Body image in ads

[malkin]

I am am amazed that as a civilization, we actually survived the '70s with clothes like that. (And yes, I'm old enough to remember some of this stuff, tho' this catalog seems to be the worst of the worst!)

Fortunately, I guess people took those clothes off enough to get down to the business of ensuring the survival of the species!

[Crankin]

+1 to that.
My first thought when looking at the ad was "her butt looks just like mine." I'm fit and my azz is a lot smaller than it used to be. But, unless I get surgery, this is what you get.

[shootingstar]

Yea, even slim people can have a bit of under the bum, back thigh cellulite.
When it happens to me, I know I'm not doing other non-cycling exercises.

The quality of the photo is not great but reality is I don't think any high calibre photography could make it "better", short of photo adjustments thereafter.

The panty is cute (though I don't know how "useful" the front would have been for any potential purchaser).

Though none of us would ever model /place a photo of ourselves in our underwear here on the forums, we have "modelled" proudly some cycling clothing purchases. Now, that is as real as it gets and for certain might have tipped the hesitant readers who were thinking of buying something similar but still unsure.

So reality "modelling" is happening among us..informally on the forums. It is the value of a retailer allowing Internet forums to happen with links to photos.

[jyyanks]

I admit that I had the exact same thoughts as OP in that my reaction was mixed. My initial reaction was "yikes!", then it was "that's pretty cool", then it was "what kind of shallow person am I that my initial reaction was not that great". Note: my butt looks 100 times worst than the picture so I don't know why I initially reacted the way I did.

Sadly, society has us conditioned to expect perfect photoshoped bodies and I've played into the trap. That being said, I do think that more and more companies should show realistic photos of people so that people start seeing and appreciating real beauty.

[Antaresia]

Part of me is thinking the company couldn't afford a pro photoshoot + air brushing. I did work for a clothing company like that a few years ago.

Orange dosen't look that good on 99% of the population. Over all I'm happy that such an honest image of a woman's body made it into print, no matter the reason. I really don't see anything less appealing here than I would on a "normal" model shot, I think it's kind of hot actually

[shootingstar]

Has nothing to do with underwear, but it does make a huge difference if the person wearing the clothes has a naturally happy face.

Showing just part of the body doesn't really help anyone.

This is someone's personal blog who just enjoys fashion since she is curvy and bigger.

http://grownandcurvywoman.com/2012/03/

(I don't know this person at all.)

[NbyNW]

For a moment I thought the ad was for a ski shop ...

[Irulan]

this is a little bit of a segue, but I found the interviews with the women athletes that participated in the ESPN "bodies" issue to be really awesome. Granted, they are all super athletes, but the realness of it makes it very beautiful to me.
There are at least four different women profiled in the videos here, from pro soccer, pro track, pro MMA, pro surfing...

http://espn.go.com/espn/bodyissue

[jyyanks]

Wow - how timely! It looks like young women today are proud of their bodies and sick of the way the media has to make everything look "perfect".

Check it out:Teen girls to Teen Vogue: Stop altering photos

http://www.lohud.com/article/2012071...text|Frontpage

[lph]

Those kids are awesome. They're only 13 years old!

[OakLeaf]

I think jyyanks' reaction most closely parallels mine. I'm not proud of it, but the conditioning has apparently worked on me.

But here's the other thing. Those panties are already starting to ride up her crack, and I'm going to assume that she hasn't been walking around for an hour without an adjustment before they took that shot. The photo is proof that those panties are neither flattering nor comfortable on a slender, fit, REAL woman. How is this advertising???? They should just ditch that style and make something different.

[limewave]

But here's the other thing. Those panties are already starting to ride up her crack, and I'm going to assume that she hasn't been walking around for an hour without an adjustment before they took that shot.

Those are the kind of panties I keep for when I don't plan on wearing them for very long.

[amb]

I admit, my reaction was much like many of you....first negative, then "well ok, what's so wrong with a real butt?! ". I think my butt actually looks very similar to that photo - muscular with some cellulite on top. It's no model butt but it's MY butt and it's normal. And my husband likes it so why shouldn't I?! Thank you for reminding me to be more accepting of reality!

[amb]

BTW, The ESPN athletes have amazing bodies but I just don't have the time or motivation to work quite that hard so I'll accept my avg body!

[Crankin]

I don't know; the underpants look just like the Hanky Panky brand I wear. Super comfortable, one size fits almost all, and of course they center on your crack, that way, they aren't showing through your clothes.
I guess I'm the only old lady who wears thongs.