The film Lovely and Amazing follows the women in one particular family. The four women it follows are a mother and three daughters. All the women are trying to find a "place" in the world and better themselves while they are at it. The film shows the struggles that each woman goes through on a daily basis and how that affects their lives and their family's lives.
The first daughter in the film is the youngest daughter named Annie. Annie is adopted and the only African American in the family. Annie struggles mainly with the fact that she is the only African American in the family. She struggles with the fact that she is also a heavier set girl. Annie struggles with her weight and has an unhealthy view of food. She eats things because she doesn't think they are unhealthy when I really feel that the director is trying to show that women that struggle with their weight have a legitimate problem...it can sometimes take them over. Annie is a binge eater that will go through a bunch of food in sitting. She is in denial with the fact that she is doing this to herself. We also see Annie trying to fit in to her white family by straightening her hair as well. Annie shows just how hard it can be for the outsider...even in their own family.
The second daughter in the film is the middle daughter named Elizabeth. Elizabeth is an aspiring actress that seems to have things going pretty well for her...or so it seems. Elizabeth struggles with her own self image. She is skinny and pretty...but just not sexy enough to get the roles she wants in films. She struggles with herself to try and conform to what that industry wants without losing herself in the process. Elizabeth begins to sleep with an actor that she auditioned with who said she wasn't sexy enough for the role. In one scene that sticks out in my mind she asks the guy to look at her naked and tell her everything that is wrong with her body. The actor does and Elizabeth leaves seeming like it did not upset her that much. Elizabeth shows that even women whom seem to have everything going well for them still have self image issues that need to be worked out.
The oldest daughter, Michelle seems to be the one with the most problems. She is married and has a daughter of her own. Michelle does not work but does try to make some money by doing crafts and trying to sell them; although nobody seems to want to buy the things she makes. Her husband and her argue quite a bit because she does not have a job. Michelle finds a job at a photo development store and begins to like a young man she works with. Michelle begins to have an affair with this young boy (I say young because he was all of maybe 17). Michelle copes with her insecurities about her body and herself by sleeping with a young boy. In the end it did not help her with her self image because she ends up getting arrested for statutory rape.
The mother of the film, Jane is the real reason that her three daughters are so messed up. She is a wealthy woman that has done the best she can in raising her children. I do not quite know if she was married but she does seem to have had it pretty rough. She decides to get liposuction because she thinks that if she does she will be more lovable by the men around her. This of course does not work.
I did like the film. The director used a tone of seriousness as well as humor to get the audience to understand that every woman...no matter her age, is subject to the pangs of low self body image. It shows that women deal with this in very different ways. We need to be aware that we too will one day (if you haven't already) have to deal with our own worries about the way we look. The majority of women are not happy with how they look and the movies shows some extreme yet normal ways of dealing with this harsh reality.
Sunday, December 6, 2009
Mona Lisa Smile Film Review
The film Mona Lisa Smile is about a young woman professor that takes a job at an all female college. Her goal in taking this job is to teach these women art history. When she gets to the college she ends up being able to teach these girls something more than just art history. The "college" is not really an educational institute...it is more of a prep school for marriage. The young women in the college are given an education but the main thing they are taught is how to find a good husband and once they have found that man how to be a good and proper wife to them. Julia Robert's plays the professor. She ends up seeing what this school really is and is very appalled by what she sees. She sets out to teach these women that they do not have to conform to society's rules, they can be something other than just wives...they can be real women that make a difference in the world.
The film was a good display of why the feminist movement began. Women in that day were taught from a very early age that their whole purpose in life was to become and wife and mother. It shows just how willing women were to follow in the foot steps of every other woman in that time without really thinking about what they wanted. The feminist movement began because of a simple survey and book that was published. The author that did the survey found out that the women of her time were not really happy with their lives; they were just doing what they thought they should be doing. In the movie you see some women shift from doing what is normal to becoming their own woman. They begin to see what life should really be about...and that is being happy and doing what makes you happy. This whole class was centered not just around the idea of beauty in our society but also the different gender roles throughout the years. This is a perfect example of how the whole feminism movement works.
I did like the film. I liked the film because it showed that we as women do not have to conform to society in order to be happy. When I was younger all I wanted to do was fit in...to feel "normal". But as I grew older I realized that the only way I was going to be happy was to do what made me happy...not what made the world happy. As long as I was not hurting any one else in the process of following my own happiness everything would be OK. I have never wanted to get married or have children and many times this has been a very hard subject to talk about with people. People cannot seem to understand my reasoning behind this, but I feel as if they do not have to...it is a personal choice and I am in control of my own life. I think this is why I really enjoyed the movie; because I could relate to it. It has began to show people that women are human beings and we have our own wants and needs and sometimes; if not most of the time; these wants and needs do not conform to what society thinks we should want and need. More movies like this need to be made to bring to light a lot of the issues that women struggle with on a daily basis outside of just beauty.
