The mirror reflected the woman’s face as she applied her mask. Foundation, powder, eye shadow, liner, mascara, blush, and lipstick are all applied as she satisfies her need to appear beautiful. In Susan Sontag’s passage, Women’s Beauty: Put Down or Power Source?, she explains the definition of beauty and the plight of contemporary women with respect to beauty. Women are overly concerned with superficial appearances and they do not express who and what they really are. Although beauty was once considered a virtue and can be considered a form of power, it is really a form of oppression that leaves women objectified and constantly working to be attractive.
A Rhetorical Analysis on Media’s Influence on the Ideal Body Image Everywhere we look media seems to be portraying body images that lack what used to be known as “sexy curves” and possess more bone than anything else. Whether it be an advertisement in magazines or reality shows such as America’s Next Top Model on television, word has traveled that the thinner you are the better. The roles that obese characters play in movies or on television are negative more often than not. They are viewed as unsuccessful, lacking friends, family, and love. The slender, “beautiful” women are regarded as influential, successful, and erotic.
Women are set such a high standards when it comes to society’s expectations because “average” just doesn’t cut it. Most women these days are expected to look, dress and act a certain way that they normally wouldn’t intend on doing. Women feel pressured on trying to dress more feminine, as they feel, based on society’s expectations, that this is the only way men will feel more sexually attracted to them. Also another reason is that most women also try competing against other women just too simply get more attention. Partially in saying that, women mostly feel the need to make themselves look good because they themselves see them only being attracted to the good looking guys and the only way they think of trying to do this, is by using their looks as a part of attracting the opposite gender.
In my opinion, Americans tend to think that their appearance is everything and go to great measures to get their desired looks. I also believe that people in society are always trying too hard to make them self look like their ideal celebrity. I feel that men and women have different standards when it comes to appearance and how they view it. I also agree with Nancy Hellmich in her article, “Do Thin Models Warp Girls Body Image?” as she says that girls are becoming skinnier and skinnier as the years go by. I think as society tends to focus on their appearance more, it also becomes more dangerous.
For instance, some of the celebrities such as Goldie Hawn and Greta Van Susteren may look astonishing for their age, but what the media fails to portray is the fact that their natural, youthful appearance is anything but natural at all. According to Bordo, she points out that Susan Surandon looked older in Thelma and Louise than she does in her movies today. Cosmetic surgery has been a known yet hidden secret of celebrities for years. Nevertheless, Bordo clarifies that cosmetic procedures are becoming a common procedure for many non-celebrities today who wish to prolong or create unblemished looks. She tries to get this point across by stating that "Aging beautifully used to mean wearing one's years with style, confidence, and vitality.
In today’s society women are always worrying about their appearance. Their perspectives on how they should present themselves are imposed by everything around them. Friends, celebrities and the media are the main reasons why women fee the need to live their lifestyle a specific way. Sometimes, celebrities don’t even need to say anything to have an effect on one; women in today’s society are already provoked on changing just by feeling intimidated by them. In Nina Power’s text, ‘One- Dimensional Woman’ the author also argues that you don’t need superficial things to feel good about yourself, or to even look like perfectly thin stick figure to be a feminist.
In some cases, women are now considered equal to men instead of being someone that can be ruled over or given orders to, they are making decision and their opinions and suggestions are being taken into account. Women are climbing the ladder of success at a very high speed but this growth is not being appreciated enough by the media, women are underrepresented in the news (Smith, Analysis of Harmful Representations of Women in the Media, 2011). This observation led me to my research question. 2.2 Research Proposal Why are women in the media, television and film industry underrepresented
Females between the ages of 16 and 26 make up approximately 24 million women as of today (Population clock). This “chick” age bracket represent the group of people that popular media outlets market to that often feature women with bodies that are unattainable for the average woman. These media outlets also focus on what women can do to acquire and please men. The self-esteem of these young girls are also eroding due to the various forms of marketing and advertising tactics they employ because sexy sells. The many celebrities like Miley Cyrus and magazines who all try to portray their idea of a woman, alter and distort their perception of womanhood.
Women where changing more than their choice of clothing, and hair styles. Women where talking over control of their bodies as well. Women's greater sexual freedom, considered entirely apart from any moral considerations, involved other problems (West, 1955). Women where becoming more sexually active, some even before marriage. At that time women where expected to be married before having sex.
They wanted their image to change. An artist, Charles Dana Gibson believed that the Gibson Girl represented the loveliness of American women. The Gibson Girl influenced society in the early 1900's much like Barbie influenced society of the late 1900's. She was critiqued by many people; much like Barbie is today, for creating an unrealistic perfect image of what women should look like using picture-perfect proportions and long flowing hair. Regardless of the criticism she soon became a trend setter.