Dreamworlds 3 Film Review

This film was about the messages that are being portrayed in music videos. These messages range from what is considered feminine to masculine control. It also shows how sex has taken over to sell anything including music. Video directors have gone as far as to use the same ideas of pornography to spread to music videos. They also give mention to the fact that these images are spread across all genres of music. The movie also shows real life situations that mirror situations shown in common music videos. The main focus of the film is how women are sexualized in music videos to only be of the interest of men and how these constant images are framing what is considered masculine and feminine in society.

This film directly relates to the readings because the readings were about hip hop music videos and the messages that are constantly presented through the lyrics and visual images. There was also a reading called, “Female Chauvinist Pigs,” which is about how women are chauvinist pigs in that they engage in the acts of sexualizing women. To have these over sexualized images, you are going to need willing participants and women are constantly playing these roles hoping to get their 15 seconds of fame. I watched this show about video vixens and one girl even gave mention to willing to do whatever is necessary for the camera to be focused on her. The girls do more and more and go further and further to gain the attention of the camera. Some girls in the video gain fame, but the amount of girls who do not is far greater than that of those who do.

I did enjoy watching this film because it brought about new ways of thinking about music videos. I constantly hear from my aunt, “Stop watching those videos! They’re bad for you!” I would say why and she could never give me concrete examples and would only say things about implicit messages and how they change our thinking. I will most likely still watch music videos, but the awareness of what you are watching stops those influences. This video made me look at music videos differently and listen more carefully to what I am singing along with. I know that these music videos are not reality, but it makes you wonder how others may view them. Art is supposed to imitate life, not the other way around.

Blog 10: "Healthy Body Image"

The first song I chose was "Upgrade U" by Beyonce. I chose this song because it's about how she is so amazing that she can make him better. Without her he couldn't be who he is. He needs her to be all that he can be. She upgrades him.

I chose "Video" by India Arie for obvious reasons of course. She is not the typical image of beauty that is perpetuated in society, but she still loves herself because she knows she worthy for more than shaking it in a video. She doesn't need to look like them and she accepts her beauty for what it is. She is beautiful even though she is not the typical beauty queen.

I chose "Dollhouse" by Priscilla Renea because she begins talking about how she transformed herself to be what she thought her man wanted, but soon realized that she is not the "doll" he wanted to be. She was losing herself in being what he wanted and knew it just wasn't right. She decides to leave him because he cannot accept her for who she truly is.

I chose "Beautiful" by Christina Aguilera because this songs just talks about how you're beautiful no matter what you look like and you should accept yourself for who you are because you are beautiful in every single way. It tells you to stop trying to be something you're not and accept your own beauty. Don't let others words and feelings about you bring you down and bring yourself up.

I chose "Put Your Records On" by Corinne Bailey Rae because she talks about just loving life and not letting anything bring you down. Its one of those feel good songs. Don't worry about all life's little troubles and accept the beautiful moments of life. Just live your life and be you.

I chose "Girl Like Me" by Rihanna because she talks about how she is not willing to settle for second best. She is a girl that is willing to truly wait for her true love. She wants a man that is willing to accept her flaws and all and willing to be there for her. Too many women settle for a man and will take any kind of treatment to keep a man and this song says that you should find that man that will treat you like a queen.

I chose "I Am Not My Hair" by India Arie because she talks about how her hair does not define who she is. Her appearance does not define who she is and not to make assumptions about who you think she is by what you see. You should get to know the person within before you decide who someone is.

I chose "Be OK" by Chrisette Michele because she sings about how she will move on and from her relationship because she doesn't need a man to make her feel good. She loved him at one point but she doesn't need him to make her who she is.

I really don't think that my taste in music has really changed. When I was younger I used to listen to more pop music, but that is about the only difference.

The readings about hip hop culture was an interesting look at the music I listen to. It reminded me of the 2 part BET series "Hip Hop in America." The second reading mentioned how they should do that and have the rapper and the video ho say their piece and that series did just that. Nelly, Melyssa Ford, and David Banner joined in the discussion alongside influential black leaders such as Micheal Eric Dyson (who I just love to hear speak) and Cornel West. I really wished that they would have had a record exec or top head of the music who says yes or no.

I did agree with the obsession of the "ethnically ambiguous" although I was confused by the Gabrielle Union reference in one of the articles. You do see the typical girl in every video: small waist with big boobs and booty, long hair, and fair skin. If there is a dark skin girl, her face is not typically shown and the focus is her booty. Buffie the Body is a famous dark skin video girl and when she is typically in a video they constantly only make frames around her booty. She is typically looking over her shoulder in the video becaus her booty is the main focus.

