from: Hannah
Society is constantly using gender socialization to control how women should and should not act, look, think, be, etc. according to their gender role as a female. Young children are often exposed to older models that teach them their assigned gender roles; for young girls, it is “the ideal woman.” The picture presented depicts what the criterion is for “the ideal woman.” The man in the background stands for the patriarchy as a whole (note how he is faceless yet yields a demanding demeanor). The way he hovers and almost blends in with the backdrop signifies that while the patriarchy is controlling of women, it does so in a subtle way and shows they are always present, even if sometimes it does not seem as though they are. The way his hand covers the girl’s mouth obviously suggests how women’s opinions are often dampened or frowned upon. The lipstick painted on his hand in the shape of a woman’s mouth may be interpreted as the woman’s actual words while the “patriarchy’s” hand acts as the filter; that is to say, some women may be permitted to speak an opinion, but one that is manipulated by patriarchal influences. In the picture, the mascara the man holds to the girl’s eye (coupled with the hand on her mouth) seem forced, giving the message women are practically forced by societal pressure to look their best in every moment of every day in order to achieve the goal of being “the ideal woman.” When young girls are constantly exposed to such ideals and models of “the ideal woman,” they grow up with the influenced thought that they must become “the ideal woman” too.
4 comments:
I think this photo says a lot about how women are viewed by men. Since a man is putting the model’s makeup on, it can represent how men want women to look like, or think that women should look like that, wearing red lipstick and mascara. Also, the model’s face has no smile and no happy facial expression can represent that she doesn't want the makeup on. Moreover, the dress shirt and tie symbolize a man with a professional career. The fact that the man is wearing a dress shirt, a tie and putting the model’s makeup on, can interpret a message from men, that if a woman want to be with a successful man who has career, she must put her makeup on and look the way he wants her to look like, even if she doesn't want to. At the end, it seems like women must sacrifice somehow to get anywhere. In the past, women had to sacrifice to gain their independence and be able to vote, and now women must sacrifice by dressing the way men want them to look like in order to be accepted.
This photo jumps out at me. When I look at this picture the first thing I
notice is that there is no face to go along with the hands that are
applying the makeup to this women. Her feeling pressured to look a
certain way could be because of men, maybe it’s society, or even the
media. There isn’t a “face” for the root of the problem. The black shirt
shows the darkness of this issue for females, the feeling of needing to be
beautiful all the time has a negative affect. Lastly, beauty in this picture
is blonde hair, red luscious lips and big eyelashes. This is what the
“typical” women should look like. I don’t know one women who doesn’t
complain about those two things when they talk about their own looks.
This is what our minds have be taught to think is beautiful.
One of the most striking things to me in the photo is the kind of blank expression in her eyes while looking directly at the camera. The expression along with the hand with the mascara looking as if he is “making” her up could symbolize that it is largely men that make up the beauty standards and her expression is their ideal that she would fit into the standards and not challenge it. The hand covering her mouth would also symbolize this. It’s also interesting that the man seems to trap her by being the background and then in the very front since the hand is in front of her possibly showing the strength and power of patriarchy and how it is always present and fully encompassing how people think.
What this photo tells me, is that you feel woman have no say in voice as to how their viewed by society. That by no choice of are own, the cult of true women hood is out of are hands and created with over the top expectations.
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