The film was a good display of why the feminist movement began. Women in that day were taught from a very early age that their whole purpose in life was to become and wife and mother. It shows just how willing women were to follow in the foot steps of every other woman in that time without really thinking about what they wanted. The feminist movement began because of a simple survey and book that was published. The author that did the survey found out that the women of her time were not really happy with their lives; they were just doing what they thought they should be doing. In the movie you see some women shift from doing what is normal to becoming their own woman. They begin to see what life should really be about...and that is being happy and doing what makes you happy. This whole class was centered not just around the idea of beauty in our society but also the different gender roles throughout the years. This is a perfect example of how the whole feminism movement works.
I did like the film. I liked the film because it showed that we as women do not have to conform to society in order to be happy. When I was younger all I wanted to do was fit in...to feel "normal". But as I grew older I realized that the only way I was going to be happy was to do what made me happy...not what made the world happy. As long as I was not hurting any one else in the process of following my own happiness everything would be OK. I have never wanted to get married or have children and many times this has been a very hard subject to talk about with people. People cannot seem to understand my reasoning behind this, but I feel as if they do not have to...it is a personal choice and I am in control of my own life. I think this is why I really enjoyed the movie; because I could relate to it. It has began to show people that women are human beings and we have our own wants and needs and sometimes; if not most of the time; these wants and needs do not conform to what society thinks we should want and need. More movies like this need to be made to bring to light a lot of the issues that women struggle with on a daily basis outside of just beauty.
Monday, November 30, 2009
Blog 10
It will not allow me to post my playlist on here for some reason. Every time I put the code in it doesn't work. So, since I am unable to post my playlist I will list the songs that I decided to put in my playlist. I picked Big girl by Mika, Unpretty by TLC, Fallen by Seether and Get it Together by India Arie. I thought these songs were good because they remind the listener that we do not have to fit into our society's stereotypes for beautiful. We are beautiful in our own skin and we need to be comfortable with that. We need to look at ourselves in the mirror every day and let ourselves know tat we are beautiful and we deserve to be treated as such. It also reminds us that there are people out there that think we are beautiful as well and want to let us know just how beautiful we are. Sometimes it takes songs like these for us to feel pretty and it shouldn't, we should feel pretty all the time.
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Media Analysis 1
The first advertisement I chose is an advertisement for PETA (People for the Ethical treatment of animals). It is a picture of the lower part of a woman with wearing small white underwear. Under the underwear the picture shows a bunch of hair coming out from the genital area. Bellow the picture is the saying "Animals Shouldn't Be Fashion Victims". Because of the picture being one of a woman, we can assume that it is targeted at women. At first glance I was not quite sure what the advertisement was trying to promote, but after reading the advertisement, I discovered that it is to discourage the buying and wearing of fur. Although the actual message in the advertisement is for a good cause and does have a valid point, the way it is done is distasteful and offensive. It is hard to actually see what the advertisement is about because all you really focus on is the picture. Aboutface.com has this printed next to the advertisement: "Our society, and many/most others, suggest that if a woman doesn't restrict, mold or control her body she will be overwhelming, out of control, unattractive...animal-like. Why is it ok to demean women while promoting animal rights? Compassion for animals, but not for women who don't conform to the narrow definition of beauty??" My thoughts exactly.
First and foremost the reason this advertisement is so offensive to me is because they have taken the most private part of a woman's body and put an ideal look to it. It portrays that if a woman does not fit into this mold then they will be undesirable to men. As Naomi Wolf states in The Beauty Myth, being desirable to men is the most important thing in a woman’s life. Wolf states “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.”
Our society already has ideals about the perfect figure, the perfect hair color, skin tone, and the list goes on and on...it was only a matter of time before the most private aspect of a woman's life would be scrutinized as well. It implies that if a woman does not keep their genital area properly groomed and perfect that they again fall short of what real beauty is. It is common in our society to see breasts in media, but very rarely do you see anything below the mid-section of a woman. I feel that there has always been an unspoken understanding that women are already very self conscious about that area of their body because it is not the prettiest thing in the world. This advertisement has not only broken that unspoken understanding but has put a beauty standard on something that most women are already self conscious of. Women have enough to worry about when it comes to beauty; we do not need advertisements like this to add one more thing to the list.
The advertisement has put the ethical treatment of animals over the ethical treatment of women. They are so passionate about promoting the proper treatment of animals but what happened to making women feel good about their bodies? What happened to showing women that they are beautiful and they should feel beautiful in their own skin? Have we as a society become so comfortable with the media's portrayal of beauty? This advertisement shows just how influential the media can be on a women's idea of beauty. The woman used in the advertisement has a very slim figure that our society would accept as beautiful, but the advertisement portrays that you can fit the ideal beauty standard, but one imperfection; even if people cannot see it, makes you ugly and animal-like.
