The mannequin has been a popular topic for debate for years, but has recently reached the headlines once again. Specifically, Topshop stores across the UK are under scrutiny for mannequins that appear “too thin.” However, while it’s easy to point fingers, I believe the true problem runs much deeper than any store or single corporation.
The mannequin can never be defined as an ideal representation of a woman’s body because no mannequin can represent all women. That’s the beauty of being human: we can’t be summarized by one shape. I was lucky enough to have been taught growing up that I didn’t have to look like the Barrie dolls I owned, that Barbie isn’t real but a toy. My body doesn’t look like that because I’m a human and I’m not made of plastic.
Many feminists try to teach young girls this same idea — that their body is perfect because it’s theirs and unique only to them — in order to help them accept and love their body. Their bodies can never be modeled into something inanimate and that’s a good thing. It seems simple when written out, but so many girls are taught to believe the opposite: to conform and mold themselves after those figures in store windows.
To point to the mannequin itself as too big or too small misses the point. Shops must use something to display their clothing in order to sell them. If a shop stated they believed mannequins were the ideal body type it would be shameful and they undoubtedly could try to mold mannequins closer to an average body size. But at the end of the day, it’s up to us to disconnect and distinguish ourselves from these specific objects as well as the objectification of our bodies at large in order to improve our body image.
The power lies within us. Especially on Black Friday and around the holiday shopping season, we must remember that we have the power to teach and inform girls. We can help prevent any harmful, negative thoughts they may ever think about themselves by reminding them that they, unlike mannequins, are not idealized objects. Because, at the end of the day, a mannequin is inanimate and will only be toxic to a girl’s health if we let it.
