Topic > Essay on Gendered Bodies in the Fashion Industry

For example, Liu Wen, a Chinese model, has entered the list of "new supers" in the famous fashion website, models.com. “New Supers” lists models who are not simply icons of the industry, but are new legends in the contemporary fashion industry. Most famous Asian models, such as Liu Wen, Feifei, Soo Joo Park, have baby faces and slim, flat bodies without obvious secondary sexual characteristics. Their appearances are sexually coded with particular meanings. Their slim, flat bodies and baby-like faces make them look like tame teenage girls. Thus, their innocent and submissive child faces and slender bodies can satisfy men's sexual desires. In other words, their bodies are sexualized as objects for heterosexual men's desires. Compared to Asian models, black models tend to be sexy, confident, and mature because their curvy bodies with plump breasts and buttocks are also coded with these meanings. The sexy, confident and mature image of black models would increase men's feelings of stress. This is one of the reasons why East Asian models have become more popular than black models in recent times