First and foremost the reason this advertisement is so offensive to me is because they have taken the most private part of a woman's body and put an ideal look to it. It portrays that if a woman does not fit into this mold then they will be undesirable to men. As Naomi Wolf states in The Beauty Myth, being desirable to men is the most important thing in a woman’s life. Wolf states “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.”
Our society already has ideals about the perfect figure, the perfect hair color, skin tone, and the list goes on and on...it was only a matter of time before the most private aspect of a woman's life would be scrutinized as well. It implies that if a woman does not keep their genital area properly groomed and perfect that they again fall short of what real beauty is. It is common in our society to see breasts in media, but very rarely do you see anything below the mid-section of a woman. I feel that there has always been an unspoken understanding that women are already very self conscious about that area of their body because it is not the prettiest thing in the world. This advertisement has not only broken that unspoken understanding but has put a beauty standard on something that most women are already self conscious of. Women have enough to worry about when it comes to beauty; we do not need advertisements like this to add one more thing to the list.
The advertisement has put the ethical treatment of animals over the ethical treatment of women. They are so passionate about promoting the proper treatment of animals but what happened to making women feel good about their bodies? What happened to showing women that they are beautiful and they should feel beautiful in their own skin? Have we as a society become so comfortable with the media's portrayal of beauty? This advertisement shows just how influential the media can be on a women's idea of beauty. The woman used in the advertisement has a very slim figure that our society would accept as beautiful, but the advertisement portrays that you can fit the ideal beauty standard, but one imperfection; even if people cannot see it, makes you ugly and animal-like.
Media Analysis 2
The second advertisement I chose is the first page of an article in Glamour magazine. It is a survey where 16,000 women tell their body confidence secrets. It shows pictures of three different women that would not quite fit into society's ideal form of beauty. It targets women of every different shape, color and size. It is implying that you do not have to be perfect in order to be confident. Naomi Wolf explains in The Beauty Myth that most women feel that women's magazines "transmit the worst aspects of the beauty myth", but this article shows that women's magazines are beginning to come out of the conformity of society's idea of beauty and now promoting women feeling beautiful in their own skin. This is the perfect example of what Wolf states, "Cosmopolitan-is indeed revolutionary compared with the earlier service magazines...their formula includes an inspirational, individualist, can-do tone that says that you should be your best and nothing should get in your way; a focus on personal and sexual relationships that affirms females ambition and erotic appetite."
The picture of the first woman is a picture of a woman that has a little more weight on her than the typical woman featured in beauty magazines. By having a woman with a little more weight on her as the picture for the cover of the article is refreshing because it shows that this article is not going to be about the ideal beauty. It gives the appearance that even if you have a little extra weight you too can be beautiful. The picture of the girl in the middle does the same because you see the woman laying on her stomach and you can see that she has what appears to be rolls as her body curves and the last picture shows a women of darker skin showing how you can be beautiful no matter what race you are.
By having normal women with normal imperfections, the advertisement allows normal women to feel more comfortable with their sexuality. Women are shown at first glance of the article that they too; no matter what shape or size or color, can be beautiful. It shows that the culture is slowly opening up, that is slowly starting to embrace more willingly women and girls that go against the traditional feminine type. Popular culture has drilled this idea of the perfect woman into girl's heads for a very long time now but our culture is slowly realizing that it is impossible for women to fit this ideal. We are now starting to embrace the true beauty of women which comes from inside. The advertisement does a good job of showing that with just a little confidence you can portray the beauty that you have within. It shows that women do not have to be perfect any more, we can have little imperfections.
I think our society is moving to this new way of thinking because of all the damage the old way was doing to women. Women have been harming not only their bodies but also their self esteem because they have been trying to be what the media dubs and beautiful and never quite being able to do it. Instead of continuing to promote doing harm to yourself our society is realizing that it is important to first develop women's self esteem first and foremost. Our society is also realizing that in order to promote self esteem in women we have to embrace women of every shape, size and color. This advertisement is a perfect example of how to promote self esteem in women which will in the end promote their own individual idea of sexuality.
The picture of the first woman is a picture of a woman that has a little more weight on her than the typical woman featured in beauty magazines. By having a woman with a little more weight on her as the picture for the cover of the article is refreshing because it shows that this article is not going to be about the ideal beauty. It gives the appearance that even if you have a little extra weight you too can be beautiful. The picture of the girl in the middle does the same because you see the woman laying on her stomach and you can see that she has what appears to be rolls as her body curves and the last picture shows a women of darker skin showing how you can be beautiful no matter what race you are.
By having normal women with normal imperfections, the advertisement allows normal women to feel more comfortable with their sexuality. Women are shown at first glance of the article that they too; no matter what shape or size or color, can be beautiful. It shows that the culture is slowly opening up, that is slowly starting to embrace more willingly women and girls that go against the traditional feminine type. Popular culture has drilled this idea of the perfect woman into girl's heads for a very long time now but our culture is slowly realizing that it is impossible for women to fit this ideal. We are now starting to embrace the true beauty of women which comes from inside. The advertisement does a good job of showing that with just a little confidence you can portray the beauty that you have within. It shows that women do not have to be perfect any more, we can have little imperfections.
