Real Women, Real Bodies

[judith_s]

Saw this on boingboing, and had to share:

The Century Project (NSFW) by photographer Frank Cordelle shows images of women, nude, between the ages of zero and 100. They're real women, not idealized models. They have scars and bellies. He includes a short statement from or about each of the women as well. Apparently the East Bay Express newspaper has an article about this project. In any case, I thought it was fascinating, and very unlikely what we see normally in media.

Comments

[kawgirl.livejournal.com]

You might be interested in Dove's Campaign for Real Beauty.

They created this interesting film called "Evolution":

[judith-s.livejournal.com]

Dove's "real beauty" includes women who are much more restricted in range than the photos in this book. No one is really old, really overweight or underweight, no one has scars, no one has age spots, no one has cellulite.

[kawgirl.livejournal.com]

I would disagree with the cellulite comment. There are at least a couple of the women who are quite round and have some cellulite. I do agree that the Dove women do not encompass a full representation of female beauty. However, they have stuck with this campaign despite a very large public backlash and that it a brave thing for a commercial entity to do.

[judith-s.livejournal.com]

I missed the public backlash, and much of the campaign. The advantages of not watching TV, I suspect. But at least in their billboards, no one was out of shape or had any cellulite. I'm glad that commercial entities are willing to show that you can be over a size 6 and still be beautiful. Now if they can get over the fixation on perfect skin, teeth, hair, and body proportions it'll be even better.

I'd also have more respect for Dove if they weren't owned by Unilever, the same company that owns Axe and has those Axe commercials that are beyond sexist & tacky.

[kawgirl.livejournal.com]

I do hate those Axe commercials.

Check out the photo gallery. You'll find pictures of old women, young women, women from different ethnic backgrounds, women with alternatively colored/styled hair, little women, drooping breasted women and large bellied women. You may not find them to be as poignant as the set of shots you sent (for one thing, these women are clothed), but they do move in the right direction.

One of the things I have found disturbing recently is the competition for plus size modelling jobs. "Regular-sized" models are competing for these jobs and edging actual plus sized models out of the jobs. ):

[andybeals.livejournal.com]

You can see a portion of the photos at Lupin Lodge. (pops) It's a clothing-optional resort in Los Gatos. Of course, this time of year, there aren't all that many people naking…