Boots body shaming advert?

[MouthFullofGum]

So two curvy girls take off their sarongs and feel confident walking into the sea - Great.

But why do they have to walk by obviously thinner women who are made to look judgmental and unconfident in themselves?

I thought body confidence was about saying all shapes and sizes should be embraced? Not uplifting one to shame the other.

Everyone is going on about their opinion of the ad but hardly anyone is addressing OPs remark about the skinny woman looking judgemental and unconfident and therefore being 'skinny shamed'.

Absolutely not OP, that is a faaaaar REACH. the skinny woman is on camera for 1 second, how have you come to the conclusion?

YABU

@WeeDangerousSpike Fri 05-Jul-19 19:59:54
I think they look the same as the woman on the poster they look at and say 'no one looks like that'
Me too! The model in the advert was rather 'curvy' as well. In fact at first, in the beginning of it, I thought that one of them was looking up at herself, on the modeling job she had just done.

When they were strutting into the sea, they have fabulous, beautiful skin, and no flippin cellulite whatsoever.... not a dimple to be seen. So, this STILL isn't "total" real-life body acceptance.
It's still just all a crock of shite.

That song made my ears hurt. SO annoying. as for the thin women looking "insecure" I thought it was more like a "Hmm...they look great!" look. Approving.

I hate the whole "no one actually looks like that"...

1. Lots of women do look like that
2. It's shaming slim women

I found that a lot more annoying than the slim women looking at them. I don't actually think they were judging them.

Well of course you thought that!

so much silly whining going on over this ad.

"Part of the reason why we have an obesity epidemic and why Cancer UK are pushing out adverts that are also considered "fat shaming""

a. if Cancer Research are so concerned about obesity perhaps you know........they should do some research into alternatives to steroids instead of running the same campaign twice in less than eighteen months which neatly brings me to..........

b. if it had been any other charity running any other TWO identical campaigns less than 18 months apart about another subject there would have been a very long thread on here full of outrage about a charity using peoples donations to run the same campaign TWICE!!!

Any ideas if that came from the makers of the ad or from elsewhere?

Apparently it's from just normality among some who have a lot of body art and so shave to enhance the art. I don't know, I'm far too chicken to ever have a tattoo, much less a sleeve.

There are large & huge women in swim suits on my local beach, in my local pools. They have freckles, wonky noses, moles, cellulite, pale or sunburnt skin, & lots of jiggle. It was the lack of jiggle on the curvacious women in the Boots ad that made me think "airbrushed! Not real!"

Large = size 16+. On MN I read that not-skinny women feel like they can't get in a bikini, yet local women find a way.

"nobody looka like that,
It's just a load of tat"

Firstyl, rubbish rhyme.
Secondly, yes they do-you've just walked past people that look like that!!

On the other hand, the Tu by Sainsburys advert has women of every shape and size dancing in whatever they want. That is a great, body positive advert.

don't make this a gendered issue

Of course it’s a bloody gendered issue.

Have you ever seen the film Couples Retreat, particularly the scene where they’re all in their swimwear on the beach? Four men ranging from paunchy to morbidly obese, and their size 2-6 wives / girlfriends. This is the version of normal presented by the media.

And if this advert subbed in men for the women, it would be seen for the ludicrous mess it is.

As for those banging on about celebrating being fat, this has nothing to do with being fat. It’s about media that thinks it’s jumping on a body positivity bandwagon while actually still presenting extremely rare, unattainable for the majority body types, just in a slightly different size.

Even when I was a young size 8, I had stretch marks, I had bits of cellulite.

Most women of the same size as these models would never look like this in swimwear. It’s unattainable, and it’s feeding into the public consciousness in terms of what women’s bodies should look like. That’s my issue with it.

actually still presenting extremely rare, unattainable for the majority body types, just in a slightly different size.

rare? I don't know where you look, but I see more slim and toned women than I see overweight ones, size 8 is the fastest size to run out in the sales (or not the sales), and last time I went to toddler swim classes I was amazed that half the mums were in bikinis with flat belly and toned backside.

