The latest controversy over women’s bodies doesn’t involve any actual women’s bodies, but rather virtual women. H&M, a clothing manufacturer, is using computer-generated women (and men) to advertise their clothing line. When the media got wind of this, posts began going up all over about the policy.
To defend their actions, H&M claimed the choice was made so that customers wouldn’t have to concentrate on the bodies in the ads but rather the clothing. I’m not sure about you, however, this is a conundrum I’ve faced, especially shopping online or from a catalog. I can’t say I don’t notice bodies in ads when clothing is advertised. Often, the bodies depicted, both male and female, are such rare specimens, it’s just like clicking over to see the picture attached to the headline about a giant squid species recently discovered. The bodies definitely don’t “sell” me the clothes because they’re so far from my own body in appearance that I can’t tell whether the clothes will look right on me or not until I try them on. Additionally, sizing plays a bigger role in whether I can or want to buy something I see since I own sized medium shirts that are loose and I have some extra-large shirts that are tight. Due to styling, I sometimes try on a shirt and no matter the size it is just not coming home. So, H&M is partly right, we do concentrate on bodies when we see ads online and in print, but also mostly for reasons different from their choice to use computer-generated people. We marvel at the lack of muscle tone in the arms and legs of women in Vogue and we see only men who apparently do nothing except sculpt their abs all day, in their underwear, holding a football and looking into the distance at who knows what.
H&M is right that we’re “distracted” by the bodies presented in clothing ads, but virtual, computer-generated bodies are not the solution. Real bodies, of men and women, are what all of us potential customers would like to see online and in catalogs and print advertising. We’d like the “Women of Dove” to model the clothes in the ads from department stores and in the Victoria’s Secret catalog. Only then will any of us be able to concentrate solely on the clothing and not on the bodies depicting it. When they put the height and weight of the model in small print and say what size she’s wearing and don’t pin the clothing like they do on mannequins in the stores, that’s when I’ll be able to concentrate exclusively on the clothing, as I won’t wonder whether it will fit or how it will look on a my REAL body, I’ll have a decent idea. In fact, I’d be more likely to order things online or from catalogs and I’d be less likely to have to return them, which any retailer should appreciate. While I realize my demographic is not the H&M’s focus, I think showing real teens and young adults of all shapes and sizes is still the best way for any clothing brand to sell its wares.
First published at http://www.hercircleezine.com/2011/12/15/virtual-bodies-its-unreal/
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