I chose the section “Ambivalence toward Sex and Women’s Bodies” for my photo essay, more specifically the section “Self-Objectification”. The ways in which female beauty is depicted in the media is absurd. For most women, the goal they set for themselves is unattainable. The self-objectification theory states that women’s bodies are seen as sex objects to be enjoyed by men; in turn they also see their bodies as objects and make an attempt to replicate what is “sexy” or “hot” by media standards. As you can see, the girl depicted here is surrounding herself with different magazines, clothes, and makeup in a struggle to assimilate to the cultural norm. Even though she is slender and beautiful, when she looks at these pictures in magazines she asserts that it isn’t good enough. Her hand is racing through her hair in frustration. It isn’t just body shame that I am trying to show. There is a correlation between self-objectification and the affect on a woman’s psyche. The pills in her hand signify just how far some women are pushed and the psychological toll it takes on them. The articles are strewn about in a chaotic mess to mirror what is going on internally. She is struggling physically and psychologically with her outer appearance, and this causes a lot of women to suffer from depression, anxiety, and even in extreme cases bulimia and anorexia.
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This picture is a great representation of how the media is trying to manipulate women in their looks and body figure. It also shows the emotional stress the media causes on women.The make-up spread out shows how the media wants women to change their pysical apperance to make them look like everyone else or like she has flawless skin. The media wants her to cover up who she really is. The clothes and magazine spreaded around her shows that she might be trying different ways to look "hot" and "sexy"; that is given off from the media. she is surrounded by the magazines and clothes to let us know she is trapped in a "box" of beauty, if she doesnt follow the trend no body will like her. Her body is slumped down showing she is not confident in herself or body and she is not happy with how she looks. Her right hand running through her hair makes her look mad or stressed, maybe because she is tired or frustated with trying to make herself "perfect" to impress everyone. The pills in her left hand show she will do anything to be skinner or liked by others.
This photo is the epitome of how the media influences women and in this case, young women. The girl is facing the magazines showing the “head on battle” in which girls face on a day to day basis. The angle in which the picture was taken is looking down at the girl. This shows how girls are looked down upon in society if they don’t follow the media standards of being beautiful. The girl looks like she is debating on whether or not she should take the pills in her hand. This shows how girls are willing to go to extreme measures to follow these “beauty roles” that the media has set. The girl is sitting down showing how tiring it can be to constantly keep up with these standards. The fact that her right hand is running through her hair shows exactly how stressful and frustrating it can be to be "perfect" every single day. There are a few pairs of laced underwear (thongs) which are portrayed as being sexy in our society. This shows how the media influences girls to be sexy at such a young age. Girls look at these magazines and think they have to be sexy and stylish in order to be classified as a beautiful person.
This photo shows how far some women will go to attain society's perfect body. Some women will literally spend hours on their image every day and spend thousands of dollars to uphold that image. On the extreme end, there are women that will put their health at risk in order to attain this image. The pills in her hand could symbolize dieting pills that women take in order to loose more weight. The pills could also be used as a way for her to escape all of the pressures of trying to be a beautiful woman. Her hand running through her hair shows her anger towards the beauty standard, whether she is consciously aware of it or not, it is the source of her insecurity. She is slouched over, suggesting her exhaustion and frustration with constantly comparing herself to others. The chaos of the objects around her could symbolize how out of control the beauty standard has gotten in recent years. Over all, the drama of this picture depicts some of the struggles that women face everyday even when they are getting ready for the day.
This picture is great. It really conveys the emotions women experience when they try to achieve the beauty ideal. Women go to extremes whether it is starving themselves or they pay thousands of dollars to get surgeries to fit the beauty ideal. The magazines are what teach her the ideal and what reinforce it. She is flooded by images of women with the same skinny bodies, big chests, curvy hips, etc. Media is pervasive with the strong beauty ideal to the point where even young girls are affected by it. The girl in the picture looks very stressed because she feels she can attain this look or she is having difficulty attaining this look. Many women feel they won't be socially accepted if they do not fit this look. Women want to fit in so they will sometimes risk their lives and sanity to fit the beauty ideal of America. Women's mental health will diminish as a result of the pressure from the media. The pills could represent dieting pills or anti-depressants or another medication. If it is a medication, this shows that the stress affects women's emotions and they need help to keep their sanity.
This picture is a great representation of showing how society affects young women. Women never feel like they are good enough the way they are. Women feel that being natural is ugly. Young women wish for everything that they aren’t. For example, women with small breast wish they could afford a boob job; a girl with wide hips works out trying to lose weight when it’s her body type and will always be big boned. This picture shows the makeup and magazine the girl is trying to use to create a new image for herself. She has her hand on her head as if she is confused and stressed out; wondering why she cant just look like them. Its as if she has materials to try and change everything about her body. She has clothes, makeup, magazines of women. Not only does she have materialistic things but it looks as if she also has pills. Society affects women so negatively it leads to anorexia and illnesses that can lead to death. The girl is also sitting on the floor, hunched as if she gives up and has no strength left.
This is a wonderful example of how the media drives teenage girls insane. With her holding her hand on her head you can tell that she is very confused of what she wants to do and be. She wants to focus more on her image and be just like models that she is looking at on the magazine. All of this is a cover up to the actually person that she is, because of this it shows that she is not confident with her self image.
I agree with the message that this photo is sending. Our society and the media forces us girls to act and dress older, which leads to sex while we are still so young and then to teen pregnancy. All we should have to worry about is school and whether or not our hair looks good (which is another societal expectation in and of itself), not about being pregnant.
This photo makes my stomach hurt how real it is. So many teenage girls and even women go through so many extremes to try to fit in. The media is a big part of this and as you can see, the girl in the picture is looking at magazines in frustration of trying to look like them. Some girls spend 2 hours before school getting ready so that they can look “presentable” for the school day. Women’s imagines are getting way out of hand and have caused deaths in some cases. The struggle to fit in is unbearable.
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