What a complicated, contradictory world we live in. I was so proud of the fashion world's newly found acceptance of curvier models, but a new Arizona State University study has found that "plus-size" models actually cannot sell products and collectively lower (?!?!?) our self esteem.
Are we delusional enough to think that simply because a 6'1", 110-lb. model on the runway is wearing the clothes, that they will be that slimming on us too? Or maybe that face wash will give us high, razor-sharp cheekbones like hers in that magazine ad? Or perhaps the lotion she's slathering on in that commercial will make our cellulite magically disappear too, since she appears to have none pocking her legs.
According to the study, "Increasingly common ads and catalogues featuring plus-size models are unlikely to work on their intended customers. That’s according to a new study by researchers at ASU, the University of Cologne in Germany and Erasmus University in the Netherlands, which demonstrates a link between model sizes in advertisements and the self-esteem of consumers looking at the ads." Naomi Mandel, marketing associate professor in the W. P. Carey School of Business at ASU, explained, “we found that overweight consumers demonstrated lower self-esteem – and therefore probably less enthusiasm about buying products – after exposure to any size models in ads (versus ads with no models). Also, normal-weight consumers experienced lower self-esteem after exposure to moderately heavy models, such as those in Dove soap’s ‘Real Women’ campaign, than after exposure to moderately thin models.”
They based their study on the idea that looking at waif models can negatively affect a girl's self-esteem and even cause eating disorders, but they found that exposure to plus-size models can also have similarly negative effects.
In the experiments, hundreds of female students were categorized as having low, normal or high body mass index (BMI) based on their heights and weights. They were invited to a lab, but were not told the true nature of the study, where they were shown a variety of ads and told to answer several questions. Some questions showed how the participants’ self-esteem shifted based on the models' sizes they saw in the ads and whether they considered themselves to be similar to or different from those sizes.
Low-BMI, thinner women tended to experience a boost in self-esteem when they viewed all models because they identified positively with the thinner models and saw themselves as different from the heavier models.
Higher-BMI, heavier women dropped in self-esteem when looking at all models because they saw themselves as different from the thinner, idealized ones and similar to the overweight models.
Normal-BMI women had the most shifts in self-esteem, depending on what types of images they saw and could therefore be the most influenced by pictures in ads. For example, if they viewed a moderately thin model, they felt similar and good; if they saw a moderately heavy model, they worried they were similar and overweight.
And to think, with the revolution on the runway in recent months, a few designers thought they were sending out a positive message to women by eliminating stick-thin models in their shows, but the reality is that both underweight and overweight models can make us feel worse about ourselves. How is it possible that only one body type is ideal to women? While I definitely discourage being unhealthy, it is important to recognize and accept that everybody's body is different and beautiful. I'm really disappointed that women of all shapes and sizes won't be considered perfect from a consumer's standpoint any time soon.