In today’s society girls are taught to think that being thin is the definition of beautiful. Or if you are not thin you are expected to have a slim waist with large breasts and butt. Photoshop has played a large role in peoples’ definition of beautiful by altering models to look almost unrealistic. In today’s society almost every woman magazine has a get thin quick scam posted on the cover and since everyone is looking to fit the “perfect body” we purchase these magazines in hope that they will work. In my blog today I will be analyzing one of Life and Style articles about Khloe Kardashian and her famous slim down from 2009.
The Kardashian’s are a popular reality star family and as most of you know Khloe Kardashian has been labeled “the fat one”. Constantly being compared to her sisters Kourtney and Kim, Khloe has always had body image issues and in 2009 decided to use a diet supplement called quick trim to slim down. Her weight loss got tons of attention by the media and she has appeared on three separate Life and Style magazine covers that have discussed her weight loss. Khloe also became the face of quick trim products. From this article and other magazine covers you can easily see how the ethical gaze comes into play.
Ethical gaze is the relations of looking that determines a body’s social value or moral worth by its appearance. How this magazine article relates to the ethical gaze is that Khloe has always been seen as less valuable then her sisters because she is heavier than them. In one magazine title she is quoted to be saying “I don’t want to be the fat, funny one anymore.” Once Khloe lost weight things started to turn around for her and see was seen as more valuable. For example she married basketball star Lamar Odom and they received their own television series out of their relationship. Also for Kourtney and Khloe take Miami Khloe was seen in sexier bathing suits on the opening to the show rather than covered up like how she normally is when shooting a commercial or magazine ad with her sisters. How this article promotes the way of looking at bodies in regards to sexuality is that it shows all of Khloe’s success after losing the weight as if she wasn’t already a successful business lady before when she was heavier. The article is pretty much saying being sexy made Khloe successful.
The media explicitly shows the idea of how a woman’s body should be through this article. The reason why I believe that this article explicitly states how the female body should be is because Khloe is often quoted saying things like “she’s tired of being the fat one” or “don’t call me fat”. This is clearly showing that she was unhappy with her body and wanted to achieve what society considers being “the perfect body”. The magazine covers for Life and Style that Khloe was featured on have her in bikinis and have her positioned in figure flattering poses that show off her curves which expresses her femininity and stops showing her as the masculine, outspoken sister. The article and magazine covers show her softer side. Also for the article that I am reading it is a two page article with pictures of Khloe on both sides in a bathing suit. Before her weight loss Khloe was always seen covered or if she was in a skirt or dress it was always longer than her sister’s. If you were to read the article you would pick up on the hints from the interview with Khloe that being heavier than her 5’3 sisters is unacceptable and she is now happier since she lost 30 pounds which is telling people that if you are thinner and fight societies mold you will be a happier person. In Sut Jhally’s Advertising and Popular Culture article she states how advertising talks to us as individuals and addresses us about how we can become happy. This article is clearly stating that losing weight will make you a happier person.
Although Khloe Kardashian is not classified as skinny after her weight loss she now fits in society’s acceptable category of having a large chest and butt with a slim waist. How someone would perceive/ receive reality when reading this article in Life and Style is that changing your body is perfectly fine and achievable. It also makes it look like Khloe will keep the weight off for forever, which in fact she did not. Once she became in a relationship with Lamar Odom and stopped endorsing quick trim Khloe put back on weight. The article shows that everyone can become thinner if they really want to be, I think that is wrong because not everyone is meant to be thin. Things like genetics and issues with your thyroid are just a couple of setbacks that could stop someone from achieving a perfect body. The article constantly states how unhappy Khloe was when she was 30lbs heavier and how happy she is now that she lost the weight, all this is telling the reader is that they should be unhappy with themselves.
The article in Life and Style discussing Khloe Kardashian’s weight loss is a great example of how not having a specific body type lessens your value as a person. The article explicitly shows the audience how being heavier is linked to unhappiness and shows all the benefits from losing weight. For example finding love as Khloe did with Lamar. Article also does not show a good representation of reality because it fails to tell you all the hours and supplements Khloe took in order to lose her extra weight, which was quickly put back on once going off her diet.
Works Cited
Jhally, Sut. "Image-Based Culture: Advertising and Popular Culture." Gender, Race, and Class in Media. SAGE Publications, 2011. 200-201.
"Life and Style." 15 July 2009 .
I think the articles in life and style are very misleading. They are showing girls that the only way to be successful is to be thin. This is causing so many girls to become unhealthy. What this article fails to point out is that Kim and Kourtney are significantly shorter than Khloe, which contributes to the weight difference between the girls. We live in a society that’s consumed solely on image. There are plenty of girls out there who are not stick thin and are in love, have good jobs, and are very happy with their lives but no one cares to do articles on these girls.
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