Beauty in the Eyes of Society

From:  Daniella

In this photograph, I capture Jessica, a 16 year-old teenage girl putting on heavy amounts of makeup as she takes inspiration from the various magazines and photos she has scattered over her countertop.  According to Rudman and Glick, “women are eager to mask the naturalness of their facial features and expressions with cosmetics…widespread use reflects women repackaging themselves for male consumption” (241).  Girls learn from an early age how makeup works by watching their mother put it on in the morning or seeing it applied on television.  At a young age it is used for play and curiosity, but when we get older we take that and turn it into a false thought that there is something wrong with us, and therefore will use makeup to mask it.  Because society throws us all these commercials, editorials and various forms of media of what beauty is, we take that and try to apply it to ourselves.  In this picture Jessica applies her lipstick like the model has on in the magazine beneath her.  The countertop is covered completely in miscellaneous products she believes she needs in order to be viewed as beautiful to society.  This shows the extensive amount of effort girls put into looking “acceptable” to society.  The camera is pointed downwards to show all the things she believes she needs in order to make herself beautiful.  It is also a figurative way of showing how she looks down on herself and feels she is not good enough. Her face is not in full view of the camera, only in the reflection in the mirror you can see what she looks like.  On the mirror she has a photo of a model taped on for reference when getting ready; this explains how instead of being original with her look she copies the looks of something already accepted by the beauty culture.  Everything is out of focus except for her reflection in the mirror; this signifies an image of her as another form of herself.  With the makeup and everything she uses she is now fit to be beautiful in society.