Body Image Blog

Film Analysis:Dream Worlds III

2009-12-11T13:54:00.000-08:00

In today’s society, the fast pace of pop culture is steadily increasing. The objectification of women in pop culture is directly proportional to such a trend. Thus women have lost all sense of their identity and have simply become shadows of our society. The Dream Worlds Documentary is a perfect example of this. This movie was a great analysis and inside look at how women in our society are objectified into subjects whose sole purpose is for males to look at them.
The main idea behind this documentary was to investigate the way pop culture images such as music videos, advertisements and commercials, affect youth’s concepts of their self and their sexuality. It is through this point that I believe this film relates to our class readings the best out of the other two films we watched this semester. This is because the readings that we have done thus far discuss issues surrounding femininity. The way that women are used in advertisements and music videos as objects of pleasure, show just how narrow the definition of being a woman in today’s society has become. Both our readings and the documentary portray this message. Another issue that connects this film to our readings is that women are seen as nymphomaniacs and desire sex at all times. Pop culture has given us this false sense of femininity, thus men think that all women are out just to have sex with them. Dream Worlds III is a great documentary that gives the audience a whole new perspective on the way women are used in today’s culture.
Talking about this film from the standpoint of artistic sense and production, I thought the documentary portrayed the message very clearly. It personally opened my eyes and gave me a new perspective on how culture has broken down women in to objects rather than subjects. The part that did it the most was the section on “Constructing Femininity”. During this section of the documentary, it discussed how in music videos the number of women always outnumbers the men; they are draped over them wearing minimal clothing. The object of this is to show that the male is in power. These images are showing society’s youth that it is ok to treat women in such a manner and that male dominance is acceptable. It is obvious from the film that their perspective on this issue is to try and get gain awareness about the objectification of women and to try and stop it. Through the images that they showed and the dialect about each topic, it is clear to see that they feel very strongly about this issue and wish to create a whole new way of looking at women in pop culture.

Film Analysis: Lovely and Amazing

2009-12-11T13:52:00.000-08:00

Lovely and Amazing Film Review
When we first began watching this film as a class, I wasn’t too sure what to think about it at first. But the further we got into the, the more it began to grow on me. Lovely and Amazing was about a family of women, a mother, three daughters and granddaughters; all fighting their own battles against insecurities and body image issues.
The main idea behind this movie is taking a look at the lives of three women, whom let their individual insecurities affect their lives and how they confront those insecurities. Although each of their personal struggles is different, each one brings to life the problems and anxieties that women of all ages face in today’s society. This brings up the connection between this particular film and the class readings that we have done throughout the semester. The readings that we have been discussing have all been dealing with body image issues that women have to deal with on a day-to-day basis. For example, Jane the mother is struggling with her old age and hates the way she looks. In order to achieve her younger looking self again, she opts for liposuction surgery as a “quick fix” for her insecurities. She feels that once she gets this surgery she will be skinnier and feel younger and finally be happy with her body. Unfortunately, the surgery has a very negative effect on her and causes a life threatening scare. Such effects women don’t think about when they are contemplating about having such surgeries to change their physical appearance. Another related issue that was portrayed in the movie was dealing with the acceptance of being different. The adopted daughter Annie, who is overweight and black has many insecurities that she is dealing with in this film. Throughout the whole movie she was trying to become “more white” like her white family and always trying to gain the attention of her older sisters. It was sad to me that a girl at such a young age was already being faced with such body image issues. Children her age should be more worried about who they are going to the play with than what they look like compared to everyone else. It just shows the shift that American culture has taken concerning body image and the way people see themselves.
The movie overall was very different compared to anything that I had seen as of recent. I feel as if it were a low budget film, thus the scene settings were completely different than other movies of its time. On the other hand, I really enjoyed it. The issues that the writer portrayed through the dialect as well as through the way it is acted out make this movie very true to real life versus the Hollywood version. That is what makes this movie so nice. Real people can relate to the women characters and their issues. Thus, this movie creates a powerful connection between the script and the audience leaving me to believe that this was one of the goals of the writers; to create such a connection. By watching and listening to the script of the film the only real assumption that I gained from it was that they believed that women are very insecure about who they are and how they should look. Not all women in today’s society are like that. But I will agree that the majority of them are. This movie was a very accurate account about how people try to make adjustments to themselves in a world of free floating insecurities and self-involvement.

