Ninety-nine percent of female fashion and body-related advertising hews to the same basic Western expression of ideal feminine beauty—i.e., slim to the point of waifish. Not this MAC cosmetics ad. It stars Serbian-American competitive body builder Jelena Abbou, whose body type is distinctly more sculpted than your average mascara model. "Strike a powerful pose, stand out and redefine the notion of beauty in a color collection too irresistible to ignore," says the copy. Jezebel points out the risks of such an approach: "A man with a six-pack is supposed to be sexy; a woman with a six-pack is supposed to be 'mannish.' That stigma is why it's so shocking to see Abbou in a cosmetics ad: she's styled and photographed in a way that glamorizes her and highlights her beauty and her femininity, but the ad also does not camouflage or attempt to minimize her incredible body." As Tom points out, an impossible fit ideal may be intrinsically no better than an impossibly thin ideal. But at least it's somewhat healthier. Below, check out Abbou's commercial for Fahrenheit, a metabolism supplement for women.
