Changing the Cultural Aesthetic of Beauty:

The Effect of Plus-size Models in

Advertising on Body Image of
Average and Plus-size Women

Elizabeth Senowitz
Professor Alter
Research in the Disciplines: Fashion
 Introduction
• Research Question: What is the effect
of viewing plus-sized models in
advertising on body image perception
of average and plus-size women?
• Does it result in enhanced perception of their
own body image?
• Does it make plus-size socially acceptable?
• Does it change the cultural aesthetic of
thinness?
• What is the psychology of living in a female
body that is larger than the acceptable
cultural norm (living fat)?
 Research Process
• Searched google scholar using key words:
– Plus-size models
– Body Image
– Fashion and Fat
– Beauty Industry and Plus-size Models
– Social comparison theory
– Panopticon

– Searched the internet for articles and videos

• Plus-size models
• Fat Shaming
• The Psychology of Being Overweight
• Full Fashion Week Fashion Show video

• Went to the RU library

- Looked for books referenced in articles I found on Google Scholar
- Purchased a book on Amazon: Fashioning Fat
 Thesis
• Women who self-identify as being comfortable
with the size and shape of their bodies will
experience feelings of positive validation after
comparing themselves to average or plus-size
models.
• Women who self-identify as always dieting or
chronically unhappy with their bodies, will
experience feelings of negative validation after
comparing themselves to average or plus-size
models.
 Theoretical Framework
PRIMARY
• Social Comparison Theory (Festinger)
– People have a tendency to compare themselves to
others whom they believe represent an idealized version
of a standard that is socially acceptable.
– When they see someone they identify in this way, they
immediately compare themselves against the standard
and they make an assessment to the extent that they
measure up to the standard.
– Social Comparison can be upward or downward.
• Upward to others better off than you- results in diminished self
perception and body anxiety and may reinforce chronic dieting
• Downward to others worse off than you- results in enhanced
self perception
 Theoretical Framework (con’t)
SECONDARY

• Fashion as a “cosmetic panopticon”

– A woman’s fashion choices gives observers a view into a woman’s
self-perception of her body. She knows that not only is she judging herself,
but she is always being judged by spectators. This is known as the “panoptic
gaze”
– If her body does not conform to the thin ideal, she understands that she
must follow the “rules of fashion” and cover up rather than reveal her body.
– While she cannot precisely identify the rule makers (aka the fashion police),
she understands that breaking the rules will bring shame upon her.
– She finds herself trapped in a limited range of fashion choices that conform
to the rules of her body size.
 History of the Cultural Aesthetic of Beauty

• Industrial Revolution- mass production of

standard sizes required conformity and an
awareness of body shape and size
• Gave way to dieting in the mid to late 19th
century and led to a shift in social perception
about body weight
• Fat became a symbol of laziness and lack of
self control in the late 19th century
• 1960’s youth culture made thinness an
obsession
The Cultural Aesthetic of the 1960’s
 Understanding the Psychology of living fat:
Fat is More Than Just Body Weight
• Fatness is a dual construct: it is a biological
truth and a personal and social experience
(Jaffe)

• Women who grow up having these types of

social experiences self-identify as fat which
becomes “all encompassing” (Jaffe)
• Women who self-identify as fat understand
exclusion and feel body shame.
 The Fat Body as a Prison
• Women put a great deal of time and effort into
ensuring that their appearance is pleasing to others.
• A woman’s self image is bound by what
others-especially men- think of her.
• A woman cannot escape being seen and judged by
all who are looking. Her body is her prison. She is
quite literally imprisoned by the observation of
others and the shape of her body forms the basis of
their judgements. Observers of a fat body think they
have a window into a woman’s lack of self control
and laziness.
 Advertising and the Emergence of the Plus-Size
Models

• The average woman today weighs 160

pounds and wears a size 14.
• One study found that 94% of 69 fashion
magazines aimed at woman had a thin model
or celebrity on the cover.
• The subliminal message to women is that thin
equates to beauty, love, money, success and
happiness.
The Average Woman vs. The Magazine
Cover Model
The Emergence of Plus-Size Models

The Dove Campaign

Emme
Ashley Graham
Acceptance of a Revised Cultural Aesthetic of Beauty is Not
Universal: Counter Argument

• Critics of the plus-size movement contend that the models

glamorize being fat and provide subliminal approval for habits
that lead to excess weight.
• Some academics contend that the use of plus-size models
takes away the motivation to lose weight because people
don’t see being fat as an issue and they ignore the health risks
associated with it.
• Many retailers are silent critics by not promoting their
plus-size clothing lines in their advertising.
Chico’s Catalogue
 Looking Beyond the Dove Campaign:
Research Studies
• Women responded most positively to an average size model.

• Women rated plus-size models as relatable and “normal”. They

characterized them as friendly, happy and confident. They rated
thin models as fake and plastic and obsessed with their weight.

• Restrained eaters (chronic dieters) felt better about themselves if

they perceived a similarity to the thin model than to the plus-size
model.
• They also felt better about themselves if they perceived a
dissimilarity to the plus-size model.
• Unrestrained eaters were unaffected by perceived
differences and similarities to either model because they
are less dissatisfied and concerned with body image.
 Conclusions
• The most significant predictor of how a woman will be affected by viewing
an average or plus-size model is how she self-identifies within the cultural
aesthetic of beauty.
➢ HOW DOES SHE DESCRIBE HER BODY?

➢ IS SHE HAPPY WITH THE SIZE AND SHAPE OF HER BODY?

➢ IS SHE A CHRONIC DIETER BECAUSE HER BODY NEVER MAKES HER

HAPPY?

➢ DOES SHE FEEL THAT HER BODY SIZE AND SHAPE ALLOW HER TO
WEAR THE STYLES SHE WANTS TO WEAR?

➢ DOES SHE FEEL GOOD ABOUT THE WAY SHE LOOKS IN HER
CLOTHES?

➢ DOES SHE NEED POSITIVE VALIDATION FROM OTHERS ABOUT

HOW SHE LOOKS IN ORDER TO FEEL GOOD ABOUT HERSELF?

➢ IS SHE ALWAYS WORRIED THAT OTHERS ARE JUDGING HER?

 CONCLUSIONS (CON’T)
• Viewing an average of plus-size model is not going to make any woman feel
good about herself if she already has a negative body image.

• It may make her feel worse if she finds a similarity between herself and
the model.

• If she is a chronic dieter, she is more susceptible to the effects of the

“panoptic gaze” and it could cause greater body anxiety and lead to an
eating disorder.

• A woman who is comfortable with her body will be unaffected by

viewing average or plus-size models even if she finds a similarity
between herself and the model. She does not seek validation from
outside images because her self-esteem does not depend upon it. Nor
does she worry about the “panoptic gaze”

• This is generally positive unless she loses sight of the health concerns
that excess weight can cause.
 Conclusions (con’t)

• The use of plus-size models definitely has its

place in promoting body diversity, but it has
not yet changed the cultural aesthetic of
beauty on a broad scale.
• Women will always filter the images they see
through their own lenses and their
relationships with their bodies will always
serve as a barometer for how they react to
the images they see.