Film Analysis: Mona Lisa Smile

2009-12-11T13:51:00.001-08:00

Femininity has greatly changed over the decades. In today’s society, women are just objects of desire and are worth nothing more than a mere glance from a man. It seems as though the only thing they are good for is to come running when the man gives her the nod. I believe that femininity just goes in a huge circle, slightly changing with the times. In Mona Lisa Smile, the setting is back in the fifties, a time when women were meant to be seen and not heard, much like today. The only right that women had back in that decade was the right to cook, clean and tend to her family. It was looked down upon if she wished to get a job versus being married. This movie was about how girls at the very and prestigious Wellesley College begin to go against conformity when a strong-willed teacher (Julia Roberts) graces campus with her presence as well as her modernized ideals of femininity.
The main idea of this movie was to show the shift from conformity to the new wave of femininity that exuded independence as a woman. This is where Mona Lisa Smile relates back to the class readings. Throughout the semester we discussed femininity and this film is filled with examples of changing the definition of what it means to be a woman, more specifically changing the roles of women in the early fifties. One example that can be found being discussed in both the readings and in the movie was the part where Julia Roberts’s character, Ms. Watson, encourages Jane to apply to Yale Law School. It had been Jane’s dream of going to law school ever since she was a little girl, but women of that time were expected to go to college and get married. Not to have a career of her own. But going against the grain, she applied anyways, knowing that she was taking a path that not many women of her time would have. This example portrays the beginning shift from conformity on the Wellesley campus. Another example that can be seen in this movie is the ideals that Julia Roberts’s character is trying to portray to her students. She wishes for her students to lead the world and not just live a simple life as a housewife to some man. She preached about not conforming to the female stereotype of their time and felt that her students were meant for more than to just adapt to being a wife and a mother solely based on idea that other people have for them. These ideals that she believed in and preached about are very intertwined with the ideals that our readings were discussing.
Taking a look at the film from a perspective simply based on the production and artistic sense, I have to say that I really enjoyed it. They characters were played very well by the actresses and the dialect, style of dress, lighting, etc. was very well depicted in production. I believe that the assumptions about gender and body image were quite obvious to see in this particular film. The script is my proof. Throughout the film, the script was constantly talking about moving away from conformity and creating a new, independent woman which made the writers perspective on such issues very plain to see. Overall, I loved this movie and thought that it was a great portrayal of such a strong and inspirational message.

Media Analysis

2009-11-18T18:25:00.000-08:00

Media Analysis: Negative Image
When looking at the evolution of advertising, one can easily see how much has changed since its early days. Advertising used to be so bare and simple; only the product that was being sold was shown along with the price. It wasn’t until recently that advertisements, as well as commercials, became over the top, praying on the exploitation of women’s sexuality. Provocative, vulgar, raunchy, and pornographic are all adjectives that have commonly been used to describe the advertisements and commercials of today’s society. Just flip through any magazine and you will quickly realize why such strong words are being used. No matter what the product is that is attempting to be sold, women in these ads are exploited through their sexuality. In some advertisements, that exploitation is so extreme that the viewer has a hard time differentiating between what is being advertised; the woman or the product. In such advertisements women are seen in sexually seductive positions and in minimal clothing with a passive look painted across their face. Such images have been imprinted into the minds of the mainstream population, desensitizing them to such exploitations. Many Americans don’t even know when an advertisement is crossing the line, and this is unacceptable.
In today’s fast paced and racy society, women have been stripped down of all their worth and have become nothing more than a shadow or silhouette of society, waiting for a man to come and fill her in. Jessica Valenti described our culture in a very age appropriate way; “Pop culture sex is sugar and spice, tits and ass” (41). In this way, they are treated as an object and possession rather than as a subject, and this comes through in the advertisements that are seen on an everyday basis. A perfect example of this is an ad that Skky Vodka published. It portrayed a man and a woman lounging by the pool having a cocktail. The first thing that draws the viewer in this ad is the bright orange of the pool raft in contrast of the vibrant blue of the pool water. This is so the viewer stops at the ad and takes a closer look. Next, their attention is focused on the woman lounging in a wet, see-through dress; the ultimate male fantasy. The male viewers are hooked. This specific ad is implying many things, most being underlying messages. One such message is the fact that the man is on the side of the pool, versus the woman, who is in the water floating on a raft. What can be taken from this is that the man is on stable ground while the woman is in water, which is unstable and easily moveable. Thus meaning that men are the stable gender and women can come and go with the current. Another interesting underlying message in the advertisement is the positioning of the models. The woman is laying in a sexually seductive manner, almost inviting the viewer to look at her as an object, where the man is laying passively on the chair looking down at the woman. He is pouring her a drink and the bottle of vodka, supposedly the main aspect of the ad, is conveniently pointing between her breasts. This is so the audience is drawn to the bottle and then to the breasts, yet another objectifying aspect of this ad. The last message that can be obtained form this advertisement deals with the beauty standard of our culture. The woman is tall, thin, big-breasted and blonde. If this isn’t screaming the stereotypical bombshell beauty that our culture knows and loves then I don’t know what is. Having this portrayed in the advertisement just contributes to the concept that if you wish to be desirable in society, you must have the “ideal-beauty” which the model in this ad perpetuates. “None of us want to be ugly; in fact, we all would really like to be beautiful-and it’s killing us. Literally” (197). In this statement, Valenti explains the desire of women is to be seen as being beautiful and they will go to any length necessary to reach that goal.
This advertisement is aimed at both genders, showing males they can get the bombshell beauty if they pour her a class of Skky and it shows women that if they drink this vodka they will be seen as beautiful. The point of view that his ad takes concerning body image is disgusting. It just backs up the ideals of the beauty standard and keeps it spinning in its vicious cycle. As a society, we need to become more aware of the objectification our women are taking in these advertisements and stop it if we wish for our culture to become better as a whole.

