I believe the saying goes, “Hell is paved with good intentions” and that’s the exact thought that came to mind when I read Buzzefeed’s re-creation of Sport’s Illustrated swimsuit covers. It’s interesting when an article like this that basically screams WE LIKE BEING INCLUSIVE can still be so offensive and completely miss the point.
I like that they’re trying—effort is key and most publications don’t ever try at all. But when they try so hard to be inclusive like this, it just comes off as completely fake and the opposite of sincere. I can almost see their senior editors, walking around the office, jotting down notes of ‘different’ looking women in the office, compiling a list of women that all had different races and body types.
It’s also the constant comparison to the Sport’s Illustrated cover models that gets to me. If you want to celebrate the difference in women’s bodies, why compare them to women they practically have nothing in common with other than body parts? The models on the covers workout multiple times a day! That is their version of work, unlike the rest of us who actually have to work and use our free time to exercise. The models on the cover have nutritionists, trainers, a makeup and hair team and not to mention a little help from Photoshop to help them look flawless in any way. There’s no logical reason to pit real women against models.
Buzzfeed claims this article wasn’t about comparing, but then that leaves the question of why they decided to stack both of the images side to side instead of doing an inclusive campaign about body diversity? If you want a cookie for featuring real women with real bodies, showing off their stretch marks, looking fabulous you don’t get one Buzzfeed. That should be your mission every single day, not just when you want to pit women against each other.