Media Analysis

To find the offensive advertisement, I googled advertisements for men because the most offensive advertisements that I see are directed towards men. The first advertisement that caught me off guard was a Tom Ford advertisement for men’s cologne1. This was only the first of many offensive advertisements2-5 for this exact same product. It was just so blatantly disgusting that I knew that this had to be the topic of my offensive advertisement for this paper.
I can’t really understand what the advertisement is saying or implying. All the advertisement is is a bottle of perfume in covering a woman’s vagina. I could not even possibly imagine up any kind of explanation of this advertisement except that it would gain a lot of media coverage because it is so explicit. Possibly, it could be making the woman suffice to the closest thing that she has to man. Maybe the cologne is the man that she longs for who wears this cologne.
The advertisement is obviously trying to attract men (rather they are gay or straight). Tom Ford is a homosexual man that is not afraid to portray men or women in a sexual manner. The advertisement is in the gay male point of view who thinks sexy is being naked. It’s funny that when we talk about beauty standards and how the fashion industry influences these beauty standards, but the fashion industry is predominantly composed of homosexual males. The advertisement is a white female, with an obvious Brazilian wax, covering her vagina with a bottle of cologne. The picture really has nothing to do with the product. Much like Olympians posing naked or near naked exposing just enough to see that they were thoroughly waxed (Levy 19-20). Sex sells but this is outrageous. It makes me wonder how the advertisement did not get banned from the blatant nudity and how provocative the advertisement was.
This image helps work toward the image of passive, vulnerable women in that the face of the female is not even shown. Therefore, she is not given an identity and is just merely a backdrop to sell the product. The product, which is directly in front of her vagina, is the main focus of the image. She is silenced in her work. She is merely a prop to hold up the product which is obviously more important than who she is.
Tom Ford advertisements have shown that they do not discriminate in objectification. Men and women get the same amount of objectification. It is different in the fact that one advertisement5 actually shows the man’s face with the bottle covering his penis. He is worthy enough of having an identity instead of being a mere backdrop to the cologne. It is not as harsh to men in that sense, but it all sends the wrong message at the end of the day. They portray an unattainable body image just as women’s advertisements which could potentially be just as equally harmful to young men.
Sexuality is used to sell all kinds of products. The main products that are sold by sexuality are directly associated with the senses such as: smell, taste, and touch. Just as in this cologne product. Women’s sense of smell is the primary indicator of memory and sexual attention. What I mean by that is, a woman can turn from 60 to 0 if a man smells bad. Burger commercials6 are getting worse and worse with using sexuality to sell their products. Products such as razors, lotion, and body wash7, which deal with smell and touch, are using sexuality to extremes in selling their products.
Perfume and cologne advertisements are more overtly sexual because of the scent issue. Scent is the strongest indicator of memories. Also, when we think of smelling and scent we think of pheromones and how they increase sexual advances. It’s as if the smell is so irresistible to the point where we cannot handle ourselves and animalistic tendencies take over us. We revert back to something as simplistic as sex just from the scent. I think maybe that is where they are going with it. Part of it could be the wanting to be couture element of it, “…Pierrot knitwear show was set up like a mock porno shoot with the designer, Pierre Carrilero, playing the director and the models rolling around in various familiar porn tableaux (Levy 24). Couture is supposed to be out there and make a shock value to the product.

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The advertisement that I choose that sends a positive message is part of the dove real beauty campaign. The advertisement is an older African American woman of a particular age who is completely shed of her clothing. She is not posing provocatively or playing up her sexuality. She is merely covering her assets with a warm and calm smile on her face. She has a short, gray afro and is not wearing many accessories. Even in the African American community she is in the minority, “Clearly, those making the choice to be “happy nappy” are in the minority…They often face criticisms of being unrefined, unhygienic, low class and ugly (Edut 131)”
She is showing her real beauty to the world and letting us know that there is not only one type of beauty out there for the world to see. She is not shamed about her body, but accepts and loves her body as it gets better with age. Her body is real and beautiful and not altered to be anything that she is not. She has clearly made the decision, like Regina D. Williams, to not make someone else’s opinion her reality (Edut 185) and is taking strides in changing their opinion. She is not hiding behind a product or put in the background to display the product.
The advertisement is selling dove’s skin care line. They are not trying to change this woman’s body with their products but maintaining and caring for the body that she possesses. So many advertisements show what they want to change to be the newer and younger model instead of accepting the reality of aging and finding the beauty of the older woman. I do not know the age of this woman, but not many advertisements would should a woman over thirty-five especially a naked or scantily clad woman.
The advertisement implies acceptance and finding the beauty within you. Real beauty is not in a magazine, but it is often looked over. You should not be afraid to age, wrinkle, sag, or grow gray hair. You are beautiful as are and don’t need to alter time’s beauty. Aging is beautiful and accepting and recognizing your beauty is even more beautiful. Your appearance should not define who you are; it’s all about how you feel at the end of the day. We all will grow old and should accept life’s changes. Personally, I cannot wait to grow old and find out what I will look like.
This advertisement is targeting women. I believe they would like to target every woman, but their primary audience will be that of older women. The point of view of the advertisement is that aging is beautiful. Real beauty doesn’t come from a bottle, but the confidence and acceptance of your body is real beauty. This woman is not afraid to show what a real woman looks like and she would also like the world to accept and love her body as she does. She is not the typical model.
Another reason that I chose these two particular advertisements to analyze was because of the fact that the positive advertisement that I chose was banned for nudity. This all makes me wonder what the standards are for something to be too nude and something to be just the right amount of nudity. Should the African American woman have placed dove bottles in front of the money shots? Would that have made the picture just right? Personally, I think it is because of the model that was chosen to be in the advertisement. She was too old, she had too much identity, not tone enough, too gray, too urban, or whatever it may be. I wasn’t there so do not quote me, but something is not right about this picture.
I like this advertisement. I like that it combats the stereotype that older women are not beautiful and need to alter themselves to look younger and more “beautiful” before they can be accepted by society. The advertisement challenges the ideal image. She is not a young white female with blonde hair, blue eyes, and a button nose. She is in fact the opposite and loves every piece of being just that. Beauty has no age limit.