Works Cited
Valenti, Jessica. Full Frontal Feminism: Beauty Cult. 197-212. Print.
Valenti, Jessica. Full Frontal Feminism: Pop Culture Gone Wild. 41-59. Print.

Media Analysis: Positive Message
Ever since the nineteen-forties, women have been used as objects to sell a variation of products. Back in those days, the majority of advertisements were propaganda advertisements trying to get women into the workforce to help out their men in whatever way they could. Many became Army nurses, and many began working in the factories. Rosie the Riveter, who was the cultural and feminist icon of this time period, represented the women in the workforce during World War II. The advertisements that she was featured in showed her fully clothed and doing something that gave a woman the sense of power and entitlement to do something to help her country out. Obviously, the advertisements of today contrast greatly from the days of Rosie the Riveter. In today’s society, popular culture has objectified and dehumanized women to simply represent a man’s desire and lust. They are not looked at for their intellect, athletic ability, or even their face; the only thing that is important for a woman is what is between her neck and knees. The advertisements of today often place women in sexually seductive positions, with little to no clothing on, selling anything from lingerie to jeans to perfume. “After all, while billboards and magazine ads may feature a ripped guy from time to time, it’s mostly women who make up what sexy is supposed to be” (41). It is sad to think that mainstream has been desensitized to such extreme objectifications of women for the male consumer-product economic market.
Although this prior statement deems true in today’s society, not all advertising companies wish to portray such messages when using women for the purpose of selling a product. There are some advertisements that do send positive messages about women and their body image through depicting women in their natural beauty; no alterations necessary. Some show plus size models in bras and panties where others show women with no make up on, portraying their natural look. A perfect example of a positive message ad was run in the March 2009 edition of Shape magazine. It was advertising ASICS running shoes, and that was noticeable from the second you look at the ad. The bright green colors, along with the text which reads; “Be satisfied with the grass on your own side of the fence” that is scrolled across the double page advertisement, makes you stop and think about the underlying meaning. Obviously, the ad is trying to sell the ASICS running shoes that are shown in the lower left hand corner of the ad. The woman that is modeling the shoes seems to be muscular and athletic by the looks of her leg muscles. This type of image is so important for popular culture to see because it helps offset different ideas concerning women and the American beauty standard; that women are supposed to be fragile and take up as little space as possible. Jessica Valenti agrees with this in her essay from Full Frontal Feminism: Pop Culture Gone Wild. She says that all of these contradictions that are out about women and their body images “make it more difficult for young women to find an authentic sexual identity” (49). Going back to the text of the advertisement, this is another positive innuendo that the ad is exuding. It is a play on the popular saying “The grass is always greener on the other side” which is a message that many advertisements today are sending out. The ASICS ad stands out against the rest because it is implying that viewers need to be comfortable and content with themselves exactly the way they are with no changes being required. Observably, the advertisement is most likely trying to target a female audience seeing as how a woman is modeling the shoes and it is thought that women are the only gender that is affected by negative body images, which we know isn’t all true.
All in all, this specific ad is such a great example of a positive message of body image as well as a positive use of using a woman to sell a product. From their play on words, to the athletic woman they used to model the shoes, the ASICS ad is positive all across the board. In so many ads today, women are objectified by their sexuality and are only identifiable by how they attract the graze of a man. If more women were seen in advertisements as being intellectuals, as athletes and even as holding some sort of power for themselves, the change we would see in popular culture would be astonishing.

Works Cited
Valenti, Jessica. Full Frontal Feminism: Pop Culture Gone Wild. 41-59. Print

Body Image Playlist

2009-11-16T07:12:00.000-08:00

http://www.playlist.com/user/49569078/playlists

I think that these songs represent a positive message for body image because they all talk about how naturally beautiful women are. Women shouldn’t feel beautiful just because they are wearing the brand of makeup that mainstream deems important or popular, or that they fit into a size 0 pant just like the models of the fashion industry; women should feel beautiful simply because they are. Two of my favorite songs from this playlist are Can’t Hide Beautiful by Aaron Lines and Beautiful by Christina Aguilera. I love Aaron Lines’ song beause it talks about how he thinks his girlfriend is most beautiful when she is wearing no makeup, hair in a pony, and sleeping in one of his shirts. I think that is a great message because if a man loves you, he is going to love you for your natural self, not for what everyone else sees when you put on all that makeup. Christina’s song is a great message as well because she talks about how women are beautiful in every way, shape or form not matter what someone else has to say about them and their outwardly appearance.
My taste in music has definitely changed over the years. When I was younger I was literally obsessed with NSYNC. Now-a-days, not so much. Today I am more into the R&B hip hip genre with a little bit of country mixed in. I really like all types of music.
In response to the reading, I have to say that I really enjoy the essays from Jessica Valenti. He blunt and vulgar style of writing I find very engaging and hilarious. I would have to say that she is quickly becoming one of my favorite femenistic writers.

