Friday, December 18, 2009
Final Exam
I submitted my final questions separately so it would not be one long post. I hope that is okay.
Final Exam: question 4
I decided to write a poem about one part of my body that I love: My legs!
These Legs
In the past these legs might have been
too white, too short , too wide, too thin
now that I know where they have taken me
they are the very best part I see
My legs are some times hairy, some times tired
maybe some times not at all admired
when i need them they are always there
it does not matter where, they don't care
they never leave me, never stray
my legs let me go where ever I may
I can't trade them in, why would I want to
they never fail, even if I am sad or blue
I am a waitress you see
without them how would I have any money
my legs go perfect with my favorite jeans
they are the best pair by any means
These Legs
In the past these legs might have been
too white, too short , too wide, too thin
now that I know where they have taken me
they are the very best part I see
My legs are some times hairy, some times tired
maybe some times not at all admired
when i need them they are always there
it does not matter where, they don't care
they never leave me, never stray
my legs let me go where ever I may
I can't trade them in, why would I want to
they never fail, even if I am sad or blue
I am a waitress you see
without them how would I have any money
my legs go perfect with my favorite jeans
they are the best pair by any means
Final Exam: question 3
1) Why do some girls feel like male attention is what they are missing in their life? (Pop Culture Gone Wild, Jessica Valenti)
2) Why do we have such a "terror of aging" in our society? (The Beauty Myth, Naomi Wolf)
3) Where did this beauty standard that we all have to be thin come from? (The Beauty Myth, Naomi Wolf)
4) When is a person considered fat, if they think they are fat, or if society thinks they are fat? (Conquering The Fear of a Fat Body, from Body Outlaws, Regina D. Williams)
5)What clicks in a person's head that makes them stick something down their throat to make thenselves vomit, just to be skinny? ( from Body Outlaws, Shrink Rap, Jennifer C. Panning)
2) Why do we have such a "terror of aging" in our society? (The Beauty Myth, Naomi Wolf)
3) Where did this beauty standard that we all have to be thin come from? (The Beauty Myth, Naomi Wolf)
4) When is a person considered fat, if they think they are fat, or if society thinks they are fat? (Conquering The Fear of a Fat Body, from Body Outlaws, Regina D. Williams)
5)What clicks in a person's head that makes them stick something down their throat to make thenselves vomit, just to be skinny? ( from Body Outlaws, Shrink Rap, Jennifer C. Panning)
Final Exam: question 2
2) Pop culture is made up of music, music videos, fashion, television, advertisements, and much more. These are all things that, as a society, we are subject to on a daily basis, and they can have a big impact on the way we live our lives. The whole reason it is called pop culture is because it is popular. Some important aspects of our lives that pop culture can effect is our beauty standards and our body image. It can have both negative and positive effects.
One of the negative effects it has had was to normalize the use of pornography in the media. As Jessica Valenti says in Pop Culture Gone Wild "pop culture is becoming increasingly pornified" (p 41). She speaks on the fact that pornography is becoming more and more acceptable. This can effect beauty standards because it can make females (especially young girls) feel that they have to flaunt their selves to be pretty, or to get a guy to like them. This could also make them feel that they must be more and more promiscuous to be accepted. This can harm their body image if they do not want to compromise their morals or their body and they are ridiculed for it.
Another negative effect pop culture has had is the rise of "raunch Culture." Not just pornography but also things like there are young girls that walk around in shorts with "juicy" written on the butt. I really think it is about people losing track of their morals these days. Young girls are not told to stand up for their morals and values, they are taught to shake their asses. As it is stated in the book Female Chauvinist Pigs, "only thirty years ago (my lifetime), our mothers were burning their bras and picketing Playboy, and suddenly we were getting implants and wearing the bunny logo."(Levy, 2).
This brings me to one more negative effect of pop culture, cosmetic and plastic surgery. I know that some say it is good because it can boost body image of self confidence, but I think that it just hurts it. Are you really going to be happy thinking about the fact that you had to go spend thousands of dollars and go through a painful procedure just to fit into the beauty standards of our culture? I think not. I think this is very sad and hurts our beauty standards because it makes them even harder for girls to live up to them, and this can have adverse effects on their body image.