I think our society is moving to this new way of thinking because of all the damage the old way was doing to women. Women have been harming not only their bodies but also their self esteem because they have been trying to be what the media dubs and beautiful and never quite being able to do it. Instead of continuing to promote doing harm to yourself our society is realizing that it is important to first develop women's self esteem first and foremost. Our society is also realizing that in order to promote self esteem in women we have to embrace women of every shape, size and color. This advertisement is a perfect example of how to promote self esteem in women which will in the end promote their own individual idea of sexuality.
Monday, November 16, 2009
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Blog 9
Popular culture has had an influence on how I view the differences between men and women. It seems as if our society puts a bigger emphasis on the beauty of women. In movies; especially comedy, over weight men are more accepted. We also have a big emphasis on women always looking beautiful when they go out. When you see a female go out without make up or in comfy clothes they get hounded by the media; but if a man goes out looking the same it is more widely accepted. It also makes people accept the idea of promiscuity if it is seen in a male. We see it as OK if a male has a large number of sexual partners, but if it were a female then it would not be as accepted if it were even accepted. Popular culture really hasn't had an influence on my understanding of race and class. I have a very wide variety of friends and what you see in pop culture of different races and different classes is not true most of the time.
If I see something sexist in a TV show I actually don't point it out. I don't even think I really notice unless it is something that offends me. I think the reason I don't point it out is because it has become accepted in our society to be a bit sexist. It is something that we see so much that many people; including me, have become numb to it.
When I hear the word "feminist" the things that come to my mind are crazy women that are all about equal rights for women. I think I have gotten this from my family. I have always been a tom-boy and never really thought about myself as not being equal in every aspect of life to men. I have always fought for the men in my life to see me as equal as well but I never really had a hard fight on my hands. I have always proved that I am just as good as any guy in anything I do so to me the whole feminism movement seems extreme. I understand that every woman wants to feel equal and have equal rights and not fall victim to sexism; but I feel that if you want it bad enough you will prove that you are worthy and you will get the results you want.
If I see something sexist in a TV show I actually don't point it out. I don't even think I really notice unless it is something that offends me. I think the reason I don't point it out is because it has become accepted in our society to be a bit sexist. It is something that we see so much that many people; including me, have become numb to it.
When I hear the word "feminist" the things that come to my mind are crazy women that are all about equal rights for women. I think I have gotten this from my family. I have always been a tom-boy and never really thought about myself as not being equal in every aspect of life to men. I have always fought for the men in my life to see me as equal as well but I never really had a hard fight on my hands. I have always proved that I am just as good as any guy in anything I do so to me the whole feminism movement seems extreme. I understand that every woman wants to feel equal and have equal rights and not fall victim to sexism; but I feel that if you want it bad enough you will prove that you are worthy and you will get the results you want.
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Blog 7
An eating disorder is a severe disturbance in eating habits. Fashion and the media as well as diet plans have contributed to the rise in eating disorders because they continue to show very thin women as beautiful. They make the people watching them feel like they are not good enough unless they look like they people in the adds. Then the diet industry feeds on the insecurities of people and when the diet products they advertise do not work the only thing left for some people are eating disorders. I do think that a detailed look at the clinical picture of eating disorders can be used to prevent them; but I think that we must also fix society's view of beauty. I don't think it has become society's sacred ritual. Many in the United States are still overweight and being comfortable in your own skin is slowly becoming the new theme. We are a rich nation with plenty of food and "fast fixes" for weight problems but if we take the focus off of being skinny and back on to being healthy we can fix the problems of society.
Friday, October 2, 2009
Blog 6
According to Debra Grimlin in her essay “Cosmetic Surgery: Paying for your Beauty” cosmetic surgery was initially used for men that were disfigured in war or industrial accidents. Cosmetic surgery became centered around women because of the increasing pressure to conform to society's idea of beauty. Average became the new ugly...women needed to fit the mold of beauty and the easiest, fastest way to do this is to have cosmetic surgery. I feel that cosmetic surgery is necessary. Women today need to feel that they are beautiful in order to keep healthy mentaly. If it takes going under the knife and having surgery to fit your idea of beauty then by all means do it. I do think some people do take it too lightly because they do not take the time to learn the facts about the surgery they are getting, or they do not take the time to research the doctor the are allowing to perform the surgery. I think cosmetic surgery is something positive that people can do to improve their look and self image. How bad can something be if it helps a person to feel better about themselves? By feeling better about the way they look it will open more opportunities for that person.
Paper 1...Second Prompt
Jenna Tucker
Professor Yaisa Mann
WS 3413.001
October 2, 2009
Paper #1
I interviewed six different people to get a good idea of what the different generations thought beauty was. I interviewed both males and females in their early twenties, mid forties and early sixties. The two questions I asked them were how do you define beauty, and who do you consider beautiful and why. The responses I got failed to surprise me.
