The Thin-Ideal
Summary The thin-ideal in advertisements has been a topic of wide debate for decades, specifically concerning its ethicality. As seen in various types of media, the “thin-ideal” occurs when a very thin model is featured as its lead, thus promoting the concept that thin is desirable to be. The thin-ideal has been a controversial topic in advertising and other forms of media due to the potentially harmful effects that it can cause to women who have been exposed to it. Issues such as body dysmorphia, eating disorders, and depression have all been linked to the negative effects perpetuated by the “thin-ideal.” Despite its potential harms, the thin-ideal is still continued to be used in advertisements since it is ultimately effective for advertisers to use. By using a thin model in an advertisement for their
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product, consumers may immediately link the brand to thinness, and thus, attractiveness, which can create an alluring image for the brand. As to whether featuring the thin-ideal in advertisements is ethical, both the ethicality and unethicality for it have been supported by various research and studies conducted.
Ads that feature the thin-ideal are unethical and harmful to society In this section, I will be discussing how using the thin-ideal in advertisements in unethical and harmful to society.
By promoting the thin-ideal in advertisements, women exposed are pre-dispositioned to the notion that thin is the the ideal beauty standard and must do whatever it takes to uphold that image. This includes in engaging in harmful eating disorders such as bulimia and anorexia, which can ultimately be fatal if untreated overtime.
Due to the oversaturation of the thin ideal in today’s media, body dysmorphia can begin to occur at a very young age in girls and result in adolescence filled with depression, body image issues, low-self esteem, amongst other issues. Since the thin-ideal promotes an unrealistic portrayal of women, it is unethical for advertisers to show this since many of them use photoshop to alter their images, making even the models used in the advertisements technically unrealistic. In multiple studies conducted, exposing young women to ads that feature the thin-ideal makes them feel negative about themselves and may often lead to a negative portrayal of that
brand.
By linking the thin-ideal to objectification, the act of reducing a woman to being a pure object for use, advertisers as a result contribute to the disempowering culture surrounding women that is perpetuated by today’s media. In addition, most of the advertisements that use the thin-ideal are viewed through the male gaze, also known as the heterosexual male perspective of women that is often sexualized. The male gaze is unethical to use since it frames advertisements in such a matter that only a certain part of the population can relate to or find pleasing.
While the thin-ideal continues to be successful for advertisers and brands alike, advertisements that feature average models as their leads generate more positive emotions from women who are exposed to them. In a study conducted, young women who were exposed to an advertisement featuring a average, healthy looking model generated a more positive attitude towards the brand and a greater chance of buying the product as compared to when they were exposed to a skinny, unrealistic looking model. By promoting the use of average looking models and untouching in advertisements, brands become more genuine and transparent with potential consumers, thus creating a more favorable image.
From an a utilitarian standpoint, promoting an unrealistic portrayal of women in advertisements and today’s media through the thin-ideal is unethical since more harm than good is caused, the harm being to society’s young women and the good only to the select advertisers and brands. In addition, through a Kant standpoint, it is unethical to use the thin-ideal since a female is being used as a “means to an end”, discrediting any viewer’s self image as a way to make a profit. For these reasons and other studies conducted, it is unethical to use the thin-ideal in advertisements because of the numerous harms and consequences that it causes to society.
Ads that feature the thin-ideal are ethical and un-harmful to society In this section, I will be discussing how using the thin-ideal in advertisements is ethical and un-harmful to society. By promoting the use of the thin-ideal in advertisements, advertisers in turn show a reflection of society, which is predominately idealizes thinness. In addition, multiple studies have shown that the thin-ideal does not directly cause negative effects such as eating disorders. Research has shown that eating disorders are considered to be complex and are usually the result of a prior mental illness, not the use of thin-ideal in advertisements, although it could perpetuate that.
Beauty is also in the eye of the beholder, meaning that while society might deem thin to be beauty, not everybody might feel the same and are thus not affected by the use of thin-ideal in advertisements. The use of the thin-ideal in some cultures might actually not work since they value curvier body types, thus showing that it is ethical to use the thin-ideal in advertisements since it isn’t a guarantee that everybody exposed to the advertisement will be affected by it. While photoshop and other alterations may be used to physically enhance a photo, the thin-ideal may encourage some to choose healthier ways to live. If one is upset with the way they look, healthier food options become more attractive than unhealthy ones and past times that were spent watching TV may now be spent working out.
Though it is imperative that all body types be represented in advertisements, both anorexia and obesity shouldn’t be encourage. While “thinness” is subjective, it can ultimately be agreed that being on the thinner side through a healthy lifestyle and diet is better than being obese in any way. Obesity is one of the leading causes of death and if more women were to engage in healthier ways to be thin, America’s obesity epidemic wouldn’t be as bad.