WORKS CITED
Edut, Ophira, ed. Body Outlaws: Rewriting the Rules of Beauty and Body Image. California: Seal Press, 2003.
Levy, Ariel. Female Chauvinist Pigs: Women and the Rise of Raunch Culture.

Blog 9: "Popular Culture"

I would say that I don't look to popular culture to influence my views on men and women because popular culture uses so many stereotypes to portray people that it gets sickening. I don't think you can judge people just from what you see because there's always more than meets the eye. I do think that popular culture does mirror reality, but only a piece of it. Popular culture also picks and chooses what they want to show to say what "reality" is. It is exactly the same concerning race and class. Everything that is shown within pop culture has to be taken with a grain of salt because so much is edited and revamped for good television. It's all entertainment at the end of the day, so their only gonna show you what they want to portray.

A lot of sexist things that happen, I think we have become synthesized to so we don't even notice. I will see some commercials that are geared towards men and I am wondering what boobs and booty has anything to do with their product. Nowadays it seems that products for women are moving towards being the male fantasy. It's almost as if every other commercial is geared towards men. Men commercials are use this product and "hot" women will want you then women's commercials are use this product and you will be seen as sexy like this woman who men want.

I googled "feminist stereotypes" and found this offensive image. Says a lot about our culture.

I can say that, before coming to college, when I heard the word feminist I would view a big butch chick with a buzz cut and no makeup as the face of feminism. Part of that stereotype comes from how men talk about feminism. Which now that I think about it is probably the worst source ever. I had never met or known a feminist or researched into it. When I see pictures of prominent feminists, they are beautiful educated women who just want to be respected for their minds rather than what their appearance offers. Its disheartening that they get such a bad rep just for wanting to be respected, but part of that is because so much of society, like those men creating visuals of feminists with harsh words, want women to be seen and not heard.

Lovely & Amazing Film Review

Lovely and Amazing is a film about a Caucasian mother with two adult daughters and one adopted pre-teen daughter who is African American. Each female deals with their own personal insecurities throughout the film. The mother, in an effort to feel younger and more attractive, gets a liposuction which nearly risks her life. She looks to the doctor to feel beautiful and wanted, but he does not reciprocate her advances. The daughter who is an actress does not feel beautiful because she continually finds herself in the supporting role next to the beautiful lead actress. She is insecure in that she feels that she is not sexy or seductive enough and looks to a male actor’s sexual advances as a validation of her beauty.

The married daughter wants to pursue a career in making crafts, but her husband is not supportive since they are only losing money with her hobby. Feeling unsupported by her husband, she gets a job at a one hour photo development store where she gains attention from her 17 year old boss and they become intimate. Instead of looking for attention and comfort from her husband, she maintains a relationship with her boss only to end up in jail for rape. Annie, in an effort to be like her adopted family, has troubles adjusting to all the differences that they have. She even goes to the extreme of straightening her hair without consent.
This film deals with a lot of body image issues that we have discussed throughout the course from cosmetic surgery to what is beautiful. I did like the film because it constantly had you wondering what they were going to deal with next. If it wasn’t one thing, it was always another and you just were hoping that it would all work out in the end. I did feel that the movie didn’t really end. It left you to make up your own conclusions of what became of them. That is my only problem; I felt I needed a conclusion.

In the beginning of the film, I felt the married daughter was rude and she was neglecting the adopted daughter when she was taking care of her because her mother was in the hospital. The part where they say that she doesn’t need sunscreen bugged me because her skin still needs to be protected. It was like instead of putting her in the Big/Little Sister program, I felt that they should have educated themselves about raising a black child. They should have put some braids and grease in her hair and she probably wouldn’t have felt the need to straighten her hair because it was a mess. Black and white are complete opposites, but there are similarities like moisturizing and protecting skin from UV rays.

The other issues in the film were surrounded around males. Each of the other women looked for men to validate them. It was just sad to see. The married woman’s situation was the worst because she just needed to have a civil conversation with her husband without the presence of their child. She was clearly unhappy with the lack of attention from her husband, and the first person to acknowledge her she grab held and didn’t let go. I could probably talk about these issues forever because it just bothers me so much. The low self-esteem of this family was just hereditary. Their insecurities were just so extreme.

Mona Lisa Smile Film Review

Mona Lisa Smile was about Katherine Watson who goes to teach at an all girl’s college, Wellesley College that is known for its academics. She goes in believing that this is an institution made to promote education and fulfilling a career. She is shocked to find out that this is merely a finishing school masked as a university. The girls are there only to find a husband. They are there for their MRS rather than a BA. Ms. Watson continues to promote education instead of overlooking those who are planning a wedding. Betty, one of the students who gets married, protests all of Ms. Watson’s efforts. In the end, they all respect Ms. Watson for defying the system and promoting women to be more than just wives and mothers.

The central thesis of the film is that women offer more than just being a housewife. We cannot continue to live passively while the men in our lives play the active roles. Women have more to offer and neglecting their potential is only detrimental to everyone involved. This film relates to the course readings in that The Feminine Mystique: “The Problem that Has No Name” talked of women not being considered feminine if they attained higher education or a career. How housewives have this problem called, “the housewife’s syndrome” where they can’t explain why they feel so sad and unfulfilled with life because they are constantly maintaining their family’s lives.