One positive effect pop culture has had is that it shows us that we can express ourselves in so many other ways than in the past. There is so much expressionism compared to times before. You can pretty much be whoever you want to be and there will be a place you will feel accepted. I am not saying you will be accepted to the mainstream beauty standards, but there seems to be a lot more room for defying those precedents for beauty in the past. This can be good for body image because it can make people feel that there is some place in the world that they fit in.
Another positive aspect to pop culture is that I think it has brought about room for other races and ethnicities to be a part of our societies beauty standards. I know we have discussed in lecture that before (like in the 90's) really the only beauty standard was of a tall bleach blond, blue-eyed, Baywatch babe. Now there are so many other images of beautiful women in the media. They might not have a fair share, and they might be depicted differently that white women but I think there is more room for differing beauty standards now.
The other positive effect pop culture has had on body image is that we have been made more aware of the adverse effects that eating disorders can have on our bodies. There have been many movies and documentaries that expose just how bad they can be for your body. I think this has helped Body image because pop culture has at least tried to 'deglamorize' eating disorders.
One of the negative effects it has had was to normalize the use of pornography in the media. As Jessica Valenti says in Pop Culture Gone Wild "pop culture is becoming increasingly pornified" (p 41). She speaks on the fact that pornography is becoming more and more acceptable. This can effect beauty standards because it can make females (especially young girls) feel that they have to flaunt their selves to be pretty, or to get a guy to like them. This could also make them feel that they must be more and more promiscuous to be accepted. This can harm their body image if they do not want to compromise their morals or their body and they are ridiculed for it.
Another negative effect pop culture has had is the rise of "raunch Culture." Not just pornography but also things like there are young girls that walk around in shorts with "juicy" written on the butt. I really think it is about people losing track of their morals these days. Young girls are not told to stand up for their morals and values, they are taught to shake their asses. As it is stated in the book Female Chauvinist Pigs, "only thirty years ago (my lifetime), our mothers were burning their bras and picketing Playboy, and suddenly we were getting implants and wearing the bunny logo."(Levy, 2).
This brings me to one more negative effect of pop culture, cosmetic and plastic surgery. I know that some say it is good because it can boost body image of self confidence, but I think that it just hurts it. Are you really going to be happy thinking about the fact that you had to go spend thousands of dollars and go through a painful procedure just to fit into the beauty standards of our culture? I think not. I think this is very sad and hurts our beauty standards because it makes them even harder for girls to live up to them, and this can have adverse effects on their body image.
One positive effect pop culture has had is that it shows us that we can express ourselves in so many other ways than in the past. There is so much expressionism compared to times before. You can pretty much be whoever you want to be and there will be a place you will feel accepted. I am not saying you will be accepted to the mainstream beauty standards, but there seems to be a lot more room for defying those precedents for beauty in the past. This can be good for body image because it can make people feel that there is some place in the world that they fit in.
Another positive aspect to pop culture is that I think it has brought about room for other races and ethnicities to be a part of our societies beauty standards. I know we have discussed in lecture that before (like in the 90's) really the only beauty standard was of a tall bleach blond, blue-eyed, Baywatch babe. Now there are so many other images of beautiful women in the media. They might not have a fair share, and they might be depicted differently that white women but I think there is more room for differing beauty standards now.
The other positive effect pop culture has had on body image is that we have been made more aware of the adverse effects that eating disorders can have on our bodies. There have been many movies and documentaries that expose just how bad they can be for your body. I think this has helped Body image because pop culture has at least tried to 'deglamorize' eating disorders.
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Final Exam: question #1
1) I think body image is an idea that an individual has about the way he or she presents their self and also how that individual thinks they are perceived by other people. Body image is what a person sees or thinks of when that person pictures their self. It is not only about looks. Body image is also affected by the feelings that a person has about their self and by their mood and mental state. Another contributor to body image is the feedback that a person receives from other individuals. If someone tells you that you are fat, you will probably think you are fat, unless you have a great deal of self confidence. And this will most likely make you picture yourself as fat after that. This will now be part of your body image.
Your mood can contribute to body image because I think your body image changes often. When you feel depressed or sluggish, you might have a more negative body image. When you are happy or energetic, you might have a more positive body image. Your body image also changes throughout your life course. When you are in young or maybe when you are in love you might tend to have a more positive body image of yourself. However, when you are older or when you do not have a romantic partner you might tend to have a more negative body image. What a negative or positive body image "looks like" depends on the individual and the culture.
