institutes and web pages featuring celebrities. On one particular and seemingly simple page was a prime example of institutional inter-textual advertising that blatantly encouraged cosmetic surgery through the medium of a “reality” TV show; “The Hills” .
After watching an episode of the “reality” show the Hills, I adventured onto the e-media platform to explore the MTV site, and unsurprisingly the page lived up to my lack of expectations and seemed to choose a quantity over quality in relevance to what was available, similar to the range available on their broadcasting platform. However despite the generic bombardment of celebrity gossip and over sexualised images, one thing did catch my eye, not because it was a pinnacle of ingenious design or raised the eyebrow of intellectuals for being shocking and eccentric. Hell it wasn’t even remotely exciting or invoking. But it did catch my eye, so something about it must have been fascinating, right? Well yes the nature of it did provoke me more in shock at the essence of. In order to investigate this strange little piece of technology I clicked on the app (application) and assume that it was designed to either manipulate a passive audience into wanting what the app was selling or to stir up a panic over its morality.
The “Heidi me” app, as it was so named with its simple concept and appalling interface feature was simply a little program that allowed you to manipulate a photo of yourself to replicate any or all of the surgeries that “The Hills” character Heidi had gone through. Although once again quality was not the main priority of this application, the implication of it was the issue that this seemingly “harmless” app was being used to sell cosmetic surgery to fans of “The Hills”. Plastic surgery has been on the rise in the last 3 years and last year 38,274 procedures occurred. And this figure is predicted to rise dramatically in the next few years. The issue with the “Heidi Me” app is the representation of the female body and how it directly publicises and encourages individuals to “improve” themselves. Although this App in most cases makes the individual worse with the poor graphics, the ideology to press people into it, is still there. In the future, better apps could be regurgitated with this same idea. The two-step flow theory can be applied all through this application and on the site. The idea of becoming like “Heidi” is a way to represent her as something to be desired, individuals want to be her, therefore she is perfect, and we “must” strive for aesthetic perfection, and are then left with a pressure of guilt if we do not try.
The “Heidi Me” app had various features that allowed you to “replicate” her many surgeries on a photograph of you. This encourages you to dabble in how you can be “improved” and “better” yourself. It designates a heavy reliance on how despite that “Heidi” is an unpleasant person in the show, because she is what MTV denotes as beautiful, it doesn’t matter and she has become superior to the other characters who do not have this app via segregation, and more importantly, she is illustrated through her presentation, as being better than the audience. On The Hills page, she is the centre fold between two other cast members and stands out more. An app just for her reinforces this ideology that she is better than the others. It plays heavily on the insecurities that the predominantly female audience may have. This also strikes as odd, as a heavily manufactured and plastic-cased woman is being presented sexually to other women, and unless every female watching is homosexual the only other explanation is to offer Heidi as a role model as to what other women should be.
Offering Heidi as a symbol of Beauty and sensuality would clarify why MTV wants to encouraged individuals to “Heidi” themselves. It shows how the cosmetic institute has penetrated and is using shows like The Hills to demoralise, put down and sell to the audience. Further demonstrating this, I wandered the Internet via a search engine, looking for more about the “Heidi me “ app, perhaps a designer for it or a news article covering it, and was unsurprised to find three cosmetic companies claiming they could “Heidi-afie” an individual through cosmetic surgery. From this the culprit who thought up the awful Frankenstein piece was found, selling his cosmetic surgeries using Heidi to endorse such, but forget to mention that Heidi herself, nearly died during the lengthy procedures.
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