Non-Normative vs Ideal

 

The idea the “norm” and “ideal” has pervaded the culture and society of today. Normality is being pushed towards us, and in response everyone gravitates towards it. No one wants to stray away from the norm in fear of being rejected or seen as an outcast. The idea of normal is seen in almost every part of our life, body dimensions like height and weight, and in school where they measure our intelligence based on the other students surrounding us. The idea of a “norm” places everyone that doesn’t fit that criteria in a weird position.

“Constructing Normalcy”  by Lennard Davis and “We’re Nobody’s First Love” by Nicole Phelps elaborates how the norm is portrayed throughout society in different forms and the negative effect it has on trans and plus size women.

The average is perceived as the most beautiful and perfect, the most ideal creature and is praised by society. While other bodies that don’t fit into this box are seen deviations. They are thought to be errors or mistakes. In “We’re Nobody’s Third Love, We’re Their First Love” , Nicole Phelps sits down with the chief marketing officer Ed Razek of Victoria Secret’s fashion show, the show broadcasted globally. The show is mostly known for their scanty lingerie and taut models like Kendall Jenner and Gigi Hadid. Razek explains why they don’t use transgender models and plus size women in their shows. “Constructing Normalcy” reveals the deeper and underlying meaning of the statements made in “We’re Nobody’s Third Love, We’re Their First Love”.

            The “Constructing Normalcy” text states “All the qualities of the average man would represent at once all the greatness, beauty and goodness of that being…Deviations more or less from the mean have constituted ugliness in body” (Davis 12). This statement is supported by the target text because it states “We market to who we sell to, and we don’t market to the whole world. We attempted to do a television special for plus-sizes in 2000. No one had any interest in it, still don’t” (Phelps 17).  In the target text it is saying that the non-normative body type is deemed ugly and not as preferable to the ideal type. The ideal type is the one that is skinny with lean muscle and long legs. Plus-size women don’t fit into that category, so they aren’t as interesting to watch. Saying that no one has interest in it or will ever have interest in it shows what body type is preferred and accepted in our society. This ties back to “Constructing Normalcy” because it shows why the normative type is desired. People want to be more like the majority and not singled out. If the majority is thin with lean muscle and white with blond hair, this what the rest of society will strive for. Soon the rest that don’t fit will become the extremes in the bell curve and will be cast down. According to Davis, the ideal is what people want and after a while it will become the only type accepted.

Plus-size women are always being put down and degraded in our society because they do not have the ideal body type that society holds in high regard. They are called ugly and told to lose weight to look prettier. Razek saying that they only market to who they sell too and not the entire world shows that they don’t want to please everyone and are just targeting skinny women as their audience. He states “I don’t think we can be all things to all customers. It is a specialty business; it isn’t a department store.” (Phelps, 15).  Although they do sell to plus size women, their main focus is skinny women. Their main market is skinny women, since their shows only consist of skinny women. They are putting out what the people want and approve of. People won’t approve of plus-size models being on the show, so they just are not put on. Plus size is not the ideal or normal so no one wants to see it. People would rather see tall slender women rather than plus size women. Razek and Victoria Secret as a whole does not want to comply and meet the needs of all women, just their target audience. The beauty of white skinny women has become the ideal and average for everyone to approach and see as acceptable. “Ideas of a norm pushes the normal variation of the body through a stricter template guiding the way the body should be”(Davis 17).  The norm of being skinny is being pushed towards plus-size women all of the time. The ideal body type only has a narrow space of acceptability. Over time, it will become so small that no one will be able to achieve it.

Davis states “The norm pins down the majority of the population that falls under the arch of the standard bell shaped curve…Any bell curve will always have at its extremities those characteristics that deviate from the norm”(Davis 13). This statement is extended in the target text when it states “So it’s like, why don’t you do 50? Why don’t you do 60? Why don’t you do 24? It’s like, why doesn’t your show do this? Shouldn’t you have transsexuals in the show? No. No, I don’t think we should. Well, why not? Because the show is a fantasy.” (Phelps 20). The plus size and transgender people are being pinned down by the norm. They fall under the standard bell curve and are the extremes. By not including them into the show, Victoria Secret is pinning them down and not allowing them to be represented.  Once again, the norm is being accepted and praised. Victoria Secret doesn’t want to go out of their way to include clothing for women that don’t fit the standard body type.  The women with different sizes of 24, 50 and 60 all deviate from the norm, so they aren’t acceptable or given any worth. The company just wants to stick with the average that everyone loves and is comfortable with. After saying the show is a fantasy Razek goes on to say the show is one of a kind in the world and they don’t want any of their competitors to take any of their ideas. So, they aren’t being inclusive just because they don’t want competition to steal their ideas.

They are the leading company and don’t want to be put down or become anyone’s “third love”. In this case, the extreme of the curve are transsexual women. This extreme would be seen as a deviation and something uncommon, so Victoria Secret won’t include them so they can remain popular and in the market. However, even some of the Victorious Secret models can be classified as extreme. Most of them are very tall, thin and white. This extreme is accepted and is sought after, but the other extreme which is plus sized women is frowned upon and not accepted.  This exclusion of transsexuals can cause them to feel undesirable and can cause them to hide their identities just to fit in. Davis states “ The body forms the identity and the identity is unchangeable and indelible as one’s place on the normal curve” (Davis 15). According to this quote they will start to think that their body not being accepted defines who they are.

Furthermore, “Constructing Normalcy” and “We’re Nobody’s Third Love”  both exemplify examples of bodies that deviate from the ideal and how it effects our society today. Victoria Secret will not use plus size or transgender models in fashion shows. This shows how the effect of having an average body type, how the rest are pushed down and deemed not worthy of things people with the ideal body get. In “Constructing Normalcy”,we see how the ideal body is represented in the bell graph. The ideal is the top, the peak. However, the middle is the non-normative body and the two ends are the extremes. The non-normative and extreme bodies are deviations and errors from the norm. They are seen as not being desirable and attractive. “Constructing Normalcy”  by Lennard Davis and “We’re Nobody’s First Love” by Nicole Phelps alludes more on the ideal, how it is seen in our society  and the effect it can have on a person that doesn’t fall in this category.