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!