We hear the term “real woman” bandied about far too often now. Unless you are made of cardboard or are a robot, I’m pretty sure you are a real woman. This is regardless of your shape, size, height, hair colour, eye colour, marital status or sexuality.
Various large brands are campaigning for an image of “real” women and “real” beauty- but the lines are becoming blurred as to what this really is. The way I look at it is this: if an image has been airbrushed or otherwise changed with computer magic, that is not real beauty. If a model has been left untouched, as she is, whether that be 6 feet tall and slender as a reed or 4 foot 11 and plump as a Christmas goose, that is real.
The new Marks and Spencer advert features a variety of models, which for one I like to see. This is purely for selfish reasons. I am short and plump, and I need to see clothing on a short, plump frame to see if it will suit me. I can imagine this is the same for any woman, we need to see if that colour will clash with our hair or if those trousers are adequate for our extremely long legs. Marks and Spencer have chosen to use a “more mature” model who has beautiful long grey and white hair, and have chosen to use a “plus size” model- who at my estimate is between a size 14 and 16. It is lovely to see- simply because when we walk down the street we see such a huge plethora of shapes and sizes it is nice to see this reflected in advertising. The models are all beautiful and they look wonderful regardless of size or shape. I tweeted about this and watched as the tweet went flying across twitter, but then I saw a tweet saying that the advert was conceited. I have to say that the more I thought about it, the more I concurred. It does seem as though the brand are merely paying lip-service, by choosing to use only one mature model and one plus-size model, a kind of “if we put these in here this will keep everyone happy.” Personally, however, I still like the campaign.
Before I open myself to a barrage of comments- there is no such thing as an “unreal” woman. We are all so entirely different in our genetic make-up, leading us to have an almost endless combination of skin, hair and eye colour. We walk different, talk different, think different and feel different. I believe your weight fits into this neatly. I have friends who eat like birds and still tip their scales at a high number, and other friends who wolf down pizza like it’s going out of fashion, and yet still manage to wiggle into size 6 trousers. Diet and exercise are important, yes, but some bodies simply seem to hang on to weight whereas others don’t. You can control how much you want to weigh if you really choose to, but if you eat in moderation and exercise in moderation, it is true that your friend may be a size 10 and you’ll be a size 16. It’s just our bodies and what they are, and weight seems to settle where it wants to.
Luckily for us, we don’t all find the same body shape attractive. If asked my opinion on female celebrities, I tend to lean towards the plump, pale skinned beauties. Other people like their women very slim and very tanned. Some like muscles, some don’t, some want to be towered over, some want a tiny lass like a Polly Pocket. If we all looked the same- it would be really, really boring.
Cosmetics brand “Dove” also had a huge campaign in the name of “real” beauty. There is nothing wrong with this of course and it mostly meant they used women who were not models in their campaign. However, it was revealed that the ladies featured in the advert were heavily, heavily re-touched (or so I have read- this may not be true.) If this is true, then this is not real beauty is it? If you are hiding all the things that we have- moles, scars, hairy bits, wobbly bits and goodness knows what else, then you’re hiding who people really are.
Women everywhere are real. If you are naturally tall and slender, or naturally short and round, you are still a real woman. I like the recent leaning towards a larger variety of models because it is nice to know that beauty is not only perceived as very tall and very thin- that may be beautiful but there is no reason that rounded curves and diminutive height cannot be beautiful. I like a mix of models being used, and don’t see any reason why age, height or size should be barrier to success. If you are beautiful, you just are, and I don’t think there should be an ideal of beauty.
I do wish that advertisers would stop using the term “real”. We are all real. Women everywhere, I urge you to celebrate your body for what it is. We are all so real, whether we are short and plump, tall and thin, tall and plump, short and thin, somewhere in between, and all the other millions of combinations we come in. We are all real, and this should be celebrated endlessly. Hooray!
