Happily Never After‏

From: Brittany 

Through the construction of my photo essay I attempted to demonstrate the “Glass Slipper Effect”. This theory portrays a glamorous yet false notion that is introduced to girls in infancy, endures throughout their adolescence, and then follows them into young adulthood. In short, this ideal sends a seemingly innocuous yet subliminal message that the highest level of achievement a women should aspire to is marriage. Young girls are infiltrated with this message through means such as the media and this concept is especially reflected throughout our very own culture by our “romantic script”. This sends a message to young girls that finding a spouse will provide them with the ultimate fulfillment. Basically, it tells them that their only purpose in life is to be appealing and attractive enough to gain the attention of a man who will eventually take care of her. This has a profound effect on young girls self-esteem and later aspirations in life, convincing them that they should not have dreams of a career or goals of higher education for themselves. This perpetuates the pre-existing inequality and discrimination towards women; keeping them in lower level, lower paying, and lower status jobs.

            I made the high-heel shoe in my illustration the main focal point of the photograph. It is positioned in the center and reflects the light in such a way that it appears dazzling and luminescent. I constructed my photo this way to demonstrate the enticing yet insidious nature of the “Glass Slipper”. This ideal is portrayed to young girls in such a way that persuades and convinces them that it is their duty to fulfill the role of the appealingly glamorous and adored, yet submissive and entrapped life-style that comes with the title “Mrs.”.  The shoe was placed atop a barely noticeable Calculus textbook to represent how the “glass slipper” squanders talent, and discourages girls from perusing their education, and prevents them from leading goal oriented, career driven lives. I made the textbook very dark to heavily emphasize the contrast between the two conflicting paths that girls must eventually choose in life. The photograph is filled with countless beauty products that sit atop and overshadow the textbook. These products are arranged in a crowded and haphazard way to give insight into the overwhelming pressure that inevitably comes with the territory of being a girl, as well as revealing the significant amount of time and effort it takes to meet our society’s unrealistic beauty norms of natural perfection. The blush was used to cover the books title, further demonstrating the inordinate amount of priority our society places on beauty as opposed to education for young girls.