All sizes and shape include normal women, non overweight, not covered in cellulite and just normal.

It's a mindless advert. The irony is that Boots are trying to make their 'radical' point....by casting two models with the current body trend. Being 'thick' with a bum, thighs and boobs and yet still being 'in shape' is what is aspirational these days. Take any look at any photo from age 12 through to middle age onwards, on Instagram and look how they're all posing with their bums stuck out to look as large as possible.

rare? I don't know where you look, but I see more slim and toned women than I see overweight ones, size 8 is the fastest size to run out in the sales (or not the sales), and last time I went to toddler swim classes I was amazed that half the mums were in bikinis with flat belly and toned backside.

You’re missing the point, which is that it’s very rare for women of that size to look like that in swimwear. It’s probably much more rare than being really slim. It has nothing to do with being fat or thin or anything else.

Even the slim women I know have stretch marks, dimply bits etc. Carrying more fat but only in exactly the right places with no effects on your skin is extremely unusual, and no amount of products from Boots will help with that.

of course it's on trend, but for once it's a good one, isn't it?
Better toned and defined body than anorexic ones - nothing wrong with being slim, but some models used to be dangerously underweight and near starving to get there.
The current trend is about diet AND exercise, long may it last.

Where I live size 8s languish on the rails until they’re sent to landfill or whatever they do with them. You can never find a 14 and 16s are on the scarce side. Apparently 16 is now the average size.

Even the slim women I know have stretch marks, dimply bits etc.

some have, but on most are barely noticeable, and we are still talking about adverts. Women don't get up and go swimming caked in make-up to look better in front of the camera either. What would be the point of insisting on concentrating on the flaws instead of painting a nicer picture.

I don't get this idea that women look crap. Maybe I need to get a pair of glasses, but most people I see in the pool or on the beach actually look really good!

Apparently 16 is now the average size.

that's depressing.

It's hardly groundbreaking stuff, to use a current trend. But to present it as something other than what it is, is stupid and patronising. And transparent.
All bodies are ok as far as I'm concerned. Only the one I live in bears any relation to me. Never seen one like mine represented in the media (slim, average body shape but with a belly button like a hot cross bun and other signs of childbearing) but I can't say it would sell a lot of nail varnish or hairspray

Unbearably patronising claptrap.

if Cancer Research are so concerned about obesity perhaps you know........they should do some research into alternatives to steroids

Come off it. The vast, vast, vast majority of people aren’t obese because they’re on steroids.

if it had been any other charity running any other TWO identical campaigns less than 18 months apart about another subject there would have been a very long thread on here full of outrage about a charity using peoples donations to run the same campaign TWICE!!!

This is a really daft point. Cancer charities have been campaigning about smoking for years. Smoking increases risk of cancer. So does obesity. It’s totally valid to continue to raise awareness of this issue.

No it isn’t depressing at all. There’s nothing inherently better about being a size 8 than a 16. It’s because people think it’s depressing that there’s an attempt to show reality in advertising. It’s about time.

And my husband said, 'enough with those fat women in bikinis!' which annoyed me further.

and there you go, here lies the issue. Women look at those women in the advert and think they look normal or average. Men see them as fat, overweight, unfit. Men have got a warped sense of what is fat. When I've happened to mention my dress size or weight it's always the men who are like, really, but you look so slim. Yeah because you have no idea mate.

There’s nothing inherently better about being a size 8 than a 16.

you can't think why in these days and age promoting heavier body is not a great move?
You can't see what the issue is with a size 16 being normalised? At least let's be honest, a size 16 is fat and unhealthy. It might become more common, it doesn't make it better.

Women look at those women in the advert and think they look normal or average. Men see them as fat, overweight, unfit. Men have got a warped sense of what is fat.

It's actually the complete opposite.
There has been more than a few studies, where the women "ideal" was from a very slim body (think Kate Middleton) to borderline anorexic models whilst the men were attracted by the much more curvy figures.
As much as you can put all men and women in the same basket obviously.