I am just going to go ahead and say that every girl/woman and even men today has suffered some sort of body image issues. Of course, I’m not saying we’ve all suffered from an eating disorder but everyone has something they don’t like about their body or something they want to change. And wanting this change or taking action to make the change happen has become culturally acceptable. Obsessive dieting, starving yourself, getting plastic surgery, or just hating the way you look are sadly very common in today’s women and even young girls. In her article, “the body and the reproduction of femininity” Susan Bordo mentions that “Female bodies become docile bodies-bodies whose forces and energies are habituated to external regulation, subjection, transformation, “improvement””. Meaning that with female bodies, there is always something that will need fixing, and “improving” to achieve the perfect female body. This “perfect body” is the one that is being shown to us through magazine and fashion models, the celebrities we look up to and all other images displayed to us through the media. Bordo states that “Because of movies and television, the rules for femininity have come to be culturally transmitted more and more through standardized visual images.” “Reading” these images tell us what we should look like, what clothes to wear, and how to behave. And “it is the meaning that makes the sale” Bordo mentions in her article. Seeing one ad in a magazine featuring a tan, skinny, in shape model can actually branch off into many mini ads. Women see these ads and think “I need to look like that.” Not only is the ad advertising their product, they are advertising a gym membership, diet pills, hair dye, makeup and anything else that model is wearing or looking like.
Sunday, September 25, 2011
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It's sad that the present culture places so much importance on body image, especially for women, and the promotion of "the smaller, the better." Appearance and body image is a very small part of life. The body should be kept fit and healthy, but should not be pushed to achieve some false ideals/standards of beauty. Beauty comes, beauty goes. As humans, we age. Instead we should expend that same energy on more permanent and meaningful pursuits like education, athletic pursuits, music, learning, community service, etc. Things, achievements, and skills we can work to acquire and once attained will stay and add to who we are as an individual permanently. Going against natural processes such as aging or going against nature to attain some transient accolades of beauty seems to be pointless since it will fade after a point in time. Health and fitness should be a PART of an individual's lifestyle but not the very purpose and sole aspiration of an individual's life.
ReplyDeleteI agree completely agree with the statements made about the pressures women feel to look perfect, as a female I see messages all the time telling me that I'm not good enough. But I also think that the same images are often overlooked for men. While yes, some are directly comparable: must be muscular, tall, etc there are many more telling them how they must act. Every beer ad focuses on a man who loves his beer along with (and sometimes even more than) the sexy woman who he is standing next to. They may make fun of a male friend who orders a fruity mixed drink displaying that, in fact, beer is what men drink and that to be a man you must conform. We are taught from toy stores how boys should act. Buying Tonka trucks and Legos teaches them from an early age that rough and tumble play and building is for "men" while playing house and dressing baby dolls is what "women" do. These types of play allow us to socialize children at very young ages so that when they grow up and see ads for beer and fitness supplements, they already know that "I am a man. That's what I need."
ReplyDeleteI totally agree! If you look at the magazine rack that is targeted towards a male audience it is a hundred magazines saying essentially the same things as the women's magazines.
ReplyDeleteEverything is focused on 6 simple moves to do this or that, and if you can't achieve the perfect male body women will cast you aside in pursuit of the guy that does, except does this male really exist? There are very few men that have the genes capable of achieving the body on the cover of most of the men's health type magazines.
Men and Women come in all different shapes and sizes, and there is someone for everyone. When it comes down to life longevity it is the person that exercises and eats right that will have the clock on their side, not the individual that leads a sedentary lifestyle and makes themselves throw up in the pursuit of whatever Men's Health or Shape tells them to look like. In some athletic communities there is now a term called "skinny fat" and it is essentially someone that is thin due to their genes, but is basically just a mess on the inside, whether it is cholesterol, high blood pressure, or pre-diabetic type ailments due to the damages that are done by not enough proper exercise.
I agree with the above that we should focus on things that will better ourselves and those around us, rather than slowly killing ourselves in the pursuit of the perfect body.
I strongly agree with your post! It is frightening and concerning how obsessive our society is on body image...no doubt both women AND men experience pressure from the media and other forces.
ReplyDeleteWhen one looks at fitness magazines or lifestyle magazines...it seems as if there is always one solution that will help everyone with "things" that they want to improve/change about their bodies...such as "One Minute Stomach Exercises for a Flat Stomach".
As humans, we must understand that outer beauty will eventually fade with age...going against time will only last temporary and will also eventually go away with time...one must embrace natural beauty and know that true beauty comes from within. The media sets unattainable standards for women as to what is regarded as "pretty" or places a picture of a man with 8 pack abs on Men's Health...we should focus on inner happiness and be happy with our natural beauty.
This post is unfortunately very true for the present day society. I hate how no one is every happy with the way they are; they always think they need to be skinnier, or wear more makeup just to look like the "perfect woman." Our perception of female beauty is so skewed because of how much editing goes on behind the scenes of photo shoots. We see magazines and billboards with "attractive" women, but we don't realize how much work went into making these ads/magazines seem so appealing. The women that so many girls want to be like nowadays are pretty much unattainable goals. And if people do want to reach these levels of "beauty," they resort to extreme measures like eating disorders. It frustrates me to see so many young girls so fake already at the ages of 10 & 11. They should stop trying to be like everyone else, and just be themselves.
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