The female in her early twenties defined beauty as “the outward appearance of a person as compared to the norms of society.” When asked who she thought was beautiful and why she answered very quickly “Brad Pitt is beautiful because she has an amazing body, very attractive face and every man aspires to look like him.” The male in his early twenties defined beauty as “how attractive a person is” and said that Hale Berry was beautiful because “she has everything a man dreams of…an amazing body with a gorgeous face.” The woman of mid forties defined beauty as “the outward and inward appearance of a person.” When asked who she thought was beautiful and why she responded by saying that “everyone is beautiful in their own way. We may not all be as beautiful on the outside as a supermodel, but everyone is beautiful by either the way they look or the actions they take in life.” The male in his mid forties had a very similar answer to that of the male in his early twenties. He defined beauty as “a person’s attractiveness compared to societal norms” and said that Angelina Jolie was beautiful because “she is the epitome of beauty in today society. She has a great career, her face is beautiful and an amazing body that every man dreams of.” The female in her early sixties defined beauty as “the outward appearance of a person that is shaped not only by how they look but also by what they have been through.” She told me she thought I was beautiful because “you are young and have huge dreams and aren’t afraid to accomplish them. You may not fit into society’s norm of beauty but you have seen a lot in your short life and are confident.” The man in his early sixties had a similar view of beauty.
It seems that for the majority of their lives men see beauty as how attractive a person is. Both the male in his twenties and the male in his forties based who they thought was beautiful on how the person purely looks. They love the thin, curvaceous body that goes along with a face that is almost flawless. Both of these men put so much emphasis on physical appearance and did not stop to consider beauty as being how a person acts as well as how they look. This was true of the female in her twenties as well. It is no wonder that as Gimlin points out “Cosmetic surgery is one of the fastest growing specialties in American medicine” (106). There seems to be a shared idea of beauty based on the media that young men and women strive to achieve. Vida points out when speaking of sorority rushees, she says they “are primped so that they will look like the kind of girls boys like” (8). Half of the people I interviewed emphasized only physical beauty.
The other three people I interviewed; the woman in her forties and the man and woman in their sixties seemed to incorporate not only the physical appearance of a person but also the “inner beauty” of a person. They were not as concerned with simply how a person looked, they felt beauty also came from how a person acted and the things they had been through in their lives. It seems that as we get older we begin to be less superficial. We see the true beauty in people. You can be the most attractive person alive; but if you are not a good person then your physical beauty has been negated. To me this is why many marriages end in divorce. When we are younger we see only the physical, but as we age we open our minds to the physical and the spiritual as well as the actions of the opposite gender. The quote “beauty is in the eye of the beholder” does not really seem to be the case; it seems to be that beauty is based on culture.
Professor Yaisa Mann
WS 3413.001
October 2, 2009
Paper #1
I interviewed six different people to get a good idea of what the different generations thought beauty was. I interviewed both males and females in their early twenties, mid forties and early sixties. The two questions I asked them were how do you define beauty, and who do you consider beautiful and why. The responses I got failed to surprise me.
The female in her early twenties defined beauty as “the outward appearance of a person as compared to the norms of society.” When asked who she thought was beautiful and why she answered very quickly “Brad Pitt is beautiful because she has an amazing body, very attractive face and every man aspires to look like him.” The male in his early twenties defined beauty as “how attractive a person is” and said that Hale Berry was beautiful because “she has everything a man dreams of…an amazing body with a gorgeous face.” The woman of mid forties defined beauty as “the outward and inward appearance of a person.” When asked who she thought was beautiful and why she responded by saying that “everyone is beautiful in their own way. We may not all be as beautiful on the outside as a supermodel, but everyone is beautiful by either the way they look or the actions they take in life.” The male in his mid forties had a very similar answer to that of the male in his early twenties. He defined beauty as “a person’s attractiveness compared to societal norms” and said that Angelina Jolie was beautiful because “she is the epitome of beauty in today society. She has a great career, her face is beautiful and an amazing body that every man dreams of.” The female in her early sixties defined beauty as “the outward appearance of a person that is shaped not only by how they look but also by what they have been through.” She told me she thought I was beautiful because “you are young and have huge dreams and aren’t afraid to accomplish them. You may not fit into society’s norm of beauty but you have seen a lot in your short life and are confident.” The man in his early sixties had a similar view of beauty.
It seems that for the majority of their lives men see beauty as how attractive a person is. Both the male in his twenties and the male in his forties based who they thought was beautiful on how the person purely looks. They love the thin, curvaceous body that goes along with a face that is almost flawless. Both of these men put so much emphasis on physical appearance and did not stop to consider beauty as being how a person acts as well as how they look. This was true of the female in her twenties as well. It is no wonder that as Gimlin points out “Cosmetic surgery is one of the fastest growing specialties in American medicine” (106). There seems to be a shared idea of beauty based on the media that young men and women strive to achieve. Vida points out when speaking of sorority rushees, she says they “are primped so that they will look like the kind of girls boys like” (8). Half of the people I interviewed emphasized only physical beauty.
