Lesson 8: Body image in advertising
Topic of the week: Body positive movement
Thursday
Let's read the a passage from the article on advertising and body image
You can find the whole article here
Advertising is often a reflection of pop culture and societal trends; however, it can also shape them. Over the last 20-30 years, we have witnessed a strong correlation between advertising and body image, and the effects can be devastating. While it mostly affects women and girls, men and boys are not immune.
Dove, a Unilever brand, has made great attempts to portray women realistically. Despite their efforts to counter the growing body image problem, it is painfully obvious that most ad campaigns still portray women and men as physically perfect, with semi-naked women showing not an ounce of fat and semi-naked men having the rippling physique of He-Man. The only time we see ordinary people is when they are used as a comparison to fit models or when they are used for comedic appeal; this is a real problem.
Homework task
Record an audio discussing two picture ads above. You could include such points as:
- Why do you think companies are supporting body positivity?
- Do you think men are affected by body shaming equally with women?
- Do you like such a diverse representation of all kinds of bodies in the ads? Why?
Submit your voice message to @EnglishTutorialBot before Saturday 9 p.m. (UTC +3).
Looking forward to your homework,