The thin-ideal in advertisements is ethical in that it in no way encourages young women to take part in unhealthy behaviors such as excessive dieting or other eating disorders. Thin women do exist and it is important to note that; Should it be reasonable to conclude that every thin women has an eating disorder or is the result of a thin-ideal advertisement? Healthy eating habits and lifestyle choices do exist and the notion that young girls should have to take the dangerous route to get to that point is unnecessary to jump to.
As various research and studies have shown, the use of the thin-ideal in advertisements in ethical and un-harmful to society since eating disorders and other negative effects are often due to prior existing mental illnesses or other factors rather ads, seeing the use of the thin-ideal may inspire people to choose healthier lifestyle choices, and thin women do exist in our society and are not necessarily the product of eating disorders or other harmful behavior that is claimed to be caused by the thin-ideal.
Critique
Both points set forth by the pro and con side of the “thin-ideal” topic were similar to points that I found and made throughout my own research. The team who supported the unethicality and harm of the “thin-ideal” made three major contentions, of which were that the thin-ideal takes a negative impact on women’s physical and mental health, that they create an unrealistic standard of beauty, making it impossible for them to live up to, and that it would be better for advertisers to find a middle ground rather than promote the thin-ideal or obesity.
The opposing team, the side that supported the ethicality of the “thin-ideal”, had three major contentions as well, which were that women were not affected by advertisements that featured the “thin-ideal” since eating disorders are complex and are primarily due to causes aside from ads, that it is innate for humans to compare themselves to each other regardless of advertisements due to the social comparison theory, and that women are more likely to buy products that feature the thin-ideal.
For the con side, two strengths that I witnessed in their argument were the various statistics that they mentioned in their stance, which further strengthened their argument, and the different ethical theories that they brought up, including utilitarianism, to show that the thin-ideal is unethical and harmful. Along with them, I also found numerous research studies that have been conducted to show the effects of advertisements that feature the thin-ideal and found that it served as a good base for my arguments. Two weaknesses in their argument include their focus on primarily the physical and mental harms on women and did not mention men or other people affected in society and the fact that they seemed to forget the harmful effects that obesity has when obese women are shown in advertisements as opposed to the “thin-ideal.”
For the pro side, two strengths that I witnessed in their argument were their research defending the advertising industry’s use of thin-models, which stated that the majority of their models are actually healthy, and that advertisements have little effect on the average consumer since there are many other factors that come into play. Two weaknesses that I witnessed in their argument include the lack of different ethical viewpoints to back their argument, which the opposing side had, and how a lot of their argument was constructed around the reasoning as to why advertisers use the thin-ideal and not as to why it was ethical. I believe that they could have incorporated some of the stances that I made in my argument, specifically that the thin-ideal can promote healthy lifestyle choices in some people.
product, consumers may immediately link the brand to thinness, and thus, attractiveness, which can create an alluring image for the brand. As to whether featuring the thin-ideal in advertisements is ethical, both the ethicality and unethicality for it have been supported by various research and studies conducted.
Ads that feature the thin-ideal are unethical and harmful to society In this section, I will be discussing how using the thin-ideal in advertisements in unethical and harmful to society.
By promoting the thin-ideal in advertisements, women exposed are pre-dispositioned to the notion that thin is the the ideal beauty standard and must do whatever it takes to uphold that image. This includes in engaging in harmful eating disorders such as bulimia and anorexia, which can ultimately be fatal if untreated overtime.
Due to the oversaturation of the thin ideal in today’s media, body dysmorphia can begin to occur at a very young age in girls and result in adolescence filled with depression, body image issues, low-self esteem, amongst other issues. Since the thin-ideal promotes an unrealistic portrayal of women, it is unethical for advertisers to show this since many of them use photoshop to alter their images, making even the models used in the advertisements technically unrealistic. In multiple studies conducted, exposing young women to ads that feature the thin-ideal makes them feel negative about themselves and may often lead to a negative portrayal of that
brand.
By linking the thin-ideal to objectification, the act of reducing a woman to being a pure object for use, advertisers as a result contribute to the disempowering culture surrounding women that is perpetuated by today’s media. In addition, most of the advertisements that use the thin-ideal are viewed through the male gaze, also known as the heterosexual male perspective of women that is often sexualized. The male gaze is unethical to use since it frames advertisements in such a matter that only a certain part of the population can relate to or find pleasing.
While the thin-ideal continues to be successful for advertisers and brands alike, advertisements that feature average models as their leads generate more positive emotions from women who are exposed to them. In a study conducted, young women who were exposed to an advertisement featuring a average, healthy looking model generated a more positive attitude towards the brand and a greater chance of buying the product as compared to when they were exposed to a skinny, unrealistic looking model. By promoting the use of average looking models and untouching in advertisements, brands become more genuine and transparent with potential consumers, thus creating a more favorable image.
