Perfectionism: in a box

I post this with some trepidation...  but at some point my desire to not encourage the myth that eating disorders are caused by media influence ends up keeping me from cheering for stuff I actually like, like this:



Let me be clear: eating disorders are not an attempt to meet unrealistic media images. Eating disorders are mental illnesses that capitalize on, exploit, and use as cover the fact that advertisers always have and always will sell unattainable perfection in the service of their bottom line. The debilitating body image problems seen in many eating disorder patients is not a sign of the influence of the media any more than compulsive hand-washing is a sign of unrealistic images of cleanliness in detergent commercials.

But I STILL find it important that we help ALL our children develop media literacy and I think the video above does a better job than most because it brings up the signs of aging and race - and has high production values - and uses high-quality satire that is more likely to reach people. There is a place for the scary, serious, judgy stuff (like the Dove Evolution video) but let's keep in mind that ALL this stuff is selling us products and selling us the idea that we're imperfect - even if the imperfection is our self-esteem.

Comments

  1. Hilarious and great satire! It's just too darned bad that we have to actually see each other in real life, isn't it! ;-}

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  2. Bravo, Laura. Agreed.

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