Week 8: Adverts and magazines

It is not possible to look good all the time- I have tried it and it really doesn’t work. I always feel and I’m sure others do feel under constant pressure to have to look good all the time- because ‘apparently’ like in the movies when we wake up we look fresh faced and beautiful-this is just not the case.

But when we see pictures of celebrities on the front of magazines or even just out shopping and with a full face of makeup and looking nothing but perfect-men and the rest of the world get this idea that women look like this all the time-but being normal and not having personal stylists and makeup artists- I’m afraid I do not have this luxury!

Last week i looked at adbusters and the idea that men products are sold in a sexual fetish kind of way-ad busters plays on this and does the opposite like the Calvin Klein advert. i also looked at the idea of the 'gaze' So this week i am continueing this and  looking at how celebrities that we base our looks around are not always perfect-which is normal! But the media treat it as a huge thing or as a ‘shock’. Additionally this research will help me with ideas on how to challenge the way we should look.

The April issue of French Elle magazine did a special addition featuring European female celebrities posing with no makeup and all pictures were un photo shopped or retouched. The magazines head line was “Stars Sans Fards” meaning without makeup. Why does celebrities not wearing makeup have to be a special addition- its not possible for people to look good all the time yet the media give the impression that it is and then when they are ‘caught’ without any makeup its turned into an embarrassing moment or shock factor-although i would be lying if I said I’m always slightly happy to see it.

In terms of how this relates to my chosen topic-when i was younger makeup didn’t matter, but now i cant leave the house without looking in the mirror and checking my face and I know I’m not alone- whether its looking at magazines covers or these shock factor articles-girls seem to get this idea that if its a shock to see celebrities looking rough its a shock for everyone- makeup has become something we hide behind but so much so that it bring me back to the idea that we are all starting to look the same- the media have made us think that we should have no imperfections, but the fact is even celebrities do, when are they going to start using special additions as every addition? It brings me back to the idea of a journalist and the media being gatekeepers of truth-well then why not show us the truth?