What Makes Me, Me?

From: Danielle

            In this picture, you see a girl (size 9, over 120lbs) at the beach walking away in a bikini. This photo represents “self-objectification” of how an average male (teenager to adult) see an average female (child to adult). Self-objectification is when people view themselves as objects for use instead of as human beings. Self-objectification is a result of objectification, and is commonly discussed in the topic of sex and gender. Society now-a-days has a set of expectations of how a “young” (teenage) girl should look. Magazines like Seventeen, Teen Vogue, Comsogirl, etc., have helped put the image of what a “young” (teenage) girl should look like. For example, some of these magazines (listed above) show a teenage girl who is a size 0 (under 110lbs), half naked surrounded by girls who are either bigger or smaller, and are standing out in the group. Today, the average teenage girl wants to be the same size of the girls in the magazine. According to the book “The Social Psychology of Gender” by Laurie A. Rudman and Peter Glick; “During puberty, women are more likely than men to report feeling betrayed by their bodies and feeling that their bodies have become separate from themselves (E. Martin, 1987).” Rudman and Glick, discovered what a teenage girl goes through during the early stages of puberty.

            I want to take a moment to fully analyze this picture. The first element is symbolism, the symbol of the picture is the girl’s body. The amount of effort the photographer used to get the girl in a full motion; it makes it look effortless. The second element is background, the background of in the picture is the beach! The beach is made up of two things, the sand, and the water. In the sand, there are things written on it. Things like “OHIO” and tire tracks from the four-wheeler. The last element is the spacing of the picture, the girl in the picture is clearly positioned in the center. The area surrounding her is the sand, and the water. The photographer of the picture was trying to make it look like the picture was accidently done like that.

            The connection between all three of the elements (symbolism, background, and spacing) is within this picture. The girl, the sand, and the water. The girl is the most important part of this picture, without the girl you would just be looking at the beautiful sunset and the writing on the sand. The sand and the water are both very helpful by highlighting the features of the girl in the picture. Symbolism, background, and spacing are all being used in the picture. All three of these elements are used to help make a better connection to help analyze the picture.