Popular Cultures Influence

2009-11-09T07:41:00.001-08:00

When taking a look at the popular culture of today’s society, I do believe that it has had some influence on the way that I view the differences between men and women. These differences compare and contrast greatly with the differences of a few years back. I feel like the greatest influence that I pay attention to is the music industry. This industry reaches such a vast array of society’s population that when it deems something popular or important, the population listens. The best example that I can think of is in the R&B artists, they sing about women’s independence and how it’s sexy if a women can fend for herself and pay her own bills and such. Thus, most women in today’s world are being dependent upon themselves versus being dependent upon a man in their life.
Breaking that down even further into the influence on race and class, I don’t personally think that popular culture has influenced me as much. I could be wrong because I have never really sat down to think about it until this very moment, but, as cliché as this may sound, I see everyone as the same or equal. I think that the popular culture kind of places everyone on the same playing field with even some minorities being placed slightly above the dominant races. But other than that I see really no difference, or no influence of popular culture affecting the way I understand and see race and class.
I do see sexism as becoming more prevalent for me, meaning I am able to notice it more now than I was before. When I see something on a TV show that seems sexist to me, I point it out immediately, but don’t really start a full on debate about it with the people that are watching the show with me. I’m not in to discussing things like that because I haven’t fully formed an opinion about it. Obviously I don’t like it seeing as how I will be entering the working force here in a few years, and think women deserve to be equal to their male counterparts, but I am not knowledgeable enough on the subject to have a debate about it.
The first associations of the word feminist that come to mind for me is a political movement that works for women’s rights. I also think of the three different waves of feminism that have taken place. I think that these associations have come from just being aware of our culture and especially from being in this class. This class has made me more aware of feminism and what is going on with it in today’s society.

Wolf vs. Valenti

2009-10-25T21:50:00.000-07:00

The end of the Beauty Myth does in fact give me closure on the book. I found it refreshing that Wolf kind of summed up her ideas in the conclusion of the book and talked about how society could change their beauty standard ways. It makes me feel better knowing that she does have hope for our society, that we can change, if we allow women to be themselves, let them be human. Humans are sexual, humans need to eat, and humans need to feel beautiful and accepted. If our society allows our women to do these things freely and free of judgment, then our standards of beauty will change completely.
When comparing Wolf and Valenti, there are many similarities in the topics in which they choose to discuss in their essays. Valenti talks about plastic surgery in the same ways that Wolf does in Beauty Myth. It is quite interesting to read each of these books/essays and compare them not only in context but in the style of writing. This is also where they contrast the most. Jessica Valenti is very blunt, if you would, about the subject matter. She definitely didn’t place a censor on her language throughout her essay. Wolf on the other hand is much more conservative in her dialect in the Beauty Myth.
One common theme that I found in each reading was how women are basically killing themselves to get a perfect physical appearance. They strive to emulate the models that they see each day in the advertisements that are placed in front of them. The crazy diets and workout plans that some women place themselves under is literally killing them. Another theme that was entangled in each reading was how women are still looked at as being fragile, small little beings to take up less space in this world, where men are supposed to be big in order to take up more space. I think that my favorite topic that both women addressed was the one that said that no matter how much work women do, someone is going to claim that your success or failure is due to the way you look. I am not sure that anything has changed in our society that Valenti mentioned in her essay.
Personally, the most interesting essay from the Body Outlaw was the chapter on Culture simply because it talked about how women are affected by today’s society through such things as the fashion industry and how men look and act towards them. My favorite quote from this section was the one about how men stare at women; “Men look at women, women watch themselves being looked at. This determines not only the relations of men to women, but the relation of women to themselves.” This statement is so true. If a woman feels that a man doesn’t think she is beautiful, she would do anything in her power to change her appearance so that he would find her more appealing. This is the problem with society today, women need to feel that they are beautiful no matter what men or society has to say about them.

Eating Disorders

2009-10-12T07:02:00.000-07:00

An eating disorder, to me, can be defined as eating or avoid eating which negatively affects a persons physical health as well as their mental health. It’s any kind of psychological disorder that is characterized by abnormal eating habits. The media, the fashion industry, and the countless diet industries have greatly affected our notions of beauty as well as contributing to the rise in eating disorders. I believe this is because women are abused with images of size zero bodies with the fatless stomach, perfect facial features and flawless skin; the type of body that no one possess. In advertisements that these industries put out, the models are sickly thin and we, society, see that as perfection, thus the women of our culture strive to emulate that size zero body and would do anything to reach it.
I think that if, as a society, we took a deeper look into eating disorders, it would most definitely help prevent it for future generations. By knowing more complex definitions, common themes, and even family background analysis of eating disorders, it would give people better concrete information about the people more suseptible as well as helping protect young girls who are fighting the sterotypical body type of their tween role-models as well as the superstars they see in advertisements.
When it comes to society’s preoccupation and diet addiction, I believe that it has definitely become somewhat of a sacred ritual. So many women follow a diet regemen religously that is comeparable to being a ritual. Some go through routines each day to make sure that they done stray off course of their “diet plan”. Others keep a food and exercise diary to keep count of calories and how long they exercise each day. Personally, I find that to be a little bit obsessive, but can understand why women do this. It goes back to the advertisements that the media and fashion industry put out. The women who are following such regemens are trying to epitomize that perfect body type that the models in the advertisements have and, in a way, they have been brainwashed to believe that if they participate in certain diet plans or workout plans they will reach their goal of having that perfect physical appearance.
Going along with that last point, the capitalist and abundant economic climate of today’s society contributes greatly to the disorders related to food, obesity and the preoccupation with appearance. This is due to the simple fact that people in our culture are ready and willing to spend more money on their physical appearance. They are willing to spend that money due to the abundant economic climate our culture has. Cosmetic surgeries have become increasingly popular in the last decade, and more and more people are willing to suffer through surgeries and their after effects to have a flawless body type. To go along with the costly surgeries, women are aslo shelling out money for tanning memberships, teeth whitening, personal trainers, ect. It if wasn’t for the capitalist economy we happily live under, I believe that many of these freedoms of changing your body wouldn’t be availiable to the average working woman/person.
With that being said, I believe that society does show a ray of hope in reintegrating because we go through phases of what is popular. Maybe these size zero models will go out of style and bigger plus size (normal sized) women and men will be displayed in the advertisements publicized by the media and fashion industries. But if this isnt the case, we could try harder in accepting our bodies as they are and being happy with the way God intended us to look.

