Blog 2

The name of this class is entitled "Body Image Versus Reality and the Pop Culture Beauty Myth." What does that even mean? First of all, it is necessary to define what body image is. The simplest definition of body image is the way one looks, feels, and thinks about their body as a whole. The more complete definition would be the way one looks, feels, thinks, is influenced about, and most importantly perceives their own body as they examine and observe themselves in their day to day life. This topic becomes ever increasingly important as most and more women are diagnosed with eating disorders and depression and other mental and physical problems due to the message told them through newspapers, magazines, films, and modeling agencies about their bodies. It is also important to study this topic so that women can feel better about themselves not only as women but as successful and driven people that have journeyed a long way from where they started. The journey of women can be traced through the three waves of the feminist movement. The first wave began and ended with women obtaining equal suffrage (or the right to vote. The second wave began and is still going on with women fighting for equal work and pay opportunities. It is still a proven fact that women seldom make it as high in the work force and if they do they get payed far less than a man in the same position. The third wave focuses on the individual woman and her personal rights to have the life she desires and to accomplish whatever she wants throughout her life without the influence of the world around her. Furthermore, these waves give away to a larger more noticeable change: the way women has perceived body beauty throughout time. In days, long ago (before the 1900s) beautiful women were those that were pale and fat because it meant they did not have to work outside and they had enough food. It was a sign of wealth also. In the early 1940s and 50s, women wanted to be pale and super skinny like Audrey Hepburn and the model Twiggy. The current fade with beauty seems mostly to be just being fit. Not too skinny nor too fat. At least that is what the media would like us to think. However, there are more cases of eating disorders and obesity reported now than ever before. Almost as if to say, that the image given by the media has left many women at a loss as how to accomplish the ideal so they give up and gravitate to one extreme or the other. This is one of the greatest travesties of all time. However, there is a ray of light slowly beginning to shine through and women, who the author Ophira Edut describes as body outlaws who know that beauty is not found in outside sources, but when you take what you have a flaunt it no matter what it is. Body outlaws find their true beauty in self-acceptance of who they are right now, not severl pound, surgery, or beauty treatments in the future.






If you follow the link above, it will give you a picture of Kate Winslet, one of the women I find the strongest in the world of Body Outlaws. She fits this label so well because she repeatedly refuses to change her weight for any role she acts in. There was even a case several months ago where she appeared in a magazine and her picture displayed her much skinnier than she had ever been. As it turned out the company that took the picture had altered the picture without her approval and Winslet fought against the company for altering her pictures. Winslet also strongly dislikes and discourages magazine editors to airbrush her pictures. She consistently tries to give as true depiction of herself as possible and is praised for it. If only we as a society could grab onto the view that Winslet and others like her hold and make it our own.

Blog 1

My name is Handy Sandie and this will be my new blog for the fall semester of the class Body Image Versus Reality. I got the name “Handy Sandie” when I was in high school because I used to spend all of my time between classes holding open the door at the top of the stairs in the school I went to. Ironically enough, my name has the meaning of helper and defender of mankind, so this nickname that I received seemed to fit perfectly for me. I recently entered the world of full adulthood, having turned 21 years old. I chose to take this course for several reasons. First of all, I remember what it was like to be a young teenage girl and wonder is I was “pretty” enough only to realize that there is no set definition of “pretty.” Second, I have a deep disgust at the way women are portrayed in films and commercials based on how they look alone. And finally, with how women are shown, I am very aware of how those images affect and influence women of all ages, especially young girls, whom I have a strong desire to help guide away from the popular culture and into true understanding of who they are and why they are all beautiful. Some of the most pressing issues influencing these girls usually revolves around what their body shape is (skinny or not), what their faces look like, and how big their breasts are. Many of the images presented seem to declare that unless one is small hour-glass shaped, big eyes, full lipped, and big breasted then one is not pretty. What happens here is that women are told that no matter who they are, they can never be perfect and never be beautiful, a gross error caused by the mass media. In fact, no there is no such thing as a perfect body, but that does not make one un-beautiful. What every woman and girl need to realize is that just by being who they are and being the best that they can be on the inside and the outside is what makes them beautiful peoples. So, all in all, in this course I have the expectations of further understanding the major and minor cues about women in the way their bodies are depicted, and how to combat the negative references in such a way that proves true beauty to myself and makes me capable to prove it to others. In closing, as I look forward to this semester in this class I have come up with the following five questions I would like to answer for myself in this quest to discover the true nature of beauty: 1- Does the outside even matter if what I show from the inside covers over everything else? 2- If all mass media women fit the characteristic above, where do I fit in? 3- It seems like most women my age, in media and not, have long flowing hair, is it necessary to have long hair to be beautiful? 4 – Does wearing glasses make me a nerd or just intellectual looking? And 5- How can I reshape the discussions of beauty when talking to young teens in a way that points them away from the media’s image of women’s bodies? Here’s looking forward to a great semester!