I liked this movie because it was about a piece of time that I really didn’t know much about. It was like watching history, but it was entertaining. It made you laugh, made you sad, and it made you feel inspired as a woman. The story also determined beauty by confidence and self-assurance of oneself. Ms. Watson was seen as more attractive to the male teacher than his students because of her confidence in herself. You can tell that she knew her worth and set standards of how she wanted to be treated rather than being used like the students. She was surer of herself and it made her more attractive.

The female students were determining their self-worth by getting married because the school and society were glorifying marriage and excusing absences for engaged and married students. They were putting the male’s needs before their own and Ms. Watson let them know that they should not feel valuable only from the love of a man. This was a big body image issue for the girls because they did not have self-esteem but it was only attained by the attention of a male. They were devaluing themselves and their potential.

Blog 8: "The Beauty Myth"

The end of the beauty myth doesn't give me closure at all. This is predominantly due to the fact that you can say things like love yourself and everything else will follow suit, but in the end you cannot change everybody. Women will still be judged by beauty standards and will have to work twice as hard to gain the same respect as that of any man. In every situation, the media comments on what the woman is wearing or how she looks whether than what she stands for or what she has accomplished. Her beauty is always more publicized than what she did. Its sad but true. I personally have had people look at me like I'm a phenomenon because I do well in school. "But you're pretty?" still hurts me to hear uttered from anyone's mouth. Why can't I be both? Why can't I care about my appearance and still do well in my academics without people thinking she just got there because of her looks? I work hard to gain that respect and hopefully change people's minds about the intelligence of a beautiful woman by being an example. I can only hope it changes some day. I want it to be where women are both seen and heard equally because right now women are acknowledged just for their visual images.

Images from the before and after of the Fox tv series "The Swan" where they took contestants who were considered "ugly" and used plastic surgery, hair extentions, makeup, and new clothes to give them makeovers so that they could feel "beautiful"

Wolf's work is much more wordy and a little cryptic in its message at times. Valenti is much more direct, to the point, and in your face about it. I would much rather read Valenti's work because I feel that I can relate more with it and it was much more understandable. Valenti uses examples that are more prevalent in the media while Wolf's examples are court cases that went bad. I feel that Valenti's examples are better because these are the type of images that are constantly being presented on television such as the Swan and commercials seen on television. Pretty much everyone watches tv so I could relate more to the images and recall moments. They both present the same message, but Wolf does it in a round about way. They both talk about eating and dieting, how women are discussed about their beauty only to silence them, and what women go through to attain beauty. You can also feel anger in both of their writings. Valenti just uses harsher words to express it.



The essay that I felt was most interesting from the Body Outlaws text was, "The Butt: Its Politics, Its Profanity, Its Power." When I first read the title, I was instantly interested. I myself, posess a big butt and I have a love hate relationship with it. I felt that I could really relate to the essay and it gave me a little knowledge about why it is so much associated with black women. Even though, nowadays its more associated with women like J.Lo (Hispanic) and Kim Kardashian (Armenian). It was interesting to hear some of the trials and tribulations of one's behind from someone else. I could relate to the fact that going shopping for pants and skirts can be limiting with larger assets than most. Nothing fits right and I've destroyed many pairs of jeans because of the friction between my thighs. It also grows when you least expect it. I just felt really understanding to this piece. It was almost as if it was written just for me. I often found myself saying, "I know!"

Blog 7: "Eating Disorders"

An eating disorder is a condition that affects an individual's eating habits. It may be that one may not eat or one may overeat. It is an emotional disorder that appears as an irrational craving for or avoidance of food. It involves a lot of mental aspects that effect the victim of an eating disorder.

The influence of fashion, film, media, and diet industries have greatly influenced the notions of beauty and have effected the rise in eating disorders. Many women look to celebrities as their ideal. Celebrities have to maintain a standard for their body so that they may continue to work. If a celebrity's body changes, their work changes. A plus size celebrity can lose weight, get praise for it, and maintain a job,even gain more work, but if a celebrity becomes plus size they become ridiculed and it is harder for them to maintain a job. Celebrities and the media make it look so easy to be thin and beautiful. As regular women and men, we are constantly presented this standard of beauty and comparing ourselves to them because we are also seeing them as beautiful and what we want to be. Celebrities pin it all on eating healthy and exercise, so when someone is not thin and beautiful then it is assumed that they are not trying hard enough. Only a small portion of people can actually attain this ideal body image through health and exercise and many result to disordered eating habits. Often these issues are swept under the rug, but it is a real issue that needs to be answered. I don't think that the entertainment industry is the cause, but it is an influence.

Food and diet addiction has become a preoccupation with the American society because so many people have become overweight. In America, food is so accessible and its everywhere so we just eat. You eat to live, to comfort, to socialize, to overall just enjoy. Diet pills and the new IT diet are constantly being advertised and publicized because everyone is looking for the easy way out but the way that they are eating has become a lifestyle. Changing a way of life is a lot harder than people might think which is why diets don't work. The easy way out never works unless the lifestyle changes. Its hard to stop eating the way you did before because you need food to survive. I have also heard that diet pills don't work because the body gets used to them after a while. Diet pills are also dangerous. Not too long ago, it was reported that Hydroxycut killed some nineteen year old boy and was taken off the market. You really don't know what you are putting into your body and it could be harmful to you. All you know is that it makes you lose weight, but I doubt anyone looks at what it truly does to make you lose that weight.

