I finally finish a restaurant shift that wouldn’t end, with customers who wouldn’t stop being needy, and chefs who wouldn’t stop yelling. The first thing I look forward to after a day like this is getting into my car and blasting some music on my way home. Unless we’re at a concert or watching music videos, we’re typically not watching the artists while listening to their music, so does it matter what they look like?
I want to dedicate my time into delving deeper into the relationship between musicians and body image. I found this interesting because in the entertainment industry, we all expect models to be on a tight eating/exercising regiment. Then the actors. And the TV personalities. Everyone is paid to be on screen and in print. Yet the pressure is just as intense with those who serenade us through faceless speakers.
I feel strong about this topic because I’ve dealt with body image issues here and there, throughout my life, and well… I’m passionate about music. Fans like myself become emotionally attached to musicians. Perhaps it’s because the musicians will practically pour their heart out in a song and we feel like we know them. Since these artists play such an important role in the lives of many, I think it’s vital that we find ways to let them express their craft without being torn down and stretched thin by social standards of body image.
Generally I feel that the media has been creating more of an open dialogue for artists to speak their truths and be open about their struggles. Just this week, Variety interviews Taylor Swift about her struggles with eating disorders while she was on tour. The first step in healing a community is to talk and let others know they are not alone. To this end, media eats up these stories – partially to inform the public, but also because people want the celebrity gossip. It sells (metaphorical or literal) papers.
I trust Variety as a media source on this topic because often they will have exclusive interviews with celebrities, this article being an example, so the reader doesn’t receive any information that’s been falsified from it being passed through the grapevine. Also, while I am guilty of reading trashy fashion articles about “who wore it best” and “fashion fails”, Variety keeps fashion… Fashion. It doesn’t talk about love handles or who is too skinny. The articles don’t use body shape and size to draw attention to their articles. I trust media sources who display principles I take as my own.
What really moved me to learn more about this topic was body image in the K-pop world. I’ve only recently began listening to K-pop, which is a music genre originating in South Korea. But I noticed all of the performers always looked so pristine and skinny… I learned about these training camps that people go to in pursuit of becoming K-pop stars.
In this video, Yanagi Mizuho is in the training company, hoping to become a part of a K-pop band. The clip I chose starts at 1:43 – Yanagi eats 300 calories a day.The girls are expected to be 50kg (110 lbs) or under. They each weigh themselves. When one of them has lost weight, they cheer, give each other hugs, and breath sighs of release. This is the behavior we need to address.
I follow Billboard for my music news. They are a trusted source, and have been for many years. You can see in their “about” page that they cover many different genres of music and their news is global. They tend to focus on the heavy-hitters in the music industry. The Billboard “Hot 100” list is a standard that the music industry respects. That said, I wish they would highlight some more up-and-coming artists. It would be interesting to see these artists’ journeys from bottom to top.