There are many different ideas of what beauty is and these various ideas of beauty are what most people would like to aspire to. When people do not think they look like or act like the specific ideal beauty in their culture, this can put stress on that person. They might have a negative body image. It is not that they are wrong to look like they do, they just think it is wrong to look like they were born to look. It baffles me that we let other people tell us how we should and should not look. What is so bad about the way people were born to look? Who decides what is beautiful and why do they hold everyone to this ideal? This is very important to understand when discussing body image because it is influenced so much by what the beauty standards are in their culture. In the Body Outlaws text Amelia Richards states "we must take this opportunity to seize control of our bodies and the forces that manipulate them-mostly the advertising and entertainment industries."(p 199) This is where the beauty myth comes in.
Naomi Wolf describes the beauty myth as " a violent backlash against feminism that uses images of female beauty as a political weapon against women's advancement"(p 10). This basically means that society holds women to this standard of beauty in order to hold women back, or get back at them. For so long women have been oppressed, not able to vote or have the same jobs that men have. Now that we can do just about anything a man can, they are still trying to oppress us with this one thing, the beauty myth. The only reason this is successful is because it is so closely linked to our body image. When a woman is unhappy with or questions her body image, this affects her self esteem, which can effect other aspects of her life. With a negative body image comes low self esteem, and this can hinder women from being powerful and successful. Naomi Wolf states "recent research consistently shows that inside the majority of the West's controlled, attractive, successful working women, there is a secret "underlife" poisoning our freedom; infused with notions of beauty, it is a dark vein of self hatred, physical obsessions, terror of aging, and dread of lost control." (p 10) This is exactly how the beauty myth can effect a woman's body image in a negative way.
The discipline of Women's and Gender Studies intersects with body image and beauty culture because our history as women and the different waves of feminism seem to be what has caused the beauty myth and the beauty culture, and from this comes our body image. Naomi Wolf writes "as women released themselves from the feminine mystique of domesticity, the beauty myth took over its lost ground, expanding and waned to carry on its work of social control." (p 10)
I think the top three body image issues are 1) eating disorders like anorexia, bulimia, and overeating; 2) promiscuity; and lastly 3) abuse. The reason I chose eating disorders for number one is because they are so prevalent. I have read about eating disorders in each text that we read, and heard about it in just about every film that we watched. There was even a whole film about eating disorders that we watched in class. Amelia Richards says that she used to suffer from bulimia in the Body outlaws text (p 200). There was even a guest speaker who talked about eating disorders. Another reason I chose this topic is the severity of the problem. Eating disorders can severely damage your body or even result in death. Promiscuity was second on my list. Some might not think that this is a body image issue but it makes sense to me. When a woman or girl feels like she is not good enough whether it is physically or mentally sometimes she will make up for it by being promiscuous because sometimes sex is mistaken for love or approval. Lastly, I chose abuse. I think this is a problem when it comes to body image because women who have a more negative body image are more likely to let men abuse them because sometimes they have a distorted reality and they think they deserve it. Also, men who have a distorted view of body image might think it is okay to abuse women because they see their selves as being better than the women, or maybe they believe that the women deserve it. I think this is one of the biggest problems because of the consequences. Abuse can leave permanent mental scars on women and often times their children. Abuse can also lead to death.
Your mood can contribute to body image because I think your body image changes often. When you feel depressed or sluggish, you might have a more negative body image. When you are happy or energetic, you might have a more positive body image. Your body image also changes throughout your life course. When you are in young or maybe when you are in love you might tend to have a more positive body image of yourself. However, when you are older or when you do not have a romantic partner you might tend to have a more negative body image. What a negative or positive body image "looks like" depends on the individual and the culture.
There are many different ideas of what beauty is and these various ideas of beauty are what most people would like to aspire to. When people do not think they look like or act like the specific ideal beauty in their culture, this can put stress on that person. They might have a negative body image. It is not that they are wrong to look like they do, they just think it is wrong to look like they were born to look. It baffles me that we let other people tell us how we should and should not look. What is so bad about the way people were born to look? Who decides what is beautiful and why do they hold everyone to this ideal? This is very important to understand when discussing body image because it is influenced so much by what the beauty standards are in their culture. In the Body Outlaws text Amelia Richards states "we must take this opportunity to seize control of our bodies and the forces that manipulate them-mostly the advertising and entertainment industries."(p 199) This is where the beauty myth comes in.
