Monday, September 26, 2011
Social