Can you break down the economics behind beauty and body image?

If money can be made on the ever-changing ideals of beauty, industries built upon a woman’s innate need to fit in and feel included, will continue to thrive. No ideal of beauty would make me want to bind my feet, take out a rib, or otherwise, but with the sliding scale of procedures today that seem ‘less invasive’, the beauty bug can become contagious leaving us unrecognisable to even ourselves. We perpetuate the beauty myth by continually spending money to support it. When we choose where we want to spend our money, instead of feeling we have to catch up or look like someone else, our money is our power.

If the idea of an “ideal beauty” is ever-changing, could we ever go back to the days of Rubenesque bodies being the most desirable?

We can never go back, only forward, which in my opinion is very bright. Never before have we had an environment where so many voices are being heard in the digital space about inclusivity. The high-end magazines are beginning to include more women (albeit slowly) but I have always said, “slow change is lasting change”. We’ve been waiting FOREVER for reflections of our images to meld together with what has classically been deemed beautiful, but you know the old saying “nothing good ever comes easy”? Change takes time, and the good thing is change is the only thing we can rely upon. It keeps coming. So if you see a company extending their sizes, including more women of colour/size/gender in their campaigns, reflecting text that drops the mic on empowerment and so on, be sure to let them know. Applaud them. If we only have things to pick at and shed a negative light on, that energy doesn’t grow – it shuts down suggestions, conversations, and new ideas. That’s not to say to remain silent, but use data in all your requests for change. Data is queen and takes away decisions based on emotions.

Plus size supermodel Emme’s brilliant advice for anyone who’s been body-shamed on social media