There is a preoccupation with food. It is given good and bad media images. When it comes down to one's appearance, it is given a bad image. When it comes to enjoyment and satisfaction, it gets a good image. There is a constant battle of food's image.

I don't think that society can be reintegrated until there is a realness put back to the media. Images of celebrities should not be retouched to portray impossible images. I think there should be a move to real body images publicized instead of thin, emaciated bodies. Nicole Richie is a prime example of the influence of the media. In the picture on the left, she was actually bigger when she first came on the hollywood scene. She still denies that the picture on the right was due to an eating disorder and claims it was due to stress and how she deals with her emotions. Many victims of eating disorders also mention the same reasons behind their eating habits.

Blog 6: "Cosmetic Surgery"

Cosmetic surgery was originally used for patients, most often men, who were disabled by war or industrial accidents. Cosmetic surgery has become centered around women because many women equate their attractiveness to their character. Women constantly feel judged based on their appearance. Women are taught to maintain a feminine beauty as to not be seen as less than. This social standard for women to maintain their beauty has made women obsessed with physical appearance.

Personally, I think that cosmetic surgery just perpetuates unattainable beauty standards. Much of cosmetic surgery is to attain an Anglo-Saxon appearance as mentioned by Debra Gimlin. As an African American woman, I like my ethnic features. I think they are beautiful and I would not change anything about it. Changing your face to look like one type of people is boring and I like the differences of faces. Cosmetic surgery loses that appreciation of your historical background and that is sad to me that you would want to look otherwise. To define what is beautiful is really hard to say. There are so many different oppinions, but personally I do not believe their is one type of beauty.

I would not get cosmetic surgery unless it was something vital to my health. I am not willing to risk my health in order to be someone else's version of beauty. There are too many fake doctors acting like real doctors who are trying to make a buck and too many bad reactions to cosmetic surgery for me to agree. I think that I am beautiful the way that I am. I actually look forward to growing old and getting to see what I will look like later in life. I think that my mother and grandmother are beautiful the way they are. I just look forward to looking older and when I see older people with face lifts, I think it makes them look older.

I do feel that people take the option of cosmetic surgery too lightly. To me it all seems really superficial at the end of the day. I just want everybody to accept themselves as they are. If the whole world made a change tomorrow to reveal the truth of what everyone looks like, I do not think that cosmetic surgery would be on such a rise. The media helps a lot with the rise of cosmetic surgery but it makes you wonder what the world would be like without photoshop. I guess if it is everyday you have trouble looking in the mirror at yourself and contemplating worse options than cosmetic surgery.

I think it is a vain and shallow culture because to say that cosmetic surgery improves your looks or self-image is still vain and shallow. The fact that when you don't feel beautiful because of your body and that changes your whole personality is very shallow. If someone doesn't like you because of the way you look then they are shallow, so if you don't then I would say the same for you. I don't mean to be rude or judgmental for those who participate in cosmetic surgery because at the end of the day, who am I to judge because I do not know your situation. The only time I would not see it as shallow and vain would be if it was something like a scar being removed, laser hair removal, or the original use of cosmetic surgery. Something like that is the only real justification for cosmetic surgery. I don't really think of that as cosmetic surgery though, I guess because its less invasive and dangerous.

Paper 1 Part 2

I believe every child has seen some Disney movie or knows of one or about one. Disney movies are always typical of the beautiful princess who is saved by some handsome young stranger and they live happily ever after. The female is often the passive character while the male hero is always the active participant saving the damsel in distress from the ugly villain. I believe this is due to the fact that, “Women are mere “beauties” in men’s culture so that culture can be kept male (Wolf 59).” If the villain is male, he wants the beautiful princess, but if the villain is female, she is jealous and ugly. Every woman is drawn to be beautiful unless she is viewed as the evil and mean villain made to thwart the princess at finding true love with the handsome young male.
The first Disney movie that I wanted to analyze was the classic story of Cinderella. She was the beautiful stepsister but you couldn’t tell under all the dirt and cinders on her face from cleaning after her evil stepmother and two ugly stepsisters. They even went to the extent of mentioning that the villains were ugly as to make the decision for you. Cinderella is the young blonde Caucasian ideal of beauty. One of her stepsisters is a red head and the other is a brunette. They both have larger noses and bigger eyes than that of Cinderella. Disney perpetuates an ideal of what is beautiful and what is not just by the drawing of the characters.
At the end of the story, Cinderella of course goes to the ball and the prince locks eyes and they instantly fall in love. Love at first sight is a common theme of Disney movies. Her two stepsisters end up getting shafted in the end because they don’t even find love at the ball. I’m sure there were other well off suitors at the ball other than the prince, but they are deemed mean and unlovable by a male counterpart. They must stay at home with their stepmother and lose their maid. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that Cinderella should have stayed the maid instead of living in a castle with many maids. I’m just saying that the stepsisters need some love too.
The story of Snow White is another story of a wicked stepmother who treats her stepdaughter as the maid. The queen is considered beautiful and the fairest of them all, until her stepdaughter grows up and the queen grows old. The queen also looks a lot like Sleeping Beauty’s nemesis which is a little suspicious since they had the same sleeping issue, but that is beside the point.
It’s Disney’s interpretation of beauty as being young. The queen used to be the fairest, but someone younger will come and take your place. It also sends a message of how important beauty is. The queen put a hit out on Snow White because she was prettier than her. It all sounds a little extreme when you say it aloud. What always confused me about the story is why the queen had all this magic, but didn’t just make herself prettier than Snow White. She made herself this frail and wrinkled old lady. I don’t understand why she couldn’t do the opposite if it was such a problem.
I think it is interesting how all of the princesses have a lot of the same facial features. It is continually big eyes, big lips, hourglass shape, and a little nose. Jasmine is the only one who is of a different race. The rest of the princesses are Caucasian and Ariel has a little bit of a tan probably because she lives in the ocean by the beach. The only real differences are their hair color and length.
I’m still waiting for the day where the male is in distress and must be saved by the princess but as Wolf says, “A beautiful heroine is a contradiction in terms, since heroism is about individuality, interesting and ever changing, while “beauty” is generic, boring, and inert (59).” I’m sure that the drawing of the heroine would not be the popular Disney princesses. I remember watching Mulan, and she never gets the same coverage or credit as the others. Even Pocahontas doesn’t get the call for the photo. There are probably others that just don’t get the same recognition. I know that I have never seen the Disney movie of Sleeping Beauty but I know of her because she is in the photo with the other princesses. I wonder if they were not considered beautiful enough.

