From: Julia
The photo I have taken is a representation of the subtopic, the consequences of unrealistic beauty standards on adolescent girls. The photo shows my niece, Lynniah, at the age of four posing in heels. At her youthful age, she had already been taught to wear heels and dresses. In the photo you can see the heels do not exactly fit her or even look the slightest bit of comfortable, but she wears them because that is what “princesses” wear. Even if the heels hurt her feet, she continues to wear them because she does not want to be different than the other little girls or the princesses around her. The heels as well as her shirt are both pink, which is a color most little girls like because they believe it is a color only for girls. When examining the photo you can see the smile on Lynniah’s face, portraying her in a happy manner. Young children, especially girls, are taught to smile in pictures and to appear friendly. This is also seen as a “feminine” trait woman must have.
“Barbie and her legion of imitators represent feminine ideals and encourage such activities as pretend shopping, grooming, and accessorizing.” This quote from, the “Two Cultures” of Childhood, strictly tells you that Barbie and other “feminine” idols give young girls unrealistic beauty standards to be seen as beautiful in the world. As a result of this children begin creating a negative persona about themselves to blend into society. Many little girls like my niece, want to wear dresses and heels because they have seen the people around them wear them or have seen it on tv. Not only is this affecting the children’s mental health now but even in the future. The beauty standards these children are seeing now may cause them to suffer from body image issues, low-self-esteem, and other problems in the future. These influences are teaching young girls that wearing heels and having a feminine manner is required to be a woman or even be seen as beautiful in the world. Which is not correct at all, what you wear and how you appear to the public does not determine how much of a woman or how beautiful you are.
References
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.
1 comment:
By: Kayley
I’ve decided to comment on this post since it really relates to my post and the unrealistic beauty standards that today’s society has on young girls with being a hostage to the beauty standards and always trying to be perfect at all times. What I’m really getting from this photo is her niece being in some cases coached or told to be happy with being dressed in the clothes she is wearing and also taught how to walk and stand in the pretend heels she’s wearing. It’s almost like the niece from a very young age is catching on to the ways of being accepted as a girl in today’s world with having to always look “Pretty” or always in some way “Dressed up” in order to be considered acceptable in today’s world. I can also see that the heels don’t really fit her or that she really wanted to wear with her nearly slipping out of the heeled shoes on her right foot meaning to me that she’s far too young to be wanting to portray a 30 or 40 yr old woman in some cases wearing the exact type of heels as the fake ones she is wearing. Lastly, I wanted to point out how the background to me makes her niece look very innocent and like playful like as if she stole her mom’s or older sister’s heels and decided to pose cute for a picture instead of looking deeper into it and saying that at the age of 4 she is learning what is acceptable and not for her to be dressed in as a young girl.
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