Cosmetic Surgery

2009-10-05T06:51:00.001-07:00

Cosmetic surgery has been around for decades. Until most recently, the main recipients of this kind of surgery were men who were disabled from war or from industrialization accidents. In her essay Cosmetic Surgery: Paying for Your Beauty, Debra Gimlin researches the reasons behind why the shift from men to women has occurred, and why this phenomenon is so popular nowadays.
I believe that cosmetic surgery has become centered on women because, although there are men that suffer with images of their bodies, women make up the majority that are scrutinized for their physical appearances. Women are placed inside this very small box, and if they have one imperfection, they feel the need to fix it in order to be accepted into society. For many, cosmetic surgery is the quick and simple way out. Personally, cosmetic surgery is fine with me. It is a personal choice on whether or not a woman wants to have surgery to fix something she feels is imperfect, and if it makes her happy to wake up every day and have it gone, then good for her. Though cosmetic surgery has its pros, there are definitely dangers that go along with, as for any surgery. I do believe that some people take it too lightly and don’t take into consideration the dangers that go along with some of the most common cosmetic surgeries, like breast enhancement and even liposuction. I believe that women need to look deeper into the dangers of the surgery that they are looking to have and really consider if it is worth it before having the procedure done.
When stepping out and looking at cosmetic surgery in context with the beauty standard in today’s society, I believe that judging it as both vain and shallow or something positive depends in the reason why the woman is having the surgery in the first place. If a very obese woman has tried everything she can in order to lose weight and nothing has proven to work, and she wants to have a lap-band surgery then more power to her. It not only is going to make her feel good to be smaller, but it is also going to improve her health. In this situation, cosmetic surgery can be considered a positive act. On the other hand, a woman who gets surgery to be more appealing to others and not necessarily to make her self happy, I would consider this a vain and very shallow.

