I'm a millennial. Feel free to berate me to no avail over my cellphone use and the amount of accounts I follow on Instagram, but that's of my own doing. I am well aware of what I am exposed to and what I like to avoid.
My concern stems from this, and is triggered by the giant billboards constantly up on St. Albert Trail advertising External Affairs. Personally I love makeup and self-care products. I do not, however, appreciate their subconscious body shaming techniques. Just the other day on my way home from work I was left with a sick feeling in my stomach after seeing a certain ad to eliminate "underarm fat," through cool sculpting. Look, what a business chooses to do in their establishment is fine with me. But broadcasting ridiculous and unnecessary imaging with something as ludicrous as, in reference to past ads, the perfect lip shape, is surely doing more harm than good.
When I was in junior high school I developed, as many young girls do, an eating disorder. Social media and advertisements were a huge trigger in this. If I had seen such an ad during my mentally unhealthy teen years I would have surely done the same and skipped dinner as my young, skeleton thin arms would have been, in my eyes, too fat. No doubt this ad will have perfectly healthy young girls and women self-consciously examining their underarms for extra skin.
How are these advertisements allowed up for all eyes to see? As previously stated, what a business chooses to do is their own matters. But can we stop the degrading ads teaching young girls that altering our bodies is the answer? Is this the world we want to raise children in? So many times I saw the tears in my mother's eyes as I put pressure and hatred into my frail body. It's time to stop promoting this shameful behaviour being passed off as "normal." To any of my fellow strong, beautiful women reading this, please do not let yourself be demeaned by something as trivial as an ad.
There is too much hate and negativity in this world already; the least we can do is to try to appreciate ourselves and the bodies we have been given.
Michelle Brett, St. Albert
