“Semiotics of the Future of the Body”

The team of FutureBrand asked me to help them reflect and better understand the cultural and philosophical factors related to the relationship we have with our body.

Here you can read some extracts of the interview:

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HOW MUCH DO YOU THINK THE PERCEPTION OF THE BODY HAS CHANGED AND HOW MUCH DO YOU CENTRE YOUR WORK AROUND THE BODY AND ITS PERCEPTION?

A.M.: Perception is a social construct, so it evolves hand in hand with society. The change we are witnessing today goes far beyond the perception of the body, a perception that has radically changed in the last 20 years. In particular, in the last 5 years, the body and beauty have taken on new social meaning thanks to the issues surrounding diversity, inclusivity, and equality. In this profound transformation, social media has played a fundamental role: through these channels, people are more empowered to express themselves and experience a rising sense of freedom.

Today, we don’t just have a body, we have a social body that in the abstract allows us multiple possibilities that we had never imagned. However, this is just an ephemeral freedom, a mere illusion. If in the past, the body was an ideal body that corresponded to the diktats of thinness, firmness, and youthfulness, now we are faced with different models of the ideal body that submit to just as many diktats. We are not a body anymore, we have a body. The idea that the body belongs to us and identifies our image, our avatar, has made us more aware, but it also has put us under pressure – and social media only amplifies this social pressure – pushing us to pursue new canons of “perfection” imposed by the body models we refer to.

Each community recognizes and represents itself through its own ideal body: there is a model for the fat body, one for the thin body, the black body and so on… It’s clear that, despite the more realistic and diversified representative canons, we are still not free from stereotypes and social pressure, exactly as in the past.

SO, EVEN IN THESE NEW COMMUNITIES THAT PUSH FOR INCLUSIVITY, THE BODY REMAINS SUBJECT TO JUDGEMENT AND SOCIAL PRESSURE. HOW ARE THESE NEW BODY MODEL REPRESENTED IN MARKETING CAMPAIGNS OR IN THE MEDIA?

A.M.: There is everything: the old model of the body still exists, the thin, toned, sexy body, especially as a model for women but, alongside this, there is also a genderless representation. It's possible for everyone to find a model to refer to and that represents them. More possibilities result in more freedom of expression and such mechanism leads to a polarisation of society. Twenty years ago black people, Asians, and other people of colour were represented in a completely different way than reality, feeding the constant frustration of chasing unattainable ideals exactly because they’re unrealistic. Now, we speak of nothing but freedom; inclusion and diversity are the watchwords, but if we analyse the reality of the facts, these representations don’t have space in the social makeup.

For example, in companies, it’s hard to find a meaningful numeric variety. We live in a paradoxical society: we are constantly bombarded with messages about body positivity, acceptance, and love, but we coexist in equal measure with feelings of racial hatred, ferocious criticism and marginalisation.

We must relearn and re-educate ourselves about what it means to love a body, embrace diversity. We have forgotten how to truly love, assuming the right to criticise anyone at any moment. Today, we speak of inclusion without being capable of truly including.

WE TALKED ABOUT THE NEW NARRATIVE OF THE BODY AND HOW IT IS REPRESENTED. HOW HAS BEAUTY EVOLVED IN THIS SCENARIO?

A.M.: This question personally concerns me very much, I started working in the beauty industry twenty years ago. The thesis of my PhD was on beauty and I have worked for many brands of different categories for over 15 years. In the past, beauty was described as a metamorphosis, a constant change in pursuit of an ideal of perfection focused on youth and thinness. This metamorphosis narrative is ever-present, but it has become pragmatic and reachable. An effective example: many brands speak about how it is actualy possible to have perfect skin. As with the body, even for beauty we have a new range of posibilities generated by the collective sharing of new values. There is natural beauty, organic beauty, and the more recent frontier that has opened to clean beauty. With respect to these topics, brands play a fundamental role in allowing people to perceive their own beauty and understand it within a more general framework.

However, there is a problem: brands no longer speak about the skills and scientific characteristics of their products. All the attention and effort is concentrated on effectively communicating the beliefs and values underlying their offerings. This is because beauty is a social fact and, as a collective concept, is based solely on the convictions and opinions of people. This is why the sector is moving towards a fake conception of beauty. Products are not supported by solid scientific fundamentals anymore. Brands communicate what people want to hear. This feeds false convictions and beliefs that increasingly distance brands from the educational role they should have. To remedy this prospective near future, there is only one solution: customisation.

Customising products and formulas based on DNA, for example, lifestyle and the preferences of each. This process allows it to be both inclusive and scientific thanks to adequate research. In order to not fall into the “trap” of fake beauty, brands must rethink their relationship with consumers, assuming an educational role and using scientific methodology and diagnostics. From here, it's a short step towards customising beauty. The real challenge for the future is to eradicate the false convictions associated with fake beauty. A striking example is one of the principal current trends for girls: female face shaving, complete removal of all facial hair using a razor. This is a very risky practice because it eliminates a superficial layer of the skin, exposing it to external agents. Much like this one, there are many other trends dangerous for health that are based on myths.

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To present their report, the team of FutureBrand organised a live on Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/tv/CgPaqyWDe1z/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
https://www.futurebrand.com

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#semiotics #beauty #culturalstudies #inclusivity #futureofthebody #futurebrand #branding #diversity