Paper 1

2009-10-01T22:36:00.000-07:00

Kate Marr
Professor Yaisa Mann
WS 3413.001
October 1, 2009
Assignment #1

The Beauty Myth

Beauty can be defined in many ways. Some define it as coming from within; a person’s morals, values, personality, or the way they carry themselves. Others see beauty as only what is on the outside; perfect facial features, model thin body type, beautiful skin, hair and eyes. In today’s society, beauty is decided upon from a “general opinion” judging in beauty competitions, such as Miss Universe. This “general opinion” most definitely does not come from the everyday American woman. Day in and day out, women are overwhelmed with beauty standards that are unrealistic and unattainable for the typical five foot four, one hundred and forty pound, size fourteen woman. Thus, they are constantly striving to achieve this standard of what the popular culture deems as beautiful. When we get caught up in allowing the media to define what is beautiful, we lose sight of our own definitions and our own standards. This is exactly what Naomi Wolf is trying to explain in her book The Beauty Myth. Throughout her novel, she expresses this obsession with the beauty myth that has been placed in the laps of today’s women, restricting them to a tireless fixation on physical perfection.
This beauty myth is defined by Naomi Wolf as “actually prescribing behavior and not appearance” (Wolf 14). She breaks beauty down by generations and explains what issues, concerning beauty; women in that specific time period were faced with. Beauty before the industrial revolution is much less complex as the one that has been mutated into the one today. In that time, the beauty myth was much less prominent and women did not have to worry about the media influence like they do today. Women were exposed to less images outside the church, thus they didn’t have the constant fixation on trying to be physically perfect. In that time, the family was seen a “productive unit and women’s work complimented men’s; the value of women…lay in their work skills, economic shrewdness, physical strength, and fertility” (Wolf 14). This definition goes along with how she defined the beauty myth. Women were to be seen and not heard, thus their behavior was what was seen as beautiful. Beauty in today’s society is seen as outwardly appearances only. In a very demeaning way, women are often compared to the economy. Economist John Kenneth Galbraith mentions that the concept of women “has been forced on us by popular sociology, by magazines, and by fiction to disguise the fact that women in her role of consumer has been essential to the development of our industrial society…” (Wolf 18). Women have been degraded into simple objects that men and society use to gain economical and industrial advances.
When identifying the standard across cultures, three particular ones stood out. The first culture was the Nigerian Wodaabes in Africa. Unlike American culture, the Wodaabes are obsessed with male beauty. The men of this culture spend hours upon hours with each other in intricate make up sessions where they paint their bodies and provocatively dress to compete in contests (much like the beauty competitions in America) judged by three beautiful, unmarried women. It is through this dance that men compete for a woman and a potential wife. Since physical beauty is so important to the Wodaabes, if a woman is married to a not so attractive male, that male will allow his wife to sleep with a more handsome man in order for her to bear a beautiful child. When compared to the American standard of beauty, this would be considered completely unacceptable. For one, women would never be seen as the source of economic power like they are in Wodabbe, and second, the men of our society would never let “their” woman sleep with another man to create a more genetically perfect baby. American men are way too prideful to even consider another man to be more handsome than them. Another culture that has comparably different standards of beauty is the African country of Mauritania. It is here where the phrase “bigger is better” is socially acceptable. Young girls are fed foods that are high in fat in order to gain quick weight. Mauritania men actually prefer women who have “big butts, are divorced, with thick ankles, arms and stretch marks” (Borer 2). These women are also lacking in education and power. Looking at this culture and comparing it to American culture, there are many differences. For example, in American big and beautiful is not considered to be desired by most men. Men in this society want women who are tall, thin and usually blonde. Also, women in American society are well educated, some even having some sort of power being it economically, socially, or politically. The last example of a beauty standard was found in Paris, France. Here, women enjoy to look elegant, but in a natural way. They believe that feeling good starts from the inside and works its way out, so they buy beauty products for all parts of the body. For example, they buy products for the skin and then top with fancy underwear and nice clothing. As they age, women don’t still feel sexy. This particular culture compares close to American culture in the fact that women buy products to make them feel good about themselves, such as make-up, sexy panties, and fancy clothing.
All in all, there is a standard of beauty that is in every culture, though it is very different. I believe that this differing in beauty standards is what makes each woman unique to her culture. Throughout her book, Naomi Wolf discusses many aspects of the beauty myth that has captivated the American culture for centuries. Before reading this book, I never throughout of women as objects that were the fixation of such a standard. The Beauty Myth has opened my eyes to many things that I would have never noticed before this book.

Works Cited
Borer, Elizabeth. "Beauty Secrets from Around the World-Show Recap." 20 11 2008: 2. Web. 1 Oct 2009. .
Wolf, Naomi. The Beauty Myth. New York, NY: Harper Collins Publishers INC. , 1991. Print.

Kate Marr
Professor Yaisa Mann
WS 3413.001
October 1, 2009
Assignment #1

Sex Sells

Anyone in a checkout line in the local grocery store can tell you how much the magazine stands pop out at them. On most magazine covers the headlines have bright colored, bolded words and a picture of a beautiful woman (usually an actress) most of the time hardly clothed. This technique is used to intentionally draw in the consumer in hopes that they will purchase their magazine. When the reader picks up the magazine and examines it closer, they come to see what the magazine is really representing; the society’s definition of what is beautiful and how women can obtain this perfect body. In her book, The Beauty Myth, Naomi Wolf argues that the media images portrayed to the public is what is causing women in today’s society to become self-conscious about their bodies and striving to fulfill popular cultures definition of a flawless body.
At first glance, many people see magazines as innocent forms of entertainment. But when taking a deeper look into the headlines that are being portrayed, one can see that there is a link between the articles featured in that month’s edition and what aspect of beauty society considers most important. For example, Glamour is a very popular woman’s magazine and on the cover of this month’s edition, Scarlett Johansen is posed with nothing but a long white shirt on. She seems to have the perfect color skin tone, no pores or wrinkles on her face and her collar bones are protruding ever so slightly to hint at her thin body frame. In big bold, black letters, “Sex and Love” is scrolled across the front. In a smaller font and brighter colors are “50 Little Ways to Dress your Body Sexier” and “Great Skin! Your Dos and Don’ts at 20, 30, 40”. If this isn’t screaming “Change your figure into this ideal, socially perfect flawless body!” then I don’t know what is. In her book, Naomi Wolf mentions that “a woman reading Glamour is holding women-oriented mass culture between her two hands” which is true in many ways. (71). Women are greatly affected by what they read from such magazines. The articles in these magazines give women a false sense of the imperfections of their body, and make them socially self-conscious about their appearances to the point that some of them create this sense of self-hatred towards their physical exterior; known as a beauty backlash. Wolf believes that this backlash is “spread and reinforced by the cycles of self-hatred provoked in women by the advertisements, photo-features, and beauty copy in the glossies” (73). These indexes make false promises to tell women what men want, what body styles men consider sexy, and how to turn them on. What women think is coming from men, is in fact what the advertisers want from women. Basically these articles aren’t about how to make women happy, but are instead about how to make other people happy with women’s appearances. An interesting point that was in The Beauty Myth was about the voice of the magazine and how it gives women an authority figure to look up to and admire as well as offer a platform for women all over the country to relate to each other. It builds a sense of false trust and as one editor says “‘…it’s like a club. Its function is to provide readers with a comfortable sense of community and pride in their identity’” (74).
I believe that magazines focus on beauty and fitness because if a woman is beautiful and in shape, she is considered sexy, and if she is sexy she is desirable. All women want to be desirable and sexy, and all men want a sexy woman. Unfortunately what this means is that the demeaning nature of these magazines make profit off of sex; sex does sell and sex makes these advertising companies a great deal of money. Throughout her novel, Naomi Wolf argues that these images are the reason why women have such a terrible opinion about their physical appearances, but also explains how these magazines help the feminist movement change with the generations. In conclusion, the magazines that we are exposed to each and everyday are much more complex that we originally think. The Beauty Myth has helped open my eyes to the intentions of the advertisements on the magazines and within the magazine itself. As long as women keep buying into what the advertisers are trying to sell, the more the magazines will drive women into their beauty addictions. As time goes on, the beauty myth will keep intensifying with the changing of the times.

