Thin is beautiful and healthy (pg 17, cult)..

The first advertisement selected is from a leading manufacturer of Vitamins and Supplements; Jamieson Vitamins. This ad displays a nude woman posed with her arms outstretched over her head, showing off her slim and toned body. Printed on the Womans back are the words Listen to your body, with an explanation printed underneath. This further indicates that this woman is abundant with confidence, as only such a woman who is fit and thin can have such pride and confidence. In the ad the womans silhouette is that of a slim and slender woman. If we examine the ad further we can see that this woman exudes a sense of self confidence, for she is able to stand nude and have her body photographed. The indication is that confidence comes based on outward appearances reinforcing the system of male patriarchal control. Thus the emphasis of the ad is the importance of the body further reinforcing the mind body dichotomy that characterized our culture. The ad perfectly reflects one of the issues concerning eating disorders, that if one does not have the idealized slim and toned body they are not healthy. The ad ties the two themes of slim with healthy, indicating that if one is slim one is healthy. This has become one of the central reasons women go to the gym, not to become healthy but to lose weight. As set point theory demonstrates, this is not necessarily the case. The ad therefore reinforces the need to be thin and associates this body image with health. The further underlining message that this ad sells, is that maintaining a slim physique means the woman is living a healthy lifestyle. Thus, if the person fails to meet such a feminine ideal, she is not considered healthy. Finally it is interesting to note that if this woman, who many would regard as having the perfect and ideal body is in need of a vitamin supplement, that she herself is not good enough, then the implication for the individual whose body does not look like this is alarming.

Advertisement #2- Sex The Sexual Revolution has finally reached the feminine care aisle, but exclusively targeted towards size 2s. This ad is for a brand of sexual products, created by Trojan, and marketed to women called Elexa. This ad shows five identical stylized images of woman with the text The Sexual Revolution has finally reached the feminine care aisle. While at first glance this ad seems to challenge male patriarchy in regards to sex, if we look deeper we can see that this ad does contain some disturbing elements. The stylized figures used in the ad seem to be an attempt to create a kind of every-woman, since there are no illusions to eye color, hair color or race. While the ad seems to filter these distinctions, one distinction remains that all these models are no larger than a size 1 and are tall and slender, with curves. The ad aptly fails to display women of different sizes. Such an ad is a powerful socializing agent that is transmitting ideologies of sexuality and thinness to their female receptors. The images of the women in the ad are very subtle, if this silhouette was of a real woman, her dress may probably be a size 1 or even a 0. This silhouette indicates that a woman has to be one of a sexy, thin woman in order to be able to express her sexuality with the use of such sexual oriented products. In the text Cult of Thinness , Hesse-Biber discusses such issues of thinness in association with sexuality. It is become internalized for woman to believe that, If you are female thin will get you a husband (pg 17, cult). Woman are starting to believe that in order to maintain a strong and captivating sexuality they have to maintain a slim figure. It is through such ads, magazines, television shows and the whole message of the media that, A woman sense of worth in culture is her ability to trap a man (pg 17, cult), and not about who she is as a person. This further disempowers women in a patriarchal society into trying their

hardest to fit into an ideal and accepting category of beautiful women, so that they may be appealing to men. The patriarchal society we live in continue to pressure women into maintaining a so called fit exterior, as it is the body that a man finds the most attractive. Advertisement #3- Success To be thin is to be successful and To be fat is to have no ambition (pg 17, cult). This advertisement portrays the image of success and how it is associated with thinness. This advertisement represents the brand Roberto Cavalli. In this picture a thin and beautiful woman wearing designer jewelry, is stepping out of a Farrari. Such luxury reflects her wealthy and upper class lifestyle. The message sent from such an ad is that this woman is a representation of the new American elite. These have the obligation to maintain a slim and slender image, if they wish to be part of a world exclusive to thin woman. This woman in this ad is perfect in almost every way, and that the only way to reach the upper echelons is to meet such unrealistic expectations of perfection. The ad has a man sitting in the Lamborghini behind the steering wheel, this reflects the capability of only a slim, beautiful woman who is able to get a welthy and successful man highly based on her exotic exterior. This further shows those women who meet such thin ideals may have the chance to marry a rich man, as a man is usually not interested in a larger woman. This woman reaps success of the man in the car, (article- Dalia) . . In the ad the woman is getting out of the car, while the man still remains seated. This illustrates the womans pride and independence. The woman in the ad has an expression of seduction on her face, further implying that a woman with such physique may easily be seductive and get what she wants. This ad takes place at night, they could be pulling up to a club or a high class

social event, people who do not fit the ideal image, may be excluded from such a world. These further implies that only the slim and sexy live such extravagant lifestyles, going out to classy places, drinking and dancing and having fun.