What not to Wear; More like What not to look like

Rosalind Gill – Postfeminist Media Culture

                Many have seen the TLC hit show What not to Wear and for many it is a guilty pleasure to watch because of the “magnificent” transformation that is given to “ordinary” people who need a “wake up” need call. These reality TV shows are implying that women across the world need to change their body in order to even be considered “attractive”. “The body is presented simultaneously as women’s source of power and as always already unruly and requiring constant monitoring, discipline, and remodeling (and consumer spending) in order to conform to ever narrower judgements of female attractiveness” (Gill 154). By promoting this type of image through media just a Gill said, women no longer see their bodies as something beautiful and powerful, but as a project that needs never ending remodeling in order to fit that “ideal” body type.

The above photos shown, are the before and after of a woman that was put onto the show and then her whole wardrobe and looks were pulled apart because she didn’t fit that stereotypical “ideal” look. Many women before her were already on the show, and several things the co-hosts said about them were rude, uncalled for, and humiliating. For example, “she looks like a mousy librarian” or “your teeth are yellow, have you been eating grass?” were actual quotes taken from the show that were said to real people (McRobbie 2014: 118). This show is insinuating that in order for women to look beautiful they must have their whole body, wardrobe, and personality redone. But, why? Why are women the main focus and why is it suggested they need to be remodeled? Women no matter size, looks, height, etc. were created the way they were supposed to look like and if they like dressing comfortable in baggy clothes then let them. They’re not bringing any harm to someone for dressing/looking the way they are. What not to Wear has good intentions no doubt, but the way it is done is rude and causes many to feel ashamed for the way that they look.

  A postfeminist view on this type of reality show may explain how a show like What not to Wear is actually a positive for women of this day and age. Rosalind says for example, “femininity is a bodily property; the shift from objectification to subjectification; the emphasis upon self-surveillance, monitoring and discipline; a focus upon individualism, choice and empowerment; the dominance of a makeover paradigm; a resurgence in ideas of natural sexual difference; a marked sexualisation of culture; and an emphasis upon consumerism and the commodification of difference” (Rosalind 152). This to me seems like she is saying that this show could be empowering because it’s showing women that it’s okay to dress up and make themselves look good because that proves that women are in control of their and that their makeover was done in order for them to strive to power. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQiU2IeztNI

                The above clip is the before and after scenario of a high school teacher who was told she was outdated, and her clothing was influenced by her students. At the end of the clip, the cop-hosts say how great that the women looks and how the makeover has changed her life. They also say how it will impact her as a better role model. A postfeminist might say that this was done for her for the better, and now she will be better perceived as an actual teacher and will be able to show more power and confidence throughout her new wardrobe, body, and style.  But, what about that students that look at the before and after of their teacher and think “In order for people to take me seriously I need a makeover?”. This show may seem like a positive but is actually a negative especially for young girls who look up to those women and then see they were given a makeover because the way they looked before was just wrong.

                Although postfeminists may view certain media cultures nowadays as a positive for women empowerment, they sometimes forget that some things are also a negative. Second wave feminists view this media culture very differently, would consider it more of a negative, and strive to their best abilities to make sure women know that remodeling yourself isn’t the way to prove your power and worth.

               

Gill, Rosalind (2007) Postfeminist media culture: elements of a sensibility. European journal of cultural studies, 10 (2). pp. 147-166.

McRobbie, A. (2004). Notes on 'What Not to Wear' and post-feminist symbolic violence. Feminism after Bourdieu. L. Adkins and B. Skeggs. Oxford, Blackwell/The Sociological review.