Works Cited
Wolf, Naomi. The Beauty Myth. New York, NY: Harper Collins Publishers INC. , 1991. Print

Gender and Toys

2009-09-28T07:22:00.001-07:00

Growing up, I personally never cared for Barbie’s, dolls and all that other girlie stuff that girls are supposed to play with when they are little. I grew up amongst boys, so I was out in the streets playing roller hockey or football till my mother drug me inside. I guess you can say I was a tomboy, which I will proudly admit. But I will also admit that I had a cabbage patch doll that I had at my side at all times, although he wasn’t a doll. He was my friend. So when I start to think about genders and the toys that they play with, it comes down to the cliché phrase of “boys play with trucks, and girls play with dolls”. This particular statement is unfortunately very true in today’s society. If a toddler boy begins to play with dolls, his parents snatch it away and give him a truck or something boyish, thinking that if they continue to let their son play with the doll, he would grow up to be more feminine than manly. Same goes for girls. If they grow up being rough with boys, then people automatically assume that the girls are going to grow up and be masculine, which obviously isn’t true. I grew up very feminine but still love sports.
When it comes to advertising these toys to children, the advertising companies are increasingly targeting young children for many reasons. Two of the most important reasons are the money that the kids spend on toys themselves, and the influence they have on their parents to spend money. The advertisements that they use to catch the children vary depending on whether they are selling girls products or boys. The commercials for boys typically tend to be darker in color, outside or doing something rough, and are loud. The boys in the commercials are talking louder than usual to show that they are having fun with that particular product. Most boy commercials are selling trucks, cars, sports equipment, G.I. Joes, etc. Now girls’ commercials on the other hand tend to be more quiet, less rough, and bright in color. The girls are always happy and energetic playing with the product. This is probably because girls need to be happy-go-lucky all the time. If they see a commercial where girls are very happy and excited to be playing with a toy, then of course they are going to cry to their mommies until they get that particular toy. That is why it is marketing genius to market products to children.
Looking past the advertising and getting down to the toy itself, I believe that it has some influence over the child as it grows, but not as much as some people think. Take me for instance. As I mentioned earlier, I grew up playing with boy toys and playing boy games. I obviously grew up to be a girlie woman, I like makeup and perfume and cooking. So just because I grew up playing with boy toys doesn’t necessarily mean that I will grow up and not be feminine. The same goes true for boys. It is a little harder to swallow though, seeing a young boy playing with dolls and such. But just because he is playing Barbie’s with his sister doesn’t mean that he is going to grow in to a big wimp. The toy does however, influence the way children play. Toys that are for boys are made for rough-housing where girls toys are made to usually play inside. This shows boys that they are allowed to be rough and crazy where as girls need to play nicely inside.
Some of my favorite toys growing up was my cabbage patch doll, my rollerblades, all of my sports equipment and of course my easy bake oven. Yes even though I played with boys, I still loved my easy-bake oven!

