image crisis

I want to discuss something that has been addressed in the media recently, which strongly ties to the social expectation of women as expressed through advertising.

It starts with this image:



If this picture looks strange to you, it's probably because the image of model Filippa Hamilton has been altered to the point of Bratz doll proportions.

So much to talk about. Let's begin with the fact that this is the way Filippa Hamilton looks without editing:



This woman is gorgeous. (Bonus: she's also able to support the weight of her top half without collapsing.) What does it say about our culture that her employers felt that this woman wasn't good enough as she exists to sell their patchwork jeans and ruffly plaid shirt? What does it say about our culture that companies usually use images of women in advertising that are edited past reality - but are rarely "called out" about it? What does it mean for females that the "ideal" image is so unattainable that even someone like Filippa Hamilton must be digitally altered to reach it?

Now let's talk a bit about accountability.

The Ralph Lauren ad was originally pointed out as ridiculous by the blog Photoshop Disasters, and Ralph Lauren responded by sending a DMCA takedown notice to Blogspot, who, as most ISPs would have, automatically removed the "offending" post. Photoshop Disasters has chronicled the experience here.

Boing Boing, a zine-turned-blog (hosted by a Canadian ISP that "[does not] automatically act on DMCA takedowns") that describes itself as "a directory of wonderful things," took up the cause here and later - after the DMCA request - here.

Days later, as reported by The Huffington Post, Ralph Lauren fessed up with this statement:

"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 calibre of our artwork represents our brand appropriately."

No mention was made of the attempts to silence the blogs in their comments on the original advertisement.

Additionally, Filippa Hamilton stated in an interview that she had recently been fired from Ralph Lauren for, essentially, being "too fat." She chose to speak up after the photoshopped image appeared in the media and she saw what the company had done with her image.

Advertisers need to be held accountable for their responsibility in the creating the crisis of female body image that exists in America.