The Mannikin (Mannequinn) Effect

The Mannikin (Mannequinn) Effect

By: Erin Pembroke

3/22/2011

            Have you ever thought why a mannequinn looks a certain way? Or have you ever wondered if there are any effects from mannequinns looking a certain way? I have. In this piece I question and analyze the effects and how the mannequinns can be interpreted. I also analyze the subliminal messages that these mannequinns emanate and direct to consumers; more in particular to women.

            I work in a  plus-size clothing store and I have noticed that all the women that enter and shop in the store want to be just like the mannequinn. They all want to be not only thin but have the exact curves, hips, thighs, calves and legs as the mannequinn. However, what they need to realize is that the mannequinns are all unrealistic wants and desires all pent up in these man-made objects. These objects  of desire are “too perfect.” I remember seeing one woman looking up at the mannequinn and examining it. She was making statements about how she wish she could look like the mannequinn. I told her “look, the mannequinn is more perfect than me and I am skinny!”

            The mannequinn has all the right “meat” and weight in all the right places which is totally unrealistic. If I, a thin person was saying that, then it could only mean it is true. These plus size women need to realize that it is society as a whole that has a one-track mind. Society is stuck on who and what is deemed as beautiful. What society should look at and consider is that in other coultures, big-size women are looked at as more beautiful, healthy or even wealthy. These women need to realize that they have to love themselves for who and what they are. Yes, it is great to lose weight and to stay fit and healthy but it is unrealistic to be the size of a mannequinn without surgery.

            I term the phrase “the mannikin (or mannequinn) effect” for several reasons. The first and most obvious reason is that these plus-size women want to be as thin as the mannequinns. The second reason is that the mannequinns in the store depict an unrealistic view of women in society. Have you ever noticed or ask yourself “why are all the mannequinns skinny?” It is because society implies that women should be skinny, curvy, round bottom, big breasts and a tiny waist. This is false and an archaic way of thinking. Women come in many different sizes, colors and packages.

            The second part to the second reason is that not only are these mannequinns “skinny” but they are always Caucasian. Why are all the mannequinns in the store Caucasian? The mannequinns are the problem. They depict unrealistic thinking in society and therefore are not representative of the population, race, ethnicity and weight of people in a particular city. I work in an area of Brooklyn, NY where the majority of people that step in the plus size store are African-American. Corporations need to get on the fast-track and invest in “fixing” their mannequinns to make them more representative of the census in an area. It is horrible marketing.

            Corporations cannot and should not try to market clothes on “Caucasian” mannequinns if African-Americans do not look like the mannequinns that the company uses. Some Caucasians have a different style just like some African-Americans do as well therefore, Caucasian style should be on Caucasian mannequinns and African-American styles should be on African-American mannequinns. In addition to this idea and technique, to better suit the demographic range, the company can also use both Caucasian and African-American mannequinns in their stores with a mix of what each race or ethnicity would wear by a given average or mean generated by statistics, polls and surveys. So, why isn't there a plus-size and African-American mannequinns in the store I work in or in other stores? Beats me. It sounds like predominantly white elitist society took over in corporations without paying attention to their demographics and their true target audience.

            In addition to this, I have not seen a Caucasian but plus-size mannequin in a plus-size store. I have noticed that without plus-size mannequinns, the customer thinks “hey, that looks good on the mannequinn so, it will look good on me.” However, when the customer goes to the actual clothing rack and takes a look at the piece of clothing, they notice it is much bigger on the hanger than on the mannequinn. They feel like the piece of clothing is now ugly because it is so big. They will view it as too baggy or big and bulky. The mannequinn gives an unrealistic view of the clothing which does trick the consumer yet does not generate extra sales. It may actually generate fewer sales for the company because the contrast with the unrealistic “skinny” look of the clothing and the reality of the huge and baggy clothing will cause a consumer to change their mind and not buy the product.

            I have had many discussions with customers who wish that they can see the realistic view of the clothing on a plus-size mannequinn so that they will know how it will look on them. To generate more sales, the plus-size store will have to use a plus-size mannequinn and dress the mannequinn with eye-catching and eye-popping clothes to make the consumer shop and buy more while making them happy by giving them a realistic feed-back of themselves and the clothes they buy. The third mannequinn effect is that some mannequinns do not have faces just necks, thus implying that women should only be seen for their bodies and not heard. The fact that these mannequinns have no heads or necks implies that women should be submissive since they cannot speak up for themselves.

            I truly wonder if corporations give any thought into what messages they accidently give to the public and do not want the public to receive. Corporations naturally think about what messages they want their consumers to take in but do they give any thought into detail that is so small that you can hardly see it until the damage has been done? The last mannequinn effect is that since some of these mannequinns do not have faces, arms, and sometimes even legs, women become the man and the poem “Ozymandias,” meaning women will fall, crumble, decay, wash or wear away.

                        “Nothing beside remains. Round the decay

                        Of the colossal wreck, boundless and bare

                        The lone and level sands stretch far away. -Percy Bysshe Shelley

Perhaps, we as women are doomed to crumble away because we are doomed to since Eve fell by being tempted by the fruit from the Tree of Knowledge. All of these interpretations are what comes out of the four mannequin effects.

            To conclude, the phrase that I term “the mannikin (mannequinn) effect” consists of four effects that manikins (or mannequinns) either have on women or society and how these mannequinns depict women in society. The first mannikin (mannequinn) effect is that plus-size women want to physically look like mannequinns that are displayed in stores. However, it cannot be mistaken that it is just plus-size women that want to look like mannequins; it is also thin or average women that want to look like these mannequinns because of their curves, thighs and so forth.

            The second mannikin (mannequinn) effect is that the mannequinns are always thin and Caucasian which does not portray women in society very realistically. The third mannikin (mannequinn) effect is that women should be seen and not heard since some of these mannequinns do not have faces but have only bodies. The last mannikin (mannequinn) effect is that since there are no limbs on some of the mannequinns, women are doomed to decay and crumble perhaps like Eve when she ate the forbidden fruit. Women should strive to avoid most of these effects and learn to love themselves as they continue to go through life in a society based on using what society deems as “the most attractive traits” of a certain type of person just to market products and generate capital.