Naomi Wolf describes the beauty myth as " a violent backlash against feminism that uses images of female beauty as a political weapon against women's advancement"(p 10). This basically means that society holds women to this standard of beauty in order to hold women back, or get back at them. For so long women have been oppressed, not able to vote or have the same jobs that men have. Now that we can do just about anything a man can, they are still trying to oppress us with this one thing, the beauty myth. The only reason this is successful is because it is so closely linked to our body image. When a woman is unhappy with or questions her body image, this affects her self esteem, which can effect other aspects of her life. With a negative body image comes low self esteem, and this can hinder women from being powerful and successful. Naomi Wolf states "recent research consistently shows that inside the majority of the West's controlled, attractive, successful working women, there is a secret "underlife" poisoning our freedom; infused with notions of beauty, it is a dark vein of self hatred, physical obsessions, terror of aging, and dread of lost control." (p 10) This is exactly how the beauty myth can effect a woman's body image in a negative way.
The discipline of Women's and Gender Studies intersects with body image and beauty culture because our history as women and the different waves of feminism seem to be what has caused the beauty myth and the beauty culture, and from this comes our body image. Naomi Wolf writes "as women released themselves from the feminine mystique of domesticity, the beauty myth took over its lost ground, expanding and waned to carry on its work of social control." (p 10)
I think the top three body image issues are 1) eating disorders like anorexia, bulimia, and overeating; 2) promiscuity; and lastly 3) abuse. The reason I chose eating disorders for number one is because they are so prevalent. I have read about eating disorders in each text that we read, and heard about it in just about every film that we watched. There was even a whole film about eating disorders that we watched in class. Amelia Richards says that she used to suffer from bulimia in the Body outlaws text (p 200). There was even a guest speaker who talked about eating disorders. Another reason I chose this topic is the severity of the problem. Eating disorders can severely damage your body or even result in death. Promiscuity was second on my list. Some might not think that this is a body image issue but it makes sense to me. When a woman or girl feels like she is not good enough whether it is physically or mentally sometimes she will make up for it by being promiscuous because sometimes sex is mistaken for love or approval. Lastly, I chose abuse. I think this is a problem when it comes to body image because women who have a more negative body image are more likely to let men abuse them because sometimes they have a distorted reality and they think they deserve it. Also, men who have a distorted view of body image might think it is okay to abuse women because they see their selves as being better than the women, or maybe they believe that the women deserve it. I think this is one of the biggest problems because of the consequences. Abuse can leave permanent mental scars on women and often times their children. Abuse can also lead to death.
Film Review: Dreamworlds 3
Dreamworlds 3 is a documentary about music videos, specifically about the way music videos portray men and women. It calls music videos out on the way that they perpetuate the beauty myth, normalize abuse of women, degrade women, depict men as having more power than women, and make porn-like depictions of women mainstream. Music videos are directed mostly toward adolescents, but a lot of music videos out there today look like they should be rated R. There was a quote in the film that said "MTV teaches us how to be men and women." Teenagers watch this everyday. They watch girls doing nothing but shaking their butts, and being involved in sexual activity. The narrator said they are shown to be "sex crazed nymphomaniacs" and "ravenous creatures that only desire sex." What is this telling young people in our society, that this behavior is all we expect out of them? Music videos never show teenagers volunteering at shelters, or being responsible, turning down drugs and alcohol, or obeying their parents. If the media normalizes this unacceptable behavior then teens will think nothing of it, they will think this is the way they are supposed to act. The narrator mentioned that women are portrayed as having no deeper meaning than a sex object. So we have established that Young women are sent the message that it is okay to be promiscuous, uneducated, taken advantage of, and used as a sex object. Now, what messages are they sending to young men? They are telling men that it is okay to look at girls whenever they want to, even if the girl doesn't like it. One example of this is the Justin Timberlake video where he breaks into the girl's house and is stalking her. Another way this is conveyed is when the camera lingers on a woman's body as if there is someone watching her. Music videos also could give the impression that it is okay for men to abuse women. One example is in the video where Fred Durst kidnapped a woman and is holding her against her will in the woods. It is not okay to kidnap someone so why would you show yourself doing that. The narrator also talked about women being aroused when they were held against their will, I do not think any woman in her right mind would want that. That is why it is called "against her will" she did not want that to happen. I think this documentary should be shown to every teenager so they will understand why all these images are being forced on them, that it is just so these singers and industries can make a profit. I think that it was a great analysis of music videos and someone needed to say it.