The other three people I interviewed; the woman in her forties and the man and woman in their sixties seemed to incorporate not only the physical appearance of a person but also the “inner beauty” of a person. They were not as concerned with simply how a person looked, they felt beauty also came from how a person acted and the things they had been through in their lives. It seems that as we get older we begin to be less superficial. We see the true beauty in people. You can be the most attractive person alive; but if you are not a good person then your physical beauty has been negated. To me this is why many marriages end in divorce. When we are younger we see only the physical, but as we age we open our minds to the physical and the spiritual as well as the actions of the opposite gender. The quote “beauty is in the eye of the beholder” does not really seem to be the case; it seems to be that beauty is based on culture.
Paper 1...1st prompt
Jenna Tucker
Professor Yaisa Mann
WS 3413.001
October 2, 2009
Paper #1
The dictionary defines the word stereotype as “a simplified and standardized conception or image invested with special meaning and held in common by members of a group.” But an even better definition of the word stereotype was found in a cultural dictionary. They define stereotype as “a too simple and therefore distorted image of a group. A generalization usually exaggerated or oversimplified and often offensive, that is used to describe or distinguish a group.” The most common stereotypes seen today are based on gender. There is a certain way both a man and woman should act, dress, live and even in the goals set for their lives. Although women have made huge strides in equal rights throughout history, there is still a stereotype seen in every aspect of life. Friedan, in her book The Feminine Mystique, explains where this female stereotype has come from “in the millions of words written about women, for women, in all the columns, books and articles by experts telling women their role was to seek fulfillment as wives and mothers (Friedan).” What is this stereotype? Friedan, as well as the rest of the world would say that a woman’s job is to “devote their lives from earliest girlhood to finding a husband and bearing children.”
I have never really put much thought into the fact that I do not fit the stereotype of women until one day at work. A fellow female coworker approached me one afternoon in the break room and asked me if I was in a relationship. Naturally I said no. She then asked if I ever planned on getting married or having children (she was in the process of doing both of those things). I have never wanted to get married and the idea of children makes my stomach churn. I explained to her that I had never been the marriage type and in fact no, I never wanted children. I could tell by the look on her face that this was not an answer to the question she ever expected to hear. The last thing she said to me before walking off was “What type of real woman doesn’t want to have a family?” Until this point I never really thought about the fact that other women could not understand my stance on such ideas. I could not imagine why it was so taboo for a woman to have dreams of finishing college and having a career instead of dreaming of getting married and having children. But as Friedan explains, women used to have the same dreams as me; but the stereotype has become so prominent in our society that “Some women, in their forties and fifties, still remembered painfully giving up those dreams, but most of the younger women no longer even thought about them.”
At the time I was very annoyed and angry with the coworker. I could not believe that someone could be so naive and conforming to think that a woman’s main purpose on earth was to be a wife and bear children. I was as shocked by her ideas just as much as she was by mine; but at the time I did not know this…I was just angry that my ideas were being questioned. A few weeks after this happened I sat down to write about it and this is when the sadness began to set in. This seemingly innocent conversation that had taken place made my heart hurt. It is not a new stereotype, but I never quite understood that this sort of thing was still being taught today. I always thought that women had become smarter, had moved past the days of dreaming of being wives and mothers, I thought we had moved beyond all this. But I quickly realized that it is not the rest of society that is to blame; it is women themselves. Just like the coworker I had the conversation with, just like the woman who does not question it when her parents tell her she needs to do this or that because it will prepare her to be a good wife; it is women’s fault for believing this stereotype. To this day I still never want to get married and the simple thought of children still makes me nauseous, but I have come to learn that I can always express my thoughts on marriage and children; but that in no way means that the majority of women will ever understand.
Professor Yaisa Mann
WS 3413.001
October 2, 2009
Paper #1
The dictionary defines the word stereotype as “a simplified and standardized conception or image invested with special meaning and held in common by members of a group.” But an even better definition of the word stereotype was found in a cultural dictionary. They define stereotype as “a too simple and therefore distorted image of a group. A generalization usually exaggerated or oversimplified and often offensive, that is used to describe or distinguish a group.” The most common stereotypes seen today are based on gender. There is a certain way both a man and woman should act, dress, live and even in the goals set for their lives. Although women have made huge strides in equal rights throughout history, there is still a stereotype seen in every aspect of life. Friedan, in her book The Feminine Mystique, explains where this female stereotype has come from “in the millions of words written about women, for women, in all the columns, books and articles by experts telling women their role was to seek fulfillment as wives and mothers (Friedan).” What is this stereotype? Friedan, as well as the rest of the world would say that a woman’s job is to “devote their lives from earliest girlhood to finding a husband and bearing children.”
