disabled and domesticated beauties
>> Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Fashion...it seems, is often a reflection of a people and their culture. Each trend is like a snapshot, a moment captured in time. So what are we capturing??? What are we valuing these days?
Lately I'm not feeling how it seems that every model I see has her feet turned in and holds her frame in these really inept positions. Again NEARLY EVERY model I see does this....for example take this shot from forever 21's current outfit showcase
Or take these images from current Armani Exchange and H&M ads (respectively)
In all the shots, the models' legs tend to point inwards. Eerily, its in a way that almost resembles patients with Blount's disease....where there is a growth disorder of the tibia (shin bone) that causes the lower leg to angle inward, resembling a bowleg. Like here: 
As seen in my personal favorite, also from forever 21:
There is no way that the girl in the last photo can move from that position and walk forward. Her left leg is completely twisted, yet we call this fly, and value it by showcasing it in advertising.
What is it saying when our culture attributes beauty to women who appear broken and disabled? There is no way that the girl in the last photo could readily move forward from that position. In that sense she's immobile. Not to get too feminist...but is this the media subconsciously sending messages that promote putting the woman back into a place where her beauty is relegated and confined, where she cannot walk and impose on the viewer? Just think, the images you see, are not threatening, in the sense that none of these women are able to readily move and impose upon the viewer. It's as if these are domesticated images, and it bothers me that we think this is cool!! Why?? And furthermore, I don't run across this look in male models. So what is this saying about how we look at women?