Paper 1 Part 1

Stereotypes are oversimplified standardized images of a person or a group of people. It is classifying people or a group of people because of social ideas or images. They put people into boxes and make people, who believe them, seem ignorant and simple-minded. Every group of people has some kind of stereotype associated with them. It is like the old saying, “One bad apple ruins the bunch.” They ignore the fact that everyone is different even though they may be classified into a group.
People are often stereotyped into categories because of media images or from others own personal experience. Often on talk shows, you will hear people say, “I believe that this group of people is like this because that is the only image that I see of them.” Many times, I think this come from a confirmation bias rather than an actual experience. They may have a preconceived notion about a person or a group of people then when they meet a person who is categorized as that group they only look for the confirmation of their biases even though there are other factors that may be against their stereotype.
Personally, I do not believe that I have ever felt the need to conform to a stereotypical image. As an African American female, I actually do not like the perpetuation of stereotypical images. I will make sure to not portray stereotypes in public. I feel uncomfortable eating fried chicken and/or watermelon in public. Sometimes I will avoid eating the food just because of the stereotype associated with it. I remember watching the Wendy Williams Show, and she actually mentioned that she said she would never eat fried chicken on television as a man was showing her how to make KFC’s secret recipe.
I can recall times when I felt that others felt that I should conform to the stereotype that African American females are loud, ghetto, and sassy. This kind of stereotype is much like the stereotype of what is considered feminine in that women are allowed a mind or a body but not both (Wolf 59). It is as if everyone must remain in a role and no role can be rearranged or mixed. I was always the girl who went to a predominantly white school, but lived in a predominantly black neighborhood. So, it was like I got the pressure to conform to the stereotype in different ways.
In school, it was as if they wanted me to be louder and more aggressive while I’m just trying to be me. I’m a real laid back girl with a soft voice unless you make me mad. There were a couple of other black girls in the school and one in particular used to drive me nuts because she would conform to the stereotype. I and another black girl who lived in my neighborhood used to talk about how much we had a problem with it because it wasn’t genuine and it was an over exaggerated black stereotype.
She lived in the suburbs and would say ghetto this and ghetto that and it was as if she expected me to act the same way. I really don’t even like the use of the word ghetto because I feel that the word is used too loosely. It is hard to describe the situation, but it would just drive me insane. I’m just glad that I had someone who could relate with me. I guess she could justify that it was just her personality in some way, but something about it seemed like a front and it is not surprising that another girl that lived in what was considered a “ghetto” neighborhood felt the same way.
Then when I was home with my friends in my neighborhood, I would often hear that I talk white. I would ask what talking white is and I could never get a straight answer. It was as if they were saying that I was not black enough for them. It was as if they were saying I talked to proper and educated as if talking black was not using proper English and uneducated. It hurt me to hear black people talk about themselves in such a way because to say that would mean the opposite also. This way of thinking would also bug me since African Americans have been stereotyped and judged for so many years and to see them perpetuate the stereotype on themselves just hurts me.
I learned a lot from these experiences. It only makes me work harder to portray another kind of image for the African American female. I hope that others will see me and get a changed idea of what an African American female does and acts like. I want people to see another version so that there will be a more positive stereotype or better yet a negation of the previous stereotype. I like to think that I am a body outlaw due to the fact that Ophira Edut defines them as, “In a world that still tries to assume our identities, we rebel with an outward expression of self. Our passion of truth, in all its messy complexity, compels us to visibly defy easy categories and sweeping labels, even if they were created from within. We rush to show the world who we are rather than allow it to paint us as one-dimensional characters (xxiii – xxiv).”

Tyra had a really good show about racial perceptions. A must watch:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yGNyjsAumuU

Blog 5: "Gender and Toys"

When you google current little girl toys, you get a lot of dolls, housekeeping items, and beauty items such as painting nails and play makeup. Their dolls are all barbies and princesses. Girls toys are marketed in nurturing others and maintaining one's beauty. When you google current little boy toys, you get cars, guns, and items involved in sports. Their "dolls" are modeled after soldiers and superbeings. Boys toys are more about protection and things that are considered more masculine.