I have never really put much thought into the fact that I do not fit the stereotype of women until one day at work. A fellow female coworker approached me one afternoon in the break room and asked me if I was in a relationship. Naturally I said no. She then asked if I ever planned on getting married or having children (she was in the process of doing both of those things). I have never wanted to get married and the idea of children makes my stomach churn. I explained to her that I had never been the marriage type and in fact no, I never wanted children. I could tell by the look on her face that this was not an answer to the question she ever expected to hear. The last thing she said to me before walking off was “What type of real woman doesn’t want to have a family?” Until this point I never really thought about the fact that other women could not understand my stance on such ideas. I could not imagine why it was so taboo for a woman to have dreams of finishing college and having a career instead of dreaming of getting married and having children. But as Friedan explains, women used to have the same dreams as me; but the stereotype has become so prominent in our society that “Some women, in their forties and fifties, still remembered painfully giving up those dreams, but most of the younger women no longer even thought about them.”
At the time I was very annoyed and angry with the coworker. I could not believe that someone could be so naive and conforming to think that a woman’s main purpose on earth was to be a wife and bear children. I was as shocked by her ideas just as much as she was by mine; but at the time I did not know this…I was just angry that my ideas were being questioned. A few weeks after this happened I sat down to write about it and this is when the sadness began to set in. This seemingly innocent conversation that had taken place made my heart hurt. It is not a new stereotype, but I never quite understood that this sort of thing was still being taught today. I always thought that women had become smarter, had moved past the days of dreaming of being wives and mothers, I thought we had moved beyond all this. But I quickly realized that it is not the rest of society that is to blame; it is women themselves. Just like the coworker I had the conversation with, just like the woman who does not question it when her parents tell her she needs to do this or that because it will prepare her to be a good wife; it is women’s fault for believing this stereotype. To this day I still never want to get married and the simple thought of children still makes me nauseous, but I have come to learn that I can always express my thoughts on marriage and children; but that in no way means that the majority of women will ever understand.
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Blog 4
Some benefits of boys and men putting on the "tough guise" is that they feel more like a man and fit into society's ideals of a man. Men are exactly like women, all they really want to do is fit in. Putting on the "tough guise" can be effective when it doesn't go to an extreme. Wanting to fit in is not bad, but when wanting to fit in takes over your life and makes you do things to yourself that are harmful or do things to others that are harmful it can be a very bad thing. You should never hurt yourself just to fit in. Some men will go to great extremes in order to fit in like taking steroids, or working out until their bodies are completely beaten up, or developing eating disorders.
Many people think the very concept of "gender issues" is synonymous with "women's issues". I think this is so because people don't really think that males have many issues. Most of what you hear about gender issues is in the female community. Females being very athletic and not wanting to wear dresses or be the "typical" female. You do not see much of this in the male community. I think that because the two terms are synonymous to most people that it makes it hard for people to see that the same happens in males lives. Males also have gender roles that they are trying to fulfill. One such gender role of men is their trying to live up to society's ideal of physical size and strength Trying to live up to this has a lot of detrimental effects on males. Emotionally males trying to do this can become very beaten down. Many males just do not have the body type and makeup to live up to the norms. When a person tries extremely hard to do something without getting the results they crave it is very damaging to the ego. Many people begin to give up and feel that they will never be good enough and they can never be loved or accepted like they want to be. There are also physical effects that can occur. Because of trying to be something they aren't men's bodies are often broken down or even injured severely for the rest of their lives. Some men even go as far as to using steroids to get the body they want.
I think the media inspires change in society. I think that people are susceptible to media influence because it is always around them. Society's idea of perfect is embedded in their brains from the time they are born until the time they die. Because it is always around them and always telling them how they should look, eat, smell, dress and simply live we as a society begin to believe the media and begin to try to form into what they say we should be.
Many people think the very concept of "gender issues" is synonymous with "women's issues". I think this is so because people don't really think that males have many issues. Most of what you hear about gender issues is in the female community. Females being very athletic and not wanting to wear dresses or be the "typical" female. You do not see much of this in the male community. I think that because the two terms are synonymous to most people that it makes it hard for people to see that the same happens in males lives. Males also have gender roles that they are trying to fulfill. One such gender role of men is their trying to live up to society's ideal of physical size and strength Trying to live up to this has a lot of detrimental effects on males. Emotionally males trying to do this can become very beaten down. Many males just do not have the body type and makeup to live up to the norms. When a person tries extremely hard to do something without getting the results they crave it is very damaging to the ego. Many people begin to give up and feel that they will never be good enough and they can never be loved or accepted like they want to be. There are also physical effects that can occur. Because of trying to be something they aren't men's bodies are often broken down or even injured severely for the rest of their lives. Some men even go as far as to using steroids to get the body they want.
I think the media inspires change in society. I think that people are susceptible to media influence because it is always around them. Society's idea of perfect is embedded in their brains from the time they are born until the time they die. Because it is always around them and always telling them how they should look, eat, smell, dress and simply live we as a society begin to believe the media and begin to try to form into what they say we should be.
