The Blame Game Your Body: Your Image

# Oh yeah, Oh-oh-oh, oh yeah

# Oh-oh-oh, oh yeah

# My body, your body, Somebody, everybody. #

I'm Amber Butchart, and I'm a professional fashion

and beauty analyst.

I've loved fashion for as long as I can remember,

and I study trends, both past, present and future.

I'm Raphael Babalola.

I run my own male lifestyle company, and I help guys find

the balance between looking good, feeling good and being healthy.

One of the things I love about fashion is that it's such

a vibrant and creative industry, with new designers constantly

making innovations.

But something that I'm less keen on is that

in such a cutting edge industry, there's a real lack of diversity

in the models that they use to advertise their products.

So we've come to Cardiff to investigate.

Today, I'm going to be a modelling scout with a typical

brief from a company that's looking to advertise

clothing in a glossy fashion magazine.

-All right, Raphael. Here's your brief.

-Great.

So, "Wanted: Female model for Everywoman Inc.

"Must be over five foot nine."

-That's about... My height?

-It's quite a bit taller than me.

I think the average is about 5'4", 5'5". So, 5'9".

"Must be size 6-8."

SHE LAUGHS

-"Must be blonde."

-"Must be blonde." OK.

-"Must be Northern European."

-OK.

And "must be aged between 16-18." Don't fail me now.

-You've got to get this right.

-All right.

-Got to stick to the brief.

-I'll try.

-All right then. Good luck.

Raphael? Wait! This might help you!

I thought being a model scout would be the best job in the world.

This doesn't seem too easy.

You're not tall enough. Sorry.

-How old are you?

-29.

I think I spotted one!

Right height, blue eyes...

but you've got red hair!

Well, they may be called Everywoman Inc,

but they certainly aren't looking for every woman, are they?

I mean, there's just nothing more I can do.

You may not be human, but do you want a modelling job?

Now, there's a reason that Raphael has found it

so difficult to find his model.

It's because most women aren't naturally the size

and shape of the models that we see selling fashion and beauty products.

So what IS the average size of women in the UK?

Is this, a size 6-8?

Or maybe this is more like it, size 10-12?

Or could it even be this lady, a size 14-16?

-What dress size to think most women in the UK are?

-I'd say about 8.

No idea!

About 16.

-It's...

-12, 14.

-..a 16.

10-12.

I'd say a 12.

Probably about 10, 12.

10, 12, 14. Somewhere around that.

10, 12.

8-10.

Only 5% of women over the age of 16 fit THIS body shape.

So even though this is the size that we see all over the media,

it's actually completely unattainable for most women.

In actual fact, most women in the UK are this size, size 14-16.

And I've seen lots of beautiful women of every size,

colour and shape here in Cardiff today.

So why does the fashion and beauty industry use models

that are up to five times smaller than the average British woman?

Each week, the fashion and beauty industry bombards us

with thousands of photoshopped,

flaw-free images of fantasy men and super-skinny women.

They call these images aspirational,

but studies have shown that these sorts of images

make most people feel bad about the way that they look.

And believe me, that includes the guys, too.

So why would the beauty and fashion industry want consumers to feel bad?

Well, they're businesses, after all, with the aim of making profits.

And they feel that by setting unachievable beauty ideals,

it's the best way to get consumers to spend more and more money.

But does that always work?

There's brand new research in Australia and the USA

that shows consumers are just as likely to spend the same

or even more money on clothes and products that they see advertised

on a diverse range of men and women.

And what's more, the research is showing us

that seeing advertisements with average-sized people actually

makes us feel happier, too.

We've asked Beautiful magazine, a magazine that uses all

sizes of models, to create two advertisements for a dress.

The dress is modelled by Whitney Thompson,

the winner of America's Next Top Model.

At size 14-16, she's an average size girl, and this is how she really is.

But in this mock-up, they've manipulated it

so she looks like a typical, skinny size model.

So Raphael is off to see which advertisement is most

successful in selling the dress.

Which one of these two adverts might make you want to buy this dress?

The first one because it looks more real.

Picture A or picture B?

-B.

-B.

-B?

-Yeah.

-They picked B, photoshopped. Not real. False.

-It's more shapey.

-Yeah. She looks skinnier.

For me, that's more my body shape cos I'm not curvy at all.

But on the other hand,

I wouldn't want to look at a dress on a girl that thin, either.

That doesn't look right. That looks ridiculous.

-Picture A.

-Picture A?

-She's got a bit more of a nicer figure.

-She's got a fuller figure?

-Yeah.

I think, personally, it looks better on her.

You see, most of the people decided to go for the beautiful

Whitney at the size that she should be, a size 14-16.

So if people would still spend money, why aren't the fashion

and advertising industries taking notes?

After all, they're famous for being cutting edge.

It seems, in this case, that they're just stuck in their ways,

when maybe they should dare to be different.

So if women would still buy products advertised on beautiful

models of all shapes and sizes, how about the men?

The media does a great job in making girls think that all men want

tall, Barbie doll types hanging off their arms.

Let's find out if this is true.

And what are the three things that really stand out for you

in terms of women, regarding looks and their personality?

It's just how she is and how she comes across,

the most attractive thing in a woman.

Just very bubbly, bright. Funny's good.

I think looks are important to a degree.

Bit of shape, bit of meat to them!

I think it's a lot to do with looks.

I like intelligent girls.

Of course, men actually like women of all colours, shapes and sizes.

So it seems Everywoman Inc have got it wrong,

just looking for one type of model.

Clearly, both men and women are looking for some kind of diversity.

So who's to blame?

Ask the fashion and beauty industry,

and they blame YOU, the consumer.

But ask the consumer, and they blame the industry.

Personally, I think we're all to blame,

and maybe it's time that we ALL made a change.

And who knows? We might all just be happier.

And maybe the advertisers would even make more money.

Next time I get a brief from Everywoman Inc,

maybe I'll have an easier time finding my models.

-BOTH:

-You're all hired!

# Your body, somebody, everybody

# Oh-oh-oh, oh yeah

# Oh-oh-oh, oh yeah

# Anybody, your body, somebody, Everybody, everybody. #

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