Fashion and Poor Health I
Pictured: fashion show at the end of WW2 in Japan
Bringing awareness to the issues involved within the fashion industry can encourage people to seek change and make a difference for ourselves and others. In this blog series, split into two, I plan to discuss the big problem of how fashion has and continues to cause body dissatisfaction and restrained eating. In the second blog that I will release Thursday, “Women’s Brain Health at Risk,” I will discuss the resulting long-term health consequences of restrained eating for women.
I wondered about how the “emaciated” culture within the fashion industry began, and through research I found that it stemmed from war times. Fashion shows would be used as entertainment for people during times of war, and the women who presented the clothes on the runway were often malnourished, due to scarcity and lack of food sources. This skinny culture set a precedence throughout decades of runway shows, still continuing today. More recently, there have been some regulations for the size of models, and our generation aims to take a stance for healthy lifestyles, showing that women of all shapes and sizes are equally beautiful. However, this unnatural strive to look as thin as possible persists for many, affecting the lives and body images of models and women, making us feel as though we need to starve to look good. In addition, the images we see in fashion magazines and on social media are often heavily edited and cropped to show both an appearance that is not attainable (for long periods of time) or healthy for anyone. The lifestyle that comes with trying to look like these models or images causes long-term, detrimental health consequences for women, such as cognitive decline, dementia, and Alzheimer’s.
Millennials use social media as a major outlet for fashion, and this leads to social comparison. Social comparison results in poor wellbeing because it decreases self-esteem and body satisfaction. These negative feelings and emotions cause mental health issues, like depression and anxiety. For example, appearance anxiety is a social anxiety that results in a constant state of worry about how you appear to others. Body dysmorphic disorder is a mental health illness that involves obsessive focus on flaws within one’s body. Additionally, self-objectification plays a major role in these mental and physical health consequences. Objectification theory predicts body shaming, which causes negative moods and body dissatisfaction. All of this leads to restrained eating and eating disorders and, as stated above, is a concern for current mental and physical health illnesses. Did you know that the malnourishment caused by restrained eating puts you at risk for future physical health outcomes, especially for women’s brains?
How can I feel confident, sexy, and beautiful in my own body without feeling like I need to be a certain size? I struggled with this for a while. I have friends involved in the fashion industry who have struggled with this, as well. On Thursday, I will give you some ideas on how you can feel better both mentally and physically. This change of lifestyle can impact the way you view yourself and others.
References:
The XX Brain https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07VQ4DPX5/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1
Beyond the Pill https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07BDFLWDF/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1
Clothes Make a Difference: The Role of Self-Objectification https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11199-011-0085-3
The Psychology of Fashion https://www.amazon.com/Psychology-Fashion-Everything/dp/1138658677