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Movie Review: Lovely and Amazing
Lovely and Amazing is a film about a woman and her three daughters, and all the insecurities and problems they are dealing with on a daily basis. The mother has a problem with her weight, she thinks she is fat and ends up getting liposuction, which puts her in a coma. She also thinks her doctor is hitting on her when he is just being friendly. The oldest one of her daughters is unhappily married and has two daughters, she is depressed and cynical and she suspects her husband is cheating on her. She gets a job at at one hour photo shop where she enjoys getting attention that her teenage co-worker gives her. She ends up in a relationship with him and enjoys herself until the boy's mother turns her in for statutory rape.
Her middle daughter is a model/actress and she has a boyfriend and lots of problems accepting her body the way it is. She is also constantly rescuing stray dogs, and the irony is that one dog that she tries to rescue actually attacks her and leaves her with scars and more "imperfections" to obsess over. Her boyfriend breaks up with her and she starts to date another actor who also has body image issues.
The woman's youngest daughter is adopted and is African American and she feels like she does not belong in the family. She wants to look like her family and even gets her hair straitened against her mother's wishes. The girl also has issues with her weight. She even plays dead in the pool like she drowned to get attention and calls another little girl fat.
This film has a lot of the themes that we have discussed in class. Body image is the most apparent though. They all have body image problems of some sort. The youngest has issues accepting her skin tone, weight, and hair. The middle daughter has issues with not feeling sexy after she goes for an audition and the people decline her for not being sexy enough. She also has numerous other problems with her looks. The oldest daughter is worried about her age and not being pretty when she accuses her husband of having an affair. Lastly, the mother has problems accepting her weight and age. This shows with the liposuction and face lift.
I think this film shows that everyone is Lovely and Amazing in their own way and they should not obsess on looking like someone else. When the mother tries to look thinner and younger, she goes into a coma. Then she is not there to take care of her youngest child. When the oldest tries to feel young and sleeps with the teenager, she goes to jail. She also does not pay much attention to what she has in front of her like her daughters and is so neurotic about the husband cheating that she pushes him away. When the middle daughter obsesses on the little imperfections of her body, she pushes away her boyfriend and cannot be comfortable in the audition with the cute actor. And the youngest daughter even runs away just to go eat McDonald's so that other people do not see her doing this because she is ashamed, so she is risking her life to hide her desire for food. It almost seems like the more they try to improve their looks, the more they do damage to their overall well being and happiness.
I really liked this movie and I am glad that we watched it. I think it does a great job of showing these aspects of the beauty myth in a negative light so that it does not seem so glamorous to go through all this trouble to change yourself. It also does a great job of showing that if you perpetuate the beauty myth and emphasize it, then the others around you will too. This shows in the way that the mother has so many problems accepting herself, and it rubs off on the daughters. So these and other women might want to take Naomi Wolf's advise and just be happy with what they have. Wolf says that women need to stop doing things they are forced to by society and just do what makes them happy and empowered.
Her middle daughter is a model/actress and she has a boyfriend and lots of problems accepting her body the way it is. She is also constantly rescuing stray dogs, and the irony is that one dog that she tries to rescue actually attacks her and leaves her with scars and more "imperfections" to obsess over. Her boyfriend breaks up with her and she starts to date another actor who also has body image issues.
The woman's youngest daughter is adopted and is African American and she feels like she does not belong in the family. She wants to look like her family and even gets her hair straitened against her mother's wishes. The girl also has issues with her weight. She even plays dead in the pool like she drowned to get attention and calls another little girl fat.
