An Interesting Theme Shared by "Jersey Shore" and "Abercrombie & Fitch"

The Jersey Shore and A&F capstone projects really stood out to me because they both emphasize an interesting theme: The high premium and high value our culture places on physical appearance. Many anthropologists render physical appearances as one of the most important if not THE most important aspect of social relations in our culture. As displayed in the A&F capstone project, retail marketers place high emphasis on advertising "hot bodies" and attractive faces to sell products, and the "Jersey Shore" project shows us how the "Guido/Guidette" culture emphasizes frequent exercise and tanning in order to "fit in" or to look "presentable" as a legitimate Italian American Guido or Guidette. These two projects expose what I believe is one of our cultures biggest flaws, that physical appearance serves as a channel through which personality traits and characteristics are manifested. We are JUDGED as individuals by how we look on the outside, and the concept of "docile bodies" ultimately determines whether or not we're "representing" our culture well enough; for example, an obese African American individual who applies to work at A&F simply isn't going to get hired, and a scrawny, white, redheaded individual living in upper East New Jersey is not by any means going to fit in with the Guidos and Guidettes. If the men on the reality series of "Jersey Shore" weren't as physically fit or attractive as they are perceived to be by many, then "Jersey Shore" would NOT be MTV's all time highest rated show, similarly to how if A&F didn't market half-naked men and women they wouldn't be such a successful retail company. Advertising physical appearances of cultures is kind of like "spreading" cultural traditions; displaying A&F models to someone who is not a part of that culture might become compelled to diet or to exercise more often, and someone who is watching "Jersey Shore" for the first time might become compelled to start tanning and lifting heavier weights in order to attract more women (as the men on the show do). As shallow as this sounds, There are few things more powerful than human attractiveness. The value of physical appearance is something we are taught by our culture early on, and we are reminded of its value on T.V., in magazines, in movies, in ads, and also by our peers. Unless you're the Dos Equis man ("The Most Interesting Man in the World"), then you too follow the standard appearance "guidelines" of the culture you belong to, whether you were born into it (someone born in New Jersey and nurtured into becoming a Guido), or if you're TRYING to gain acceptance into a culture (someone aspiring to be an A&F model, but may not have the genetic makeup for it). I don't know if the students responsible for these projects intended to highlight physical appearance, but it is certainly the underlying factor that has propelled both "Jersey Shore" and A&F to the heights that they have reached within our culture.