The mental model of obesity

Just read a brilliant article in the Design Observer on the absence, or difficulty in finding, real people with weight issues in stock photography:

“I went to the search field and narrowed it to just “overweight people.”
Overweight People: 164 results.

Only 164 results! So then I changed my search to the less politically correct “fat people:”
Fat People: 470 results.

Not only were there just a few pictures in these catagories, they were almost all unusable. The vast majority of the results were simply more images of generally fit, attractive, and muscular people. The rest were either random photos or — oddly — pregnant women. (Since when was a pregnant woman “fat” by default?)”

Although some of the comments at the end of the article made some good points about being careful about the source of stock photography, I think it still illustrates our ability to ignore and disassociate people with weight issues to media presence. Popular media is a place for aspiration and challenge, showing people with severe anorexia as being a condition to aspire to. The one expection here, would be Dove’s Campaign for real beauty, but even then whenever I see their ads at Schipol airport, I can’t help spotting the Photoshop job where some tummies get a bit too much of a tuck.