Before her talk show ended last spring, Tyra Banks was using it to promote her Beauty Inside & Out (BIO) Campaign. This was the former model’s latest attempt to prove that girls of all shades, shapes, and sizes are beautiful. She invited her fans to post photos and videos of themselves describing what they will do to expand the definition of beauty because, as Tyra says, “As long as women are comfortable with who they are and what they look like, I say they are beautiful!”
Do you agree? I do. But not because a supermodel says so. I believe that having confidence in yourself is one of the most beautiful qualities a young woman can have. But if you listened to what Tyra said on America’s Next Top Model, you might have heard her saying something a little bit different.
As one of the first top African American models, Tyra has broken down barriers of what it means to be beautiful. Before she and Naomi Campbell came on the modeling scene in the 1980s, the fashion industry didn’t make much room for the beauty of women of color. Even today, you don’t see many girls with brown skin in fashion magazines, but thanks to pioneers like Tyra that number is increasing.
Fans of all ages responded positively to BIO. On the campaign’s twitter page, participants posted empowering messages like: “The Campaign has not only inspired me to throw away my makeup, but also to keep writing. My self-esteem has grown.” AND “It is a fact that everyone is beautiful. When I hear someone tease someone or make a joke about someone for being ‘ugly,’ I say, who are you to judge? Everyone should look in the mirror and say ‘I am beautiful.’ Because you are beautiful! And when you shine on the inside, that light shines through.” Maybe we will see some positive results from the BIO Campaign, but it seems like if Tyra really wanted to change things, she’d start with the body negativity seen on her most popular show.
America's Next Top Model judges contestants’ ability to transform themselves into the picture of American ideal beauty. Although the contest is supposedly open to all young women, only one season allowed contestants to be under 5’7” tall and very few people of Middle Eastern or Asian descent have ever been chosen to compete. The weight and shape of the girls bodies are constantly critiqued—from being too fat to being too skinny—and the judges are always making fun of the young women’s personal sense of style. Tyra says she wants the BIO Campaign to encourage the media to feature real-looking girls, but then she tells her America's Next Top Model contestants they have to be traditional beauties. So which Tyra do we believe?
It does seem like Tyra is trying to do something good and using her fame to make a positive change. I just wonder if she’s doing enough to change society’s perception of beauty. But it’s not just up to supermodels to promote real beauty. It’s also up to us, and that is the best message one should take from the BIO Campaign.