A Little Forethought Goes A Long Way

So, Michael Buble posted a photo of an unsuspecting woman in short-shorts on his Instagram with him smirking away in the foreground as her cheeky-cheeks winked cheekily in the background. He even dressed the post up with some hashtags about her hungry albeit beautiful bum and it turned out to be the internet news of the day. A lot of people are perplex about why this is a big deal, a few are wondering where the cries of 'body-shaming' are coming from, and some are wondering why his post has garnered such attention, especially when the post was intended to be complimentary.

After removing the controversial picture, Mr. Buble posted a statement about how he would never intentionally be 'insulting to a human' and how he thought women should be 'loved, celebrated and respected'. Well, I call bullshit, and this why what he did is unacceptable, rude, sexist and disconcerting (to me, at least). 

1. A lot of opinionated folks feel the only reason Mr. Buble is getting flack is because he's famous. In a lot of ways, this is correct, mostly because if an average Joe posted a photo of some unsuspecting woman on his Instagram it wouldn't have gone viral. Most people don't have over a million people on their Instagram accounts, or nearly eight million on their Facebook fan pages, which is where the picture appeared. An average, bonehead dude wouldn't be able to reach a million people with a press of a button, so one might think with the sheer girth of his social media platform, Mr. Buble (and wife) might have used their heads and thought, "Hey, maybe this isn't a good idea?" But they didn't. Of course, this doesn't mean they shouldn't be held responsible for the tripe they put into the world, right? 

2. After addressing his popularity, let's take it away - because it doesn't actually matter when you think of the underlying issue. The fact that he is a world-famous singer has only allowed us to shed light on the complete lack of privacy we live with. In the world of social media, it is easy to wave goodbye to our privacy, and this story simply proves we are a poor clothing choice and a share button away from being the next viral sensation. This doesn't change the fact that it actually isn't okay to pass along pictures or information of other people. As humans, it'd be nice if we respected each other enough not to take covert snapshots and share them to our social media followers ... unfortunately, this isn't the case. Simply put, if you want to share your own lives, clothing, children, work, then feel free, but exposing someone else without permission is a violation of their privacy. And it's wrong. No matter if you are Michael Buble or not. 

3. What bothers me most about this picture is the poster actually thought it was complimentary! I suppose the logic correlates with when men catcall women from the side of the road. As if this woman should be happy that her 'humps' are plastered all over the internet, that she should be thrilled because a celebrity found it attractive, and that she should accept his 'beautiful bum' hashtag with pride. Because nothing makes you feel better than being objectified, right? Who wouldn't want to be turned into a piece of meat and thrown to eight million rabid fans? And yet, I noticed he didn't say these things to her face - maybe because to have said them to her would have been super disrespectful. Well, that's just confounding, right? 

The core of the issue is that the objectification of women is so rampant most of Buble's fans (which are predominately female) jumped to his defence, claiming he was being 'nice' and 'flattering', and very few seemed to see the flip side - the extremely common oppression of women and acceptance of sexism. Even more irritating is Buble's claim of lack of intent. So, you didn't mean to be chauvinistic? Oh, I guess all is forgiven then. It's the 'boys will be boys' mentality, and quite honestly, it's getting pretty damn old. Imagine if this was your daughter. The girl in the picture could have been fourteen, for all we know. Horrifying, right?

And some people wonder why we still need feminism. Because every day we facilitate this type of behaviour, excusing it and condoning it. 

4. Alright, let's say the man just didn't think, and he honestly does love, respect and celebrate women, and he was just being funny ... One must ask the question: has he never been on the internet before? Has he never read comments on YouTube or Twitter? Did he seriously think this picture was going to be met with the same (cough) love, (cough) respect, and (cough) celebration he posted it with? (The coughing is because the words were sticking in my virtual throat and causing me to choke on the irony) This might be a newsflash to Buble, but the internet isn't exactly a nice place. People are mean, usually just for the sake of being mean, and he put this woman on display, holding her under a spotlight for the masses to critique. Now, I only read a handful of the comments, but I was disgusted. People were calling her fat, asking if she was blind, saying she clearly forgot her pants, and there were even utterances of 'whore'. Not only was she body-shamed, but her intelligence was called into question, and all I kept thinking was, she looks far better than I would in short-shorts.     

5. And through all the harsh comments and abrasive observations, there was a very unsettling theme of her responsibility. After all, she went out in public in the shorts, she was begging for the attention, she knew she looked good, and obviously she brought it on herself. Let's all call this what it truly is,  victimization and our ever-present ability to blame the victim when they are taken advantage of, violated and exploited. 