This film has a lot of the themes that we have discussed in class. Body image is the most apparent though. They all have body image problems of some sort. The youngest has issues accepting her skin tone, weight, and hair. The middle daughter has issues with not feeling sexy after she goes for an audition and the people decline her for not being sexy enough. She also has numerous other problems with her looks. The oldest daughter is worried about her age and not being pretty when she accuses her husband of having an affair. Lastly, the mother has problems accepting her weight and age. This shows with the liposuction and face lift.
I think this film shows that everyone is Lovely and Amazing in their own way and they should not obsess on looking like someone else. When the mother tries to look thinner and younger, she goes into a coma. Then she is not there to take care of her youngest child. When the oldest tries to feel young and sleeps with the teenager, she goes to jail. She also does not pay much attention to what she has in front of her like her daughters and is so neurotic about the husband cheating that she pushes him away. When the middle daughter obsesses on the little imperfections of her body, she pushes away her boyfriend and cannot be comfortable in the audition with the cute actor. And the youngest daughter even runs away just to go eat McDonald's so that other people do not see her doing this because she is ashamed, so she is risking her life to hide her desire for food. It almost seems like the more they try to improve their looks, the more they do damage to their overall well being and happiness.
I really liked this movie and I am glad that we watched it. I think it does a great job of showing these aspects of the beauty myth in a negative light so that it does not seem so glamorous to go through all this trouble to change yourself. It also does a great job of showing that if you perpetuate the beauty myth and emphasize it, then the others around you will too. This shows in the way that the mother has so many problems accepting herself, and it rubs off on the daughters. So these and other women might want to take Naomi Wolf's advise and just be happy with what they have. Wolf says that women need to stop doing things they are forced to by society and just do what makes them happy and empowered.
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Movie Review: Mona Lisa Smile
The movie Mona Lisa Smile is about a liberal art professor, Katherine Ann Watson who is played by Julia Roberts, who comes to an all girls university (Welsly), and challenges the conservitive ideals of the faculty and students. This movie is set in the 1950's when there was so much oppression towards women. Women were only expected to go to a University and get an education in order to find a husband. An example of this from the film was when Betty (Kirsten Dunst) got married she went from the top of the class and one of the most challenging students, to missing classes so that she could have dinner on the table. When miss. Watson asked where she had been, Betty said that most of the faculty turn their heads when a married girl misses a few classes. This just goes to show what people thought was most important to women in the 50's, being domestic and submissive rather than being stong and educated.
When Miss. Watson did try to challenge these stereotypes and help the students become strong and independent on their own, at first they ritaculed her for it and did not accept her ideals. One example is when Joan (Julia Stiles) has the oppertunity to go to Harvard then she turns it down because her husband and family did not want her to go.
In the end, most of the characters when through a transformation and were more excepting of something other than the stereotypes they have been held to all their lives. Katherine Watson also went through a transformation and learned not to be so critical of the conservitive views of the students.
This film's main themes are shared in The Feminie Mystique reading. In the reading BettyFriedan writes about how many housewives in the 50's felt empty and unfullfilled and could not figure out why, and it was totally unexeptable to reject the role of housewife and mother only. Their lack of autonomy and independence and strength was the reason but no one would except that, not men or women. This stigma is reinforced throughout the entire film.
I really enjoyed this film. I feel that the direction, production, and artistic sense where all right on point and it really convayed the Feminine Mystique in an interesting way.
When Miss. Watson did try to challenge these stereotypes and help the students become strong and independent on their own, at first they ritaculed her for it and did not accept her ideals. One example is when Joan (Julia Stiles) has the oppertunity to go to Harvard then she turns it down because her husband and family did not want her to go.
In the end, most of the characters when through a transformation and were more excepting of something other than the stereotypes they have been held to all their lives. Katherine Watson also went through a transformation and learned not to be so critical of the conservitive views of the students.
This film's main themes are shared in The Feminie Mystique reading. In the reading BettyFriedan writes about how many housewives in the 50's felt empty and unfullfilled and could not figure out why, and it was totally unexeptable to reject the role of housewife and mother only. Their lack of autonomy and independence and strength was the reason but no one would except that, not men or women. This stigma is reinforced throughout the entire film.
I really enjoyed this film. I feel that the direction, production, and artistic sense where all right on point and it really convayed the Feminine Mystique in an interesting way.
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