The Marketability of the Female Form

The Marketability of the Female Form

Unless you've been living under a rock recently, or have very different tastes than the vast majority of the population in home decor, you've likely seen the hundreds and thousands of different variations of home decorations and furnishings that are based on the female body.

Whether it's candles of a busty babe, a poster of a bare behind, or a plant pot of an enviously smooth vagina (no shaving bumps? what's your secret?!) the shops have been flooded with decorations we're supposed to adorn in our homes.

I'll be honest, I have very complicated feelings about these.

I received one of the classic candles you've bound to see on your Instagram page of a headless woman's naked body. Breasts so perky they could take her eye out (if she had one), bum so round it was literally molded to be perfect, and a stomach so flat it actually reared on inversion. It was a great Christmas gift, and I took plenty of pictures of it both pre and post-burning that I splattered all over my social media channels. There was something weirdly erotic about the hot wax dripping down her cleavage and towards her belly button. I was both turned on and jealous of a candle - a new low in my life. How dare she have such a perfect body? I had to remind myself that she was not real and not my competition. But the Christmas wines I was having blurred those lines quite easily.

Even now, as I am looking for various items to furnish my new home with - a home I do not yet have but literally please Jesus any day now - I will walk face first into a peachy bum. The most common item you'll find will be a candle, but you will also notice vases and plant pots also flooding the shelves. Famous influencers like Molly-Mae proudly show off their ass-vase, (vass? you heard it here first, folks) on social media. Even Megan Barton-Hanson paid to have someone make a sculpture of her torso and tits which now sits on her bookshelf.

These little decorations walk the line between badass empowerment and predictable objectification. I'll be honest, if I had boobs like Megan I'd probably have a sculpture of them too.

But therein lies the issue. I do not have boobs like Megan. And neither does the vast majority of the population, as the vast majority of the population did not have boob jobs. (Quick side note: this is not knocking plastic surgery. I've spoken before about how I'm a champion of it and would probably get some myself if I could afford it.) And, because of this, the vast majority of the population is subject to feelings of insecurities and inadequacies.

I think my first issue with these candles and vases I see everywhere is that, for the most part, they're not very inclusive.

Not just in terms of skin tones, but sizes and abilities too. 99% of the female form candles look like they're molded from Jessica Rabbit's body, and don't reflect any body type I've seen in real life. And, even when they do try to be 'plus size' or 'curvy', that typically means a BBL ass and a flat stomach, with boobs larger than their 'normal' candles.

Honestly, it's slightly boring.

I'm not saying that every single thing has to be inclusive or engage in body positivity, but some of these candles are so beyond the normal body types that they're actually laughable! Just check out this one from Missguided. If a real woman had a waist that small I'd be worried she was ill. I don't look at this candle and think it's sexy or appealing, I think it's bordering on cartoonish. And this certainly isn't compelling me to add it to my basket.

And, there is the bigger issue. The issue of purchasing.

It's no secret that women's body types go in and out of fashion. I'm old enough to remember that being told you had a big bum was an insult and something to avoid. Now, it's something to aspire to. I remember when a smaller chest was seen as androgynously trendy, whereas anything less than a DD these days is considered small. There are countless diets, products, services, and more that try and sell women the idea that this body type is in season. The body type that Kim Kardashian stole from (traditionally, but not always) Women of Colour, but monopolised and sold as her own. The body type of 'slim thicc', a big ass and thighs but a small waist and stomach. 

And, whether these candles intend to or not, they're reinforcing that this is this season's body type, the look that every woman on the planet should try and emulate. And, when this body type inevitably goes out of fashion, where will we be left? With half-burnt candles of BBLs and insecurity over whether big boobs are in or not.

We're supposed to believe that these body shapes the candles and vases are emulating are markers and champions of body positivity. They're celebrations of the female form.

And, they very well might be. But when we only celebrate one type of body - when we only profit from one type of body - is this really body positivity?

When women's bodies are being marketed, commodified, and sold back to them in the name of body positivity, we have to ask ourselves who is benefitting from this?

Is it the women purchasing these candles to stare at as they do their 200th squat of the day, or is it the (mostly) men who own these companies selling you these products?

It's hard to believe that Nitin Passi, owner of Missguided, was thinking about improving women's self-esteem when he signed off on selling these candles. Realistically, he was another example of a man profiting off of a woman's body - be it real or wax. I highly doubt that he had such pure intentions as celebrating the female form and championing women. Rather, he was probably thinking about how jumping on this bandwagon would allow him to buy his 5th house.

Now, I'm not knocking the women who buy these candles and vases. I literally bought a plant pot of a bum from Typo not three days ago.

What I am asking, however, is for a little more critical thinking.

We shouldn't buy - literally - into the idea that this is the body type we should all be praising. There are so many bodies - bodies with stretchmarks, bodies with rolls, bodies with saggy boobs, bodies with cellulite, bodies with disabilities, bodies with skin conditions - that are worthy of our praise and our celebration.

This is supposed to be 'curvy'?

And, we must also not forget that 'body positivity', at its core, is about celebrating marginalised bodies. Meaning, it's not for the size 6 girls who have been told that they should eat a cheeseburger. It's for the fat, disabled, queer, bodies that are discriminated against.

Remember this the next time you light your candle.

What's more, if you are going to buy these products, please bear in mind who you're buying from. There are plenty of small independent businesses like Trippy Tuesday that sell much more inclusive candles for reasonable prices. And, you have the knowledge that your money isn't going into the pocket of a multi-millionaire. You're supporting a small business run by two women whose intentions are genuinely to celebrate people of all shapes and sizes.

So, the next time you walk into a store and see a figure of a slim woman, stop and think. Who is profiting from me buying this? 

Is it the man who owns the company, and underpays the very workers that made this candle?

Is it society, that tells us that this is the only body shape we should strive for?

Or is it myself, that is indulging in these beliefs and not considering other body types that are just as worthy of our celebration?