We're Erasing Uniquity

So gaunt is the look? Heroin chic is back? Right, right, okay, so can we not do that? The societal noise about what a woman’s body should look like has always been an unnecessary siren sounding off constantly, and now we’re seeing skinniness and keeping the “youthful” look being promoted at all times. I heard someone recently explain that the problem isn't that companies are telling women they are ugly, but that they are saying they aren’t pretty just yet. Like there’s only a few products to use until we become perfect, a weekly service to attend that will make us satisfied with ourselves, a procedure that will fix all of our insecurities. If the influential celebrities we look toward as beacons of society are changing themselves drastically to fit a nearly impossible mold, how is that going to feel for someone who is questioning their success, looks, and place in the world? I don’t subscribe to the notion that celebrities are above us but they sure are ubiquitous in the society we live in. If you’re on your phone, they’re on social media. If you’re at the grocery store, they’re on magazine covers. Any piece of entertainment we consume, they’re there. Fashion is fueled by influential people and celebrity endorsements. It is inescapable, and with that, so are the body norms that celebrities promote, whether it is intentional or not. 

There’s been a lot of discourse online on this exact matter, with people deep diving into why we are reversing any sort of progression when it comes to people’s looks. Cosmetic procedures have been present for a long time now, but it seems almost like standard practice these days. Women are looking like starving versions of themselves that somehow simultaneously look like they’re young and old at the same time without looking like who they once were. It’s unsettling. Will we ever be able to embrace our natural bodies? Our facial structures as they are? Allowing ourselves to age gracefully? I suppose those are questions we cannot answer unanimously. All we can do as people, and creatives, is to create campaigns, films, and photos that embrace human diversity and uniqueness. Here are the features we want to see more of in Andern and content we consume.