I think toys do influence the way children play. I can remember the times when I was little and I would play with the boys because I felt that the girls were to boring. They always wanted to play pretend or talk while the boys would play sports. I did not have dolls early in my age, but I had an older brother who I would always wrestle and rough house with. As I got older and my younger sister got old enough to play with, I began to have more baby dolls and barbies, and now that I think of it, is when I began to play with more girls and find more interest in their games. My best friend was a boy until the age of 7 and then we just found other interest.

I would not say that toys influence the way we will become because even though as girls we played with the same toys, I would say there is a variety of interests that we all had. I will say that it did have some influence of when someone would ask, "What do you want to be when you grow up?" as a little girl or boy. Girls will typically answer something that involves having to be beautiful or a mommy, while boys will answer something with power or sports affiliated. I would not say that my experience with dolls has influenced what I have decided to be my occupation. When I was younger, I wanted to be a model, a singer, and a princess. When I got older, I wanted a job that involved security for my future and something that I felt would be enjoyable to me because it fit me.

My favorite childhood toy, up to the age of 7, was my Fozzie Bear. It was a stuffed teddy bear that looked like Fozzie Bear and I used to love that thing. I don't know why. My favorite toys moved to Barbies. I had the pink convertible that I could actually ride in, the dream house, my barbie had her own pink convertible, the life size Barbie, Ken (black and white) with his little brother, little sister Kelly, the big head of Barbie so you could do her hair, and every race of barbie imaginable (more African American barbies though). I was dripping in Barbie. My sister and I played Barbie all the time. I would play house with Barbie, do her hair, she had her own show, just any and everything imaginable with Barbie. We had a lot of Barbie because me and my sister would share toys since I am just 2 years older than her.

Blog 4: "Tough Guise"

I think some benefits of putting on the tough guise for boys and men is more of a bonding experience for them. I guess it could also help with their self esteem if they are accepted for the tough guise that they present to the world. The benefits would only come from the acceptance of others which would probably come from other males who partake in the tough guise and have also been accepted for it. It is effective and adaptive in the protection of themselves and others, but it can be self-destructive in taking on the ego or personality of the person. It could also be dangerous to others in that they might feel that at all times that their manhood cannot be threatened and in doing so they will hurt others or put themselves in dangerous situations to maintain the status of their manhood. If you are on the other side of the tough guise, such as those who are homosexual or who may not be as big or strong as others, you will be disadvantaged from the tough guise in that males will use you to make them feel more "manly" which can also be dangerous.

I think that many people see gender's issues synonymous with women's issues because women are seen as more disadvantaged than males because history has often portrayed women as less than. I think it is also because women are more vocal about thier issues than that of males. It's just like the same situation when you say minority issues and people typically think of African Americans, but that is not always the case. I think it is also because men are taught to "man up" so having issues is not "manly." So if men go around talking about their problems with body image or not being treated fairly they are seen as less than or a "wussy" because they are not considered masculine enough to just take it. This thought process leaves men not being able to express their emotions, so instead of crying when they are sad they will express it in anger in order to keep the status of being masculine enough. They will break something rather than express their hurt so that their manhood is not threatened. It is very destructive for everyone involved because you don't know what they might do to express their emotions.

The potential effects of boys and men trying to live up to these cultural ideals of physical size and strength is the same dangerous effects as the cultural ideals of size and beauty among women. There is bigorexia and manorexia more common now more than ever. It is just as emotionally destrucive and health concious as women's issues. I remember watching a tyra show with a male who suffered from bigorexia who got so big to the point where his arm actually exploded. Everytime he looked in the mirror, he just saw someone who needed to be bigger even though he was huge to everyone else. Even after the whole ordeal and getting to a healthy size, he still looked very big. Steroid use had become an everyday habit to him. The bigger he got the more he saw himself as big, strong, and powerful.

The media in some way inspire change because their constant message on what you should be and look like and people pay close attention to every little detail. There so much attention paid to the tabloids and what is the hot new look that the media strongly influences what IS the beauty standard for both sexes. People has the top 50 most beautiful people in the world while maxim has the hot 100. Its everywhere telling people what is beautiful and who is the new "it" person to watch and wanna be. People see celebrities on tv and they think they are so beautiful and confident unlike me and so I want to be that person I see on the tv screen, I wanna have people look up to me as I look to them. People tend to make this supersized version of the person they see on tv which is why they say that you should never meet your hero because you will realize how human they truly are.

Blog 3: The Beauty Myth "Work"

The general ideas that I found recurrent in the reading was that women are not measured by what they offer mentally but what they offer physically. In the workplace, women are not accounted for because of the work that they put in but more because of what they look like. Knowing this often makes females feel self-concious about their work because they never know if they are where they are because of the work they did or if it is because of the way they look. In history, there have been many trials working in favor of the workplace instead of the female counterpart who felt she was objectified in the workplace because of her dress or the way she looks. This only makes women feel more helpless when they are harassed by their boss or coworkers. Another general idea of the text was that women earn $6 - $7 thousand dollars less annually then men unless it is a profession focused primarily on beauty such as: modeling or prostitution. Before reading this, I was under the impression that equal pay was prevalent any and everywhere and that was a distant memory. It makes me wonder if I have ever been deprived of pay for all the work that I have done.