Blog 3
The repeated general ideas I found in the readings were the importance of a female's appearance. Whether that be at the workplace, at home or just even out in public. Beauty/body image is probably the most important function of social construction. Every person when out in a social situation will be more likely to strike a conversation with the people they are attracted to. Now, once people become friends I think that beauty and body image do not have as much to do with it. I feel that the stories about the workplace are most familar to me. I have been shadowing a psychologist at a male prison for a few months now. I get a lot of comments as well as sexual passes. The hard part about my situation is that it comes from prisoners and not actual workers so there really is nothing I can do but ask them to stop.
Ideals of female beauty does function as a form of social control. Every girl from the time they can remember have had images of the perfect woman placed in their heads by the media, friends, family and even strangers. Because women have had these ideals pounded into their brain they will do anything they have to to try and fit into this mold. This makes it very easy to control social situations that have to do with appearance. One specific example is one of my friends. This particular friend is overweight and because of this she will not go to the bars on campus corner because she feels so self conscious. She knows that most of the guys are attracted to the petite cute girls and because she does not fit the norm of beauty she refuses to put herself out there which makes it nearly impossible for her dating life. This is just one way that beauty and body image makes it difficult for women.
Ideals of female beauty does function as a form of social control. Every girl from the time they can remember have had images of the perfect woman placed in their heads by the media, friends, family and even strangers. Because women have had these ideals pounded into their brain they will do anything they have to to try and fit into this mold. This makes it very easy to control social situations that have to do with appearance. One specific example is one of my friends. This particular friend is overweight and because of this she will not go to the bars on campus corner because she feels so self conscious. She knows that most of the guys are attracted to the petite cute girls and because she does not fit the norm of beauty she refuses to put herself out there which makes it nearly impossible for her dating life. This is just one way that beauty and body image makes it difficult for women.
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Blog 2
Body image is how a person sees their body. It is all mental. It is not really what a person looks like, but instead how they feel they look. A lot of body image is culturally based by emphasis on beauty. It is how you feel about yourself and how you think others perceive you. Body image is a good topic to study because it offers us some understanding in the world of eating disorders. It helps us to understand why these disorders often form and what we can to do fix them.
There are three waves of feminism. The first wave was women's suffrage, the second wave was equal pay and the thir wave centers on individual movements.
According to Ophira Edut, the definition of a body outlaw is a person that accepts what their body is naturally and doesnt try to conform to what society thinks their body should be. They are rebels, the won't alter their body. Some examples of body outlaws in pop culture today are Queen Latifa, Jennifer Lopez, Chris Farley and even Jessica Simpson. I feel these people are body outlaws because they don't really care what society has to say about them. They are happy with what they were given as a body and they embrace their bodies and are happy to show them off without regard to what others think.
There are three waves of feminism. The first wave was women's suffrage, the second wave was equal pay and the thir wave centers on individual movements.
According to Ophira Edut, the definition of a body outlaw is a person that accepts what their body is naturally and doesnt try to conform to what society thinks their body should be. They are rebels, the won't alter their body. Some examples of body outlaws in pop culture today are Queen Latifa, Jennifer Lopez, Chris Farley and even Jessica Simpson. I feel these people are body outlaws because they don't really care what society has to say about them. They are happy with what they were given as a body and they embrace their bodies and are happy to show them off without regard to what others think.
Blog 1
My name is Jenna and I am from Chicago, IL. I enjoy watching football and Mixed Martial Arts. I myself used to be a kickboxer and also have a black belt in Karate. I will be graduating from the University of Oklahoma this December. I am very excited (it only took me about four and a half years to get here). I chose to take Body Image because honestly I needed a few extra upper division electives and it seemed like it would be interesting enough. I am a psychology and nursing major so I also felt that this class would be a good tie into all of the psychology I have taken of the past four years. I think the most pressing issue of body image is the struggle to achieve this so called "perfection." I put perfection in quotations because I do not feel that one can ever acheive perfection. It is something we strive for. Every girl wants to look like all of the models, every girl wants to be perfect...but even when we reach what we set out to reach there will always be something else we can do to make oursleves that much better. My expectations of this course are simple...to learn why we put so much emphasis on appearance...I also expect to have a good time and learn a lot about myself as well.
Questions I would like answered:
1. Is there such a thing as universal beauty?
2. Is beauty truly in the eye of the beholder?
3. Is it possible to really look past the physical and into the more important aspects of a person?
4. Has body image problems been the same from past to present?
5. Do you still think there will be such an emphasis on body image in the future?
Questions I would like answered:
1. Is there such a thing as universal beauty?
2. Is beauty truly in the eye of the beholder?
3. Is it possible to really look past the physical and into the more important aspects of a person?
4. Has body image problems been the same from past to present?
5. Do you still think there will be such an emphasis on body image in the future?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)