More annoying are the people who are asking WHY she wore shorts like that out in public. First off, it's Miami, I hear it gets hot there. Second, maybe she went for a run and they rode up a bit, or perhaps she has a huge wedgie and didn't feel a restaurant an appropriate place to pick it. Hell, maybe she wanted to show off the obvious hard work she puts into her body. The truth is, it doesn't matter the reasons behind WHY she put the shorts on and went out - she doesn't deserve to be plastered all over the internet and mistreated for wearing them. Whether or not we want to admit is, rape culture is pervasive in our society and it's evident when things like this happen. This woman is a victim of her privacy being violated, and is on the receiving end of sexism.

In the end, a little forethought goes a long way, especially when your platform can reach millions. The truth is, these types of things happen all the time, to women every day, and instances of sexism and exploitation are readily accepted to the point where a lot of us don't even bat an eye. From where I stand, if you truly love and respect women and want to celebrate them, then perhaps allowing them privacy would be a great first step. And I am talking to other women too. We do the exact same thing. Heck, it was Buble's wife who snapped the picture in the first place! This world is already so hard, how about making it a bit easier by thinking about how our actions and words can affect those around us. Make each post count. 

Stop Applauding Vogue

This week Kim Kardashian's arse may have broke the internet, but there was another story making the rounds and it revolved around butts as well. The hero? Vogue. The act of awesomeness? A popular high-fashion magazine participating in a plus-size photo shoot. While people are applauding and calling it revolutionary, I'm over here perfecting my eye-roll and snort of derision. Don't get me wrong, I love seeing curvaceous women in the fashion industry and praise magazines that hire unique models to sell their clothes and brand.

But commending Vogue for hiring models for a 'plus-sized' photo shoot? I think not. 

In 2012, Vogue signed a six point agreement to promote a 'healthy body image' with their magazine. To do this, they vowed to 'not knowingly work with models under 16 who appear to have an eating disorder and to encourage designers to consider consequences of unrealistically small sample sizes'. And the world patted them on the back, except they took the accolades but refused to change. Not only is it appalling the magazine needed outside influence to reach the decision not to hire sixteen year olds with unrealistic bodies (unrealistic because these pubescent girls are tiny tobstart with thrn undergo mass photo-shopping), they didn't actually agree to anything. The vernacular used tiptoed around any real commitment. With terms like 'not knowingly' and 'encourage designers' they are basically saying, if we don't flat out ask, then we can claim ignorance. 

And ignorant, they are not. They know exactly what they are doing. The fashion industry loves perpetuating unhealthy body images. They want women to see the models in their magazines and feel supremely disappointed in themselves. Why? Because it sells. 

In 2013 a former Vogue Australia editor, Kristie Clements, came forward and shed light on the horrific truth many models live with. She talked about how models eat tissue to curb hunger and use hospital drips to get nutrients instead of eating. The blatant truth, the majority of the fashion industry, Vogue included, ignore the signs of anorexia, even more, they celebrate unhealthy desires. Kind of makes it clear Vogue didn't change, not even after the editors signed a pact to 'encourage healthier body image within the industry'.

Does it sound like I'm calling Vogue a liar? Is it coming across as though I suspect this most recent photo-shoot is simply a publicity ploy? That they are merely out for some praise? To sell a few more magazines? Shut up the pitchfork people who are screaming for equality in all sizes and shapes? And that they will just go back to their ways of immortalizing unrealistic expectations? 

If so, I'm articulating myself perfectly. This is exactly what I think. And it pisses me off. 

The women in this 'plus size' spread are not even plus size. They are average, some of them even thin, especially when you consider the average size of an American woman is a 14. Vogue doesn't deserve a pat on the back for showcasing these women, they deserve a punch in the face for not doing it sooner. They aren't doing anything revolutionary. This isn't their standard. It's just a social media stunt to gain attention. 

To be honest, I'm not going to be happy until every single magazine has women of all sizes, from zeros to 16 and up to 56 (I don't even know if there is a size 56, actually). I am tried of us all being divided into groups. Skinny girls can be in this magazine, but fat girls have to be in another - God forbid if they are together. It doesn't end there either, the separation runs deep. Blondes on the left, brunettes on the right, and redheads straight to the back. Lesbians stand up and straight people sit down. Asians can go in the Fall edition and we will showcase Spanish women in August. 

I want plus sized models to simply be called models. Is that too much to ask? 

The bright side is there are wonderful magazines out there that actually promote healthy body image and showcase women of all shapes, races, and religions. Pick up the latest edition of Bust, Curvy, and Love  if you are interested in seeing a bit more variety, or check out the website Style has NO size. But as for Vogue, just stop applauding them, they don't deserve it.