From an a utilitarian standpoint, promoting an unrealistic portrayal of women in advertisements and today’s media through the thin-ideal is unethical since more harm than good is caused, the harm being to society’s young women and the good only to the select advertisers and brands. In addition, through a Kant standpoint, it is unethical to use the thin-ideal since a female is being used as a “means to an end”, discrediting any viewer’s self image as a way to make a profit. For these reasons and other studies conducted, it is unethical to use the thin-ideal in advertisements because of the numerous harms and consequences that it causes to society.
Ads that feature the thin-ideal are ethical and un-harmful to society In this section, I will be discussing how using the thin-ideal in advertisements is ethical and un-harmful to society. By promoting the use of the thin-ideal in advertisements, advertisers in turn show a reflection of society, which is predominately idealizes thinness. In addition, multiple studies have shown that the thin-ideal does not directly cause negative effects such as eating disorders. Research has shown that eating disorders are considered to be complex and are usually the result of a prior mental illness, not the use of thin-ideal in advertisements, although it could perpetuate that.
Beauty is also in the eye of the beholder, meaning that while society might deem thin to be beauty, not everybody might feel the same and are thus not affected by the use of thin-ideal in advertisements. The use of the thin-ideal in some cultures might actually not work since they value curvier body types, thus showing that it is ethical to use the thin-ideal in advertisements since it isn’t a guarantee that everybody exposed to the advertisement will be affected by it. While photoshop and other alterations may be used to physically enhance a photo, the thin-ideal may encourage some to choose healthier ways to live. If one is upset with the way they look, healthier food options become more attractive than unhealthy ones and past times that were spent watching TV may now be spent working out.
Though it is imperative that all body types be represented in advertisements, both anorexia and obesity shouldn’t be encourage. While “thinness” is subjective, it can ultimately be agreed that being on the thinner side through a healthy lifestyle and diet is better than being obese in any way. Obesity is one of the leading causes of death and if more women were to engage in healthier ways to be thin, America’s obesity epidemic wouldn’t be as bad.
The thin-ideal in advertisements is ethical in that it in no way encourages young women to take part in unhealthy behaviors such as excessive dieting or other eating disorders. Thin women do exist and it is important to note that; Should it be reasonable to conclude that every thin women has an eating disorder or is the result of a thin-ideal advertisement? Healthy eating habits and lifestyle choices do exist and the notion that young girls should have to take the dangerous route to get to that point is unnecessary to jump to.
As various research and studies have shown, the use of the thin-ideal in advertisements in ethical and un-harmful to society since eating disorders and other negative effects are often due to prior existing mental illnesses or other factors rather ads, seeing the use of the thin-ideal may inspire people to choose healthier lifestyle choices, and thin women do exist in our society and are not necessarily the product of eating disorders or other harmful behavior that is claimed to be caused by the thin-ideal.
Critique
Both points set forth by the pro and con side of the “thin-ideal” topic were similar to points that I found and made throughout my own research. The team who supported the unethicality and harm of the “thin-ideal” made three major contentions, of which were that the thin-ideal takes a negative impact on women’s physical and mental health, that they create an unrealistic standard of beauty, making it impossible for them to live up to, and that it would be better for advertisers to find a middle ground rather than promote the thin-ideal or obesity.
The opposing team, the side that supported the ethicality of the “thin-ideal”, had three major contentions as well, which were that women were not affected by advertisements that featured the “thin-ideal” since eating disorders are complex and are primarily due to causes aside from ads, that it is innate for humans to compare themselves to each other regardless of advertisements due to the social comparison theory, and that women are more likely to buy products that feature the thin-ideal.
For the con side, two strengths that I witnessed in their argument were the various statistics that they mentioned in their stance, which further strengthened their argument, and the different ethical theories that they brought up, including utilitarianism, to show that the thin-ideal is unethical and harmful. Along with them, I also found numerous research studies that have been conducted to show the effects of advertisements that feature the thin-ideal and found that it served as a good base for my arguments. Two weaknesses in their argument include their focus on primarily the physical and mental harms on women and did not mention men or other people affected in society and the fact that they seemed to forget the harmful effects that obesity has when obese women are shown in advertisements as opposed to the “thin-ideal.”
For the pro side, two strengths that I witnessed in their argument were their research defending the advertising industry’s use of thin-models, which stated that the majority of their models are actually healthy, and that advertisements have little effect on the average consumer since there are many other factors that come into play. Two weaknesses that I witnessed in their argument include the lack of different ethical viewpoints to back their argument, which the opposing side had, and how a lot of their argument was constructed around the reasoning as to why advertisers use the thin-ideal and not as to why it was ethical. I believe that they could have incorporated some of the stances that I made in my argument, specifically that the thin-ideal can promote healthy lifestyle choices in some people.