Beauty, body image, and sexual attraction is a function of "social construction" because it is socially acceptable that the men make the money and that women be pretty enough to get a man that makes a lot of money. In the workplace, it is as if they are saying men can make more money than women because their supposed to. Women are supposed to look pretty because they are supposed to be there to catch a man. It's confusing as a woman because if you do really good work but you are not "pretty" or constantly making yourself "presentable" then you will not get as much recognition but someone who is beautiful but does poor work gets the acknowledgement but they are not taken seriously. You have to have it all to get the kind of recognition you deserve. You have to work harder than any male and look pretty and put together while doing it and it is socially acceptable.

In the reading, the most shocking story in the book was the one where the woman was raped and the court did not go in her favor because they said that she wore provocative clothing that provoked the whole ordeal. Stories such as these scare me to go into the workplace. Things such as these should not be so prevalent. Another thing that was mentioned in class, was that women get used to the cat calls and side comments made by customers or male coworkers and it just makes you wonder why should we as females have to put up with it or get used to it. Why is it acceptable? It all reminds me of when I was working at a restaurant as a hostess. I would constantly get hit on by male coworkers and they would comment on my clothing or compare me to other female coworkers. I never said anything but ok and just brushed it off. Another thing is that my brother told me that it was not a real job and I was just being paid to stand and look pretty. I was really offended because there is a lot more work into being a hostess than just standing and greeting guests. There is a lot of organization that goes into it and making sure that the waitstaff is presented a fair amount of guests. It just goes to show how some males continually undermine the work of a female just because she wants to look good while doing it.

Ideals of female beauty function as a form of social control in that they make a standard that females are supposed to adhere to only to later say they only got that position because they look a certain way not because of there efforts. She is not respected as the head of the company or the boss but only the secretary. Women have to work 2x as hard as males to earn the same equality and pay. Females are just supposed to be pretty and that is the main purpose. This limits women's life choices because this idea of women weakens women's self esteem in that they will not feel good enough or worthy enough for their efforts. So many females are qualified, but society constantly telling you "you can't" can make many women believe so because they do not feel worthy of anything more. Women are looking to models and celebrities as their role models instead of the female ceo or the president (because there is no such thing as a woman president.)

BODY OUTLAW

Body image is one's own perception of their body. It may or may not be the reality of what they actually look like but how the person perceives they look like and how they think that other's may view them as well. We study body image because it is an important issue that is constantly presented to us daily. We are constantly comparing ourselves to other's and thinking about how we are viewed in the world today. We are constantly trying to present some kind of image towards others.

The first wave of feminism was about women's rights, suffrage, and voting. The second wave of feminism was about equal pay and equal work. The third wave of feminism doesn't have one true voice, it is an individual movement. Feminists today are so diverse that there is not one true isssue that can be agreed upon there are many opinions and many voices speaking upon their own issues. The center of the third wave is pop culture.

According to Ophira Edut, a body outlaw is someone who goes against the norm and accepts their body for what it is. They rebel against the standard of beauty and create their own rules. I would consider Tyra Banks a body outlaw because of how she stands for women's rights and when the tabloids called her fat, she took it upon herself to make a speech and demand to be heard with the quote heard around the world, "Kiss My Fat.... " well you know the rest while wearing a bathing suit. She stood up for herself and on a following show she had the whole audience wearing red bathing suits with their weight on the front. She is not afraid to stand up for herself because she knows what is right and it only makes you love her more for it. She is a BODY OUTLAW to the fullest.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6mOQh3evqsI

A Lil' About Moi!!! and some body image too : )

Hello, my name is Adriana. I am a senior in college currently working towards a Bachelor's in Psychology. I am the middle child of three even though I act like the oldest. I chose to enroll in Body Image and Reality because that is a topic of great interest to me. We are constantly faced with body image ideals and it is so unfortunate that some people take these impossible ideals to heart enough that they are willing to harm their health. One of the people that I look up to is Tyra Banks and I would love to be involved in helping people increase their self esteem in the same work that she does through awareness in her talk show and volunteer work such as her camp T Zone. She continually has topics about body image on her talk show and I love that she takes the time out of her day to do just that. She uses her counseling training to help others and I would love to have a career that does just that. I could go on, but that is enough about Tyra Banks. I just love her!

As we enter the 21st century, one of the most pressing issues presented to people about body image is the constant pressure to be perfect. Everyday I walk in a store I see things like look at which celebrities have cellulite, how quick someone lost their pregnancy weight, or look who is fat and how I lost 40 pounds. It is ridiculous that we portray these images to impressionable minds. Nobody is perfect and I love that Cindy Crawford is pronouncing to the world that she has cellulite and she loves it and embraces it. The constant photoshopping of pictures and telling young men and women that this is what beauty looks like is sickening. The celebrities don't even look like that.

I expect to learn more about women's issues because this is my very first women's studies class. I also expect to learn more about other races and ethnicites issues other than that of my own. I also expect to learn a lot about myself and other's insecurities that I may have not known ever existed. I just expect for this class to be fun, interesting, and informative.

5 questions I will answer in this class........

1. What are other races and ethnicites body image issues?



2. What began the obsession of thin stickly bodies as the standard of beauty, what happen to the Marilyn Monroe image with curves?



3. What are men's issues with body image?



4. What are the standards of body image that men and women consider most important in the opposite sex?



5. What makes women more obsessed with body image than that of men?

Thanks 4 reading!!!