Final Blog Post

The exigence my movement is trying to address is to be confident in one's self and the images the media publishes are not what real women look like. The images published in print and that are on television are edited to the point of no flaw. When young girls see these completely unrealistic women on display everywhere they turn, they quickly begin to doubt their self- image and become self- conscious. This leads to self-shaming, depression, eating disorders, and can even result in suicides.

The persuasive function I was using was altering self-perceptions. The perception of being a victim is easily portrayed because so many of the viewers are victims to the media. They see images on billboards, commercials, virtual ads, and in magazines and assume if those women look that way, she should too. Perceptions of self- worth and self- esteem are very important in the counter- movement. It is so important to affirm natural beauty, because what they see in these ads is not what the majority of real women look like. They do not all have a perfect body with perfectly shaped breasts and no pores on their face. The reality is all women do face issues with their image, even the women in these ads. The job ads do of altering self- perceptions must be reversed, changed back to how women should view themselves. Be proud of yourself, you do not have the ability to be anyone else.

The language strategy of my movement is framing and the tactic is labeling. The counter-movement frames ads and models as wrong and other women as real women. Large companies, such as Dove and American Eagle, have launched campaigns to fight the growing issue of teen self- perception. Dove has launched a self- esteem project to show young women you are naturally beautiful. You do not need makeup or fad diets to fit in or be pretty. Beauty comes in all shapes and sizes. American Eagle Outfitters has a lingerie store, Aerie. Aerie has launched a campaign where all published images are left un- photoshopped. Tattoos are not removed, tummies are not cut out, and flaws are not blurred. What you see in these images is what you get. Dove and Aerie have gained many supporters for their decisions and have proved to be a great strategy. Previous ads had labeled what they were publishing as “right”, or “pretty”. These companies, and many celebrities are working to combat these labels, saying the only label you should care about is you. You are beautiful no matter your clothing size or things you own.

I chose to do a Prezi because I felt I could use multiple media outlets to get my point across. I could use a variety of text, media clips, and images, and portray them in a unique way. I did not try to improve my Prezi with fancy borders because I did not want to take away from the issue at hand. Plus, it’s the bare beauty movement, so they go hand in hand.