Woman Studies

Body, Beauty and the Media

This week’s lecture will have a lot of links and images to explore. As a

graduate student I focused a great deal on body scholarship and my master’s

thesis was a qualitative study (doing interviews and field observations) on

adolescent girl’s and body image.

What I found in my research was that beauty and body ideals are passed

down often from mother’s to their daughters. I relate this to the idea of

social capital (women are still heavily judged on their looks despite other

success and mother’s are often acutely aware of this and want the best for

their daughter’s, often resulting in body pressures).

The focus is mainly on women here, as most of the research has been done

on women and scholars argue that women, more than men, are scrutinized

and judged on their looks beyond anything else.

Prof. Cubbage

Social Construction of Beauty and

Body

 What is beautiful is constantly changing.

 Cultural standards of beauty and body has change

throughout time- The average woman is 5’4 and 145

pounds (a size 14); the average model today is 5’11 and

115 pounds (about a 0-2); the average model in the 80’s

were 5’7 and 135-145 (5-7)

 Beauty is culturally situated: it varies from time to time,

place to place and location to location. View the photos

below to see some examples!

Victorian Era (Image of two women from Victorian era with tiny waists form corsets.)

1920’s (Image of two 1920’s flappers in era clothes, showing short hair styles and bound, flattened chests indicating beauty changes to a more “boyish figure).

1930’s (Image of woman in bathing suit, illustrating a change to a more

“shapely” figure)

1950’s (image of Marylin Monore to illustrate changing body types to more curves)

1960’s (image of Twiggy to show the dramatic change in body ideals from the curvy 50’s to the very thin and no curves 60’s)

1970’s (Image of Farah Fawcett to illustrate the return to curvy, especially breasts and a tan body)

1980’s (image of Cindy Crawford to illustrate the muscular ideal of the late 1980’s)

1990’s (Image of Kate Moss to illustrate top models of the 90’s went back to very slim figure, breasts not important)

1950 and 2014 Miss America (Images of two women from the same pageant illustrating radically different body ideals: the 50’s has a

formula and the figure was heavier, the 2014 illustrates very tall, slim and less hips)

1990’s- the average model weighed 8% less than the

average woman. The image above illustrates this ideal

with 4 of the first “supermodels”

Today- the average models weighs 23% less. The second

image illustrates this ideal.

Changing Weights: Ideals vs. Reality

 1980- the average woman was 5’3” and

140 pounds while the average model was

5’7” and 125-130 pounds

 Today- the average woman is 5’4” and 164

pounds while the average model is 5’11

and 115 pounds.

What Role Does The Media Play?

 We are constantly exposed to ads and

media. Here is an example from,

ironically, an ad from Dove:

 Portrays idealized images of beauty that

are used to sell products and prey on

insecurities.

“Un-real” Beauty and Media

 Although images of beauty have constantly been changing and women throughout time have found it difficult to conform to societal standards, the advent of photo shop has often lead to distorting what a celebrity, model or “real woman” looks like.

 Here is a good example of this: "Body Makeover"

Consequences

 Repeated exposure to unattainable ideals

of beauty is related to high levels of body

dissatisfaction.

 Self objectification leads to lower levels of

self efficacy.

Consequences

 The pressures we face to be thin are seen younger and

younger in child:

 Girl’s as young as kindergarten report restricting

calories

 50-75% of adolescent girls are on a diet

 80% of 10 year olds report dieting

 90% of those with anorexia are 12-25

Body Theory- Marcia Millman

 Gender specific body pressures- men have body pressures too but

they are very much focused and pointed towards women. A case in

point is I tried to find good photoshopping videos of men for this

lecture and most that I found were parodies of the “horrors” of

photo shopping. Suggesting men can internalize the messages

about their bodies or not but their success in the financial and

social world in not contingent on their looks.

 She argues in our culture femininity = thinness

 Girl’s and women are judged on their bodies in ways boys/men are

not.

Body Theory- Susan Bordo

 Body as commodity- meaning a woman’s worth is

measured by her body/beauty and this serves as a

mechanism of control as women spend a great deal of

time, energy and money on conforming to cultural

standards of beauty that are always changing. If we take

weight, numbers or measurements (as in the previous

slide) we can see how these are used as a yard stick of

control.

Body as Commodity

 A great deal of time, money and energy is

put into the body. In particular women,

are the largest market for all beauty

goods, products and services.

 The average middle class women will have

spent over $150,000 on just beauty

products, nails and hair by the time she is

65!

Bulimia and Anorexia Nervosa

 70 million cases of anorexia worldwide but 24 million,

nearly a 1/3, are in U.S.

 11% of high school girls and 4% of women in college

suffer from Anorexia

 50,000 women and girls will die from anorexia

Body Dissatisfaction, Disordered Eating

and Eating Disorders

 Over valuing ones looks, internalizing

cultural beauty ideals and media

exposure.

 Disordered eating such as fasting, purging,

binging and excessive exercise are also

contributing factors.

Bulimia

 Binging and purging of food

 Use of laxatives, diet pills and diuretics

 Extreme exercising

Affects of Bulimia

Anorexia Nervosa

 Severe restriction of calories and food,

often resulting in starvation

 Can be coupled with use of extreme

work outs, diuretics, diet pills, etc.

Consequences

 Abnormally slow heart rate and low blood pressure

 Reduction of bone

 Muscle loss and weakness.

 Severe dehydration, which can result in kidney failure.

 Fainting, fatigue, and overall weakness.

 Dry hair and skin; hair loss is common.

 Growth of a downy layer of hair called lanugo

What you can do!

 Limit your exposure to unrealistic media images.

 Remind yourself many of the images you see in the media do not portray reality.

 Avoid negative self talk.

 Focus on your positive qualities.

 Write media outlets for change.

 Seek the help of a professional.