By now many Torontonians have likely seen the promotional collaboration between the TTC and the National Ballet of Canada, a campaign titled ‘We Move You,’ consisting of five posters and a less than two-minute video. Many Torontonians have also likely heard of the backlash it has received from local activists claiming the ads promote body shaming, and the backlash that backlash then received. Welcome to 2016, era of the politically correct, right? Actually, they may have a point.
Activists for body confidence and diversity, who are also the creators of the Body Confidence Canada Awards, first voiced their opposition to the advertisements on their blog, Fat in the City. They said that the ads do not aptly reflect the average bodies of Canadians, or TTC users.
“While we completely agree with the intent of message: one of acknowledging and celebrating Toronto arts and culture, we believe initiatives like these, executed in this manner, continue to perpetuate unrealistic and highly regimented bodies as some sort of an ideal of ‘beauty,’” the blog post read. “More specific to this ad, the bodies pictured become unintended signifiers of some sort of higher ‘art’ and ‘culture’ to aspire towards.”
The opposition was covered by several media platforms, including CityNews and the Toronto Star, and was denounced by the Toronto Sun. The group has since been slammed with comments across Facebook claiming that – among many other aggressive remarks – the group is overreaching, that professional athletes will obviously have athletic bodies, and that not everything has to reflect body diversity.
I do agree with many of these sentiments, and I acknowledge the hypocrisy of indirectly shaming the bodies of the ballerinas in the advertisements in the name of ceasing body shaming, however I cannot fully support the campaign itself.
Just in the way that yoga is not exclusively for thin people, neither is ballet. Yes, the people pictured in the campaign were professional athletes of the National Ballet of Canada, but why were they? What was the actual intention of the advertisements? In the TTC’s announcement of the partnership, Toronto Councillor and Chair of the TTC Board, Josh Colle, expressed that its intent lay in highlighting Toronto’s “thriving and lively arts scene.” The ads themselves even boast: “Connecting you to Toronto’s arts and culture scene.”
So why have only thin ballerinas? Why only have professional ballerinas? Ballerinas come in many different sizes, regardless of skill, just as an athletic body looks entirely different on every person’s frame. And, really, the performers in the campaign are extremely gaunt. Not all ballerinas have these bodies, particularly those that do not compete or perform professionally.
And why only have ballerinas in the first place? Toronto art and artists are incredibly multifaceted, so why is the sole use of ballet considered an accurate representation of this lively scene? Why only have professional artists? It seems like an apt reflection of Toronto to include a diverse array of arts and culture, if not in the art form, then, yes, in the artists themselves.
And why would we not want to encourage people to do something active like ballet by showing images of all sorts of Torontonians doing all sorts of artistic activities? The actions of the TTC do not appear to cleanly line up with their intentions.
I think the questions here lie less in why, and more why not? Why not promote diversity of the body, of art, of Toronto? Why not?
I might also raise the point that, combined, less than half of the stations on Line 1 and Line 2 are accessible to disabled people. Priorities are a virtue.
By Alexa Battler
Please note that opinions expressed are the author’s own. They do not necessarily reflect the views and values of The Blank Page.
