From: Emily
From a young age we are introduced to unrealistic beauty standards. Like, “The miniaturized human figures girls play with typically include baby dolls or feminine icons such as Barbie, explains Rudman in “The Two Cultures of Childhood.” Barbie, an unrealistic representation of womanhood, teaches girls to idealize unrealistic beauty standards. As girls go from childhood to adolescence who they idealize changes. It changes from the unrealistic body image of Barbie to the impossible beauty standards of models and actresses on tv, in movies, and in magazines. These beauty standards are extremely harmful to the mental health of teenage girls. These standards are destructive because the women we see in the media have had a whole team of hairstylists, makeup artists, and stylists to make sure they look their best. On top of that these images, even the natural looking ones, are heavily edited. Young women see these images of seemingly perfect women and try to emulate it themselves. Learning quickly that these things are impossible to truly obtain they turn to unhealthy things to get them as close as they can to “perfection.”
In my photo I have combined two images of myself. The image on the left is of myself in loose fitting clothing, no makeup, poor lighting, and no editing. The second photo I have used the creative technique of color, by wearing a pink top to increase my femininity. I have also slightly changed the camera angle from being more straight on in the first photo, to being in a lower position to show superiority. I have also changed my angles from being more straight on and masculine in the first photo to have softer angles in the second photo. This better enhances my feminine features. The overall illusion in the second photo is that it has been completely edited. These two photos show extreme an difference in my appearance between the two. What is the most harmful is that young girls believe that the photo on the left is a reality, where in reality the photo on the left really is not what I look like at all.
Rudman, Laurie A., et al. "The Two Cultures of Childhood." The Social Psychology of
Gender: How Power and Intimacy Shape Gender Relations. The Guilford Press, 2015, 59-63.
2 comments:
From: Benjamin
Emily,
Your photo does an excellent job of portraying unrealistic beauty standards. The juxtaposition between the two sides of the photo to represent the average, normal person versus the beauty norm and expectation we often see today really puts into perspective the power that it can have. Like you mentioned, even simple things such as Barbie dolls perpetuate an unachievable and unrealistic expectation of what it means to be a woman and can lead to distress later on. Constantly consuming media where the only people seen are glammed out and perfectly edited for the viewers distorts our expectations over time, yet we continue to feed into it. The definition of “natural” no longer means what it used to, as we’ve reached a point where even “natural” images are edited beyond belief. It is a never-ending conglomerate of media and influences that shape these unhealthy views.
In the left photo, there is nothing inherently wrong with the lack of editing and casual look. However, since it breaks the beauty standards that have been drilled into us since childhood, many may look at an unedited photo and think it is lacking or even ugly. It is these expectations and standards that lead to an epidemic of kids, teens, and adults that feel unsatisfied with themselves. The photo on the right side, in contrast to the left, is edited to fit and match the expectations we carry towards appearances. The effort and unreality needed to create that photo to fit the standards are immense and further go to show how unrealistic these expectations are. As you said, it is merely an illusion; and unfortunately, we have all fallen for it. Your photo is a good, easy to understand example of this issue. Great work!
From Madison
Hi Emily!
You did a great job on your photos. I love your representation of today’s unrealistic beauty standards. I also love you incorporation of Barbie, it is seen to young girls that they have to fit into a certain beauty expectation because of Barbie. She is seen as the perfect doll. I definitely agree that growing up as a young girl it is hard on them mentally and harms them physically because of how detrimental it becomes on a young girl to try to become perfect. Both of your photos represent everything perfectly. On the left you have no makeup and comfy clothing, which is typically what women wear on a daily basis. On the right you are dressed up with makeup on to conform to the idea of a “perfect” girl. It explains how women are supposed to dress and look to fit into the world. You did a great job on this!
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