From: Ashley
“When attracting members of the other sex, physical attractiveness is extremely important. The most painful adolescent ironies is the increased importance of physical appearance which coincides with rapid physical changes, which for boys it could be acne and for girls it could be the thought of being obese. Boys have a higher advantage compared with girls because the effects of puberty on the male body which are more in line with the male cultural ideal. Changes in boys such as the increase of muscle mass are so important that the boys who don’t keep up with other boys are at risk for taking steroids.” Page 217. Today's culture, the ideal body for a women is thin. Studies show that girl’s percentage of body fat increases during puberty. The huge change combined with cultural value forms a gate way to eating disorders, which can include, anorexia and bulimia. Girls experience a higher rate of suffering from an eating disorder over boys. In today’s culture the picture is painted for girls to be like Barbie. Barbie has a small waist, very slim and toned, and big breast. I believe girls are forced into thinking that if you don’t look like “Barbie” you are not beautiful. The picture I took describes the alterations of a girl’s life. I photographed food but also added items from my sewing kit which include a vinyl tape measure, safety pins, and needles to display how a young girl can become unhappy with her weight. Thinking that the less she eats could better her appearance because she has the fear of being fat. The young girl then begins to eat certain foods because she wants to be as thin as Barbie. The black background suggest power and control, the young girl may think by eating little food she will alter her appearance in such a way she will resemble Barbie. I also believe the color black is the end of something, when the color black ends the color white appears for a new beginnings and that’s what a young girl may hope for. The value contrast is very light because the picture projects sadness. The spacing of the food is spread out representing confusion and uncertainty. Imagine a little girls suffering from an eating disorder because she wants to be physically attractive. She does not know what to eat because everything will make her more unlikely to be the next Barbie. No matter how beautiful she may already be, she wants to make alterations to be perfect. Girls are pressured to embody the unrealistic cultural ideals of their gender which can create anxiety problems, eating disorders, and their well being. Girls have that fear of being fat….
3 comments:
I absolutely agree with your depiction of this photo. I think that these days young adults and children are focused on looking a certain and being a certain size that pleases society. There are a lot of toys and products out for young kids that suggest a certain criteria that a person should be, such as how big their breast should be or how plump their lips should be. The lighting in the picture shows a dark sad environment. These days many teens are doing things in the dark that make them look better. There are models that eat cotton balls dipped in orange juice to make themselves not eat regular food, this “dieting activity” makes them “full” and is done in the dark so that no one knows what they are doing. I really like the elements that you added in your picture. Although I would have added a little more such as dietary supplements and skin treatment items to stretch the cause of the problem.
You brought a great topic,one of the most important beauty standards for women-being thin. Like you said, every woman adore Barbie's body, and men consider that kind of body type is attractive and sexy.I remember once saw a friend posted a funny quote said"every man loves big breasts that are balls of fat; but why can't they stand the fat on women's stomach?!" Funny and also very true. Because every woman wants to fit in the beauty standard, they have to watch out what they can eat,calculate how many calories they eat in the food, and how many calories need to burn out, etc... The ruler is a great thing to give the idea that women need to watch out for their body change all the time. But I think you can put two different groups of food-lowfat and high fat foods,to have some comparison to indicate if a woman wants to be in a great shape, what should and should not to eat, then put a scale in between the two types of foods; and open some app that calculates calories will well represent your point.
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