The Alpha Male

2009-09-20T21:13:00.000-07:00

There are many benefits that boys and men have for simply being men. Thhey get paid more, have a better chance at becoming an professional athlete, and of course don’t have the pleasure of giving birth. All of these are common benefits of being male, but one that seems to slip beneath the cracks, is the fact that they have the tough man attitude that can create a double standard for men. When they put on the well known “tough guise” they are rewarded. They are not necessarily rewarded in material possessions, but in an ego boost. Most men love to be seen as the big man on campus or the alpha male. It makes them feel powerful and gives them the sense of being needed, because they posses what they think others don’t. These men are typically seen as strong, rugged and manly. Sometimes this guise is effective, say when someone is depending on the man to be strong, not only physically, but emotionally as well to help them through something. But there is also a time when this behavior is harmful and self-destructive. For example, when you are in a serious relationship with someone, you need to have a connection on a higher level than just physically. This is when emotions come into play. If you are dating a man who has been taught that showing emotions makes you weak, then you can not connect on the level that you need to, thus the relationship is not going to be successful. It is harmful to both parties involved because feelings and emotions are damaged.
I believe that many people associate the concept of “gender issues” with “women’s issues” because they have the false perception that that women are the only ones with gender issues, when in fact, men have just as many issues with gender as their female counter parts. This misconception makes it very difficult for many men and women to understand the nature of men and why they act the way they do. They are the way they are because they were raised thinking that if they showed emotions in front of people, they were weak. They were taught to be tough, play sports, and know everything there is to know about everything. Women know that most of this isn’t true, at all. But men feel the need to be right all the time; it comes along with the alpha male attitude. They know all, thus they are the best.
With this being said, there are many effects this “myth” has on the male gender. Being raised the way most men were raised, men have learned that in order to achieve greatness they must strive to reach our culture’s ideal size of physicality and strength. Some of the emotional effects of this would be that men learn to suppress their emotions and keep out people that could potentially cause their emotions to resurface, making them deal with things they do not wish to. There are also health effects that come with this, and that has to do with the use of steroids. Men have turned to the use of steroids in order to reach this standard of beauty that society has set today. Steroid abuse can lead to serious damage to your body and sometimes even death. There is a huge relationship between steroid use and the cultural ideals of male strength. I believe that one of the reasons why this relationship is so strong is because the media inspires the cultural ideal that men need to look like Hulk Hogan. The male population is very susceptible to the media influence because it is so prevalent in today’s society. Chiseled bodies and the perfect tan are in every advertisement that is available to the population. This is what men see day in and day out, how could they not be affected by these images and strive for the standard of masculinity that has been set in our society.

What is Body Image?

2009-08-30T08:19:00.000-07:00

To me, body image is the way you and other people view you; such as your body type, style, hair, etc. I think that it is important to study this topic because it takes you deeper into the minds of humans and gives clues as to what makes them think this way.
There have been 3 main waves of feminism in our history. The first one took place in the twenties and was centered around women's suffrage, voting and women's rights. The second one was in the sixties and focused on equal pay. The third and final wave of feminism focuses on several diverse strains of individual movements that have taken place since the early nineties. During this time period we saw women enter into the Senate, the first women to become the United States Attorney General as well as the Secretary of State. It was a popular time for women to become independent and break into the lead roles of the workforce as well as in the political world. It is clear to see that the roles and standards of beauty for women have changed dramatically over the years. Back during the first wave of feminism, women were to be seen and not heard. They were the perfect housewives, wore very modest outfits and spoke proper English. Beauty was seen as the way you carried yourself as well as what you wore on a daily basis. Moving into the second wave, the women were less modest and becoming more outspoken, demanding equal pay as well as the same job opportunities as their male counterparts. The standards of beauty during this time period is where we begin to see the very thin girls, long blonde hair and beautiful facial features. This standard is basically the same to this day, with some variances here and there.
In the book, Body Outlaws, Ophira Edut explains the definition of a body outlaw as being someone who goes against the norm and accepts her body the way it is and doesn't try to change it to fit the standard. There are many women of our time who I would consider to be a body outlaw, but I think the best and or strongest example of this would be Queen Latifah. I believe her to be a leading lady in this role because even though she is scrutinized about her weight and size, she has never tried to mold her body to fit into the views of her critics. She did become a spokeswoman for Jenny Craig, but not to become thin, but to become "healthy", campaigning for a healthy lifestyle in her perfect size; size happy.
http://www.dosomething.org/files/queen_microsoft.jpg

Introduction

2009-08-29T22:24:00.000-07:00

Hello blog world! This is my first time to ever blog..so bare with me..I will get the hang of it eventually.

My name is Kate. I am currently a full time student athlete at the University of Oklahoma. I am a senior, but will have to take a fifth year to finish up all the required classes for my major before I can move on to physical therapy school. Since I am in the Health and Exercise Science major, Body Images seemed to be a very interesting elective class for me to take. I am extremely fascinated by the human body and have only really studied it from an anatomical view. But by being in this class, I hope to learn about it from a psychological standpoint, if you will. It is fascinating to me the way the body works, especially the brain, and I am very excited to see how this class will break down the way the brain perceives your body and how it looks to you. I know we may not actually get to the psychological aspect of that, but I hope I can maybe get some help and maybe draw some conclusions for myself.
As we get deeper into the 21st century, the issues surrounding body images only get bigger and more complex. The ways in which technology, the media, and fashion have affected the American population is incredible. Kids as young as 10 are starting to worry about what they are wearing to school, and how other kids see them. Girls know that what is acceptable and "popular" is to be very thin, blonde and tan. The boys see that they need to be buff and athletic with a good sense of style to be accepted and cool. They get these images from the media and the very accessible world wide web. I don't really agree with 10 year olds having to worry about what they are going to wear to school the next day. I think that they should be worrying about making friends, what to eat for lunch, and playing outside for as long as they possibly could. These issues have only been made worse throughout time, and it will be interesting to see how and if these "standards" change.
Some questions that I would like to be answered, or maybe have help getting started on are :
1. How many people have a problem or obsession with the color of their skin?
2. How young are kids when they first start realizing fashion trends and what is acceptable to be wearing or looking like?
3. Who makes up what the standards for being beautiful? Who determines that? Do I? Do the fashion people?
4. How many people suffer from Anorexia?
5. How does the American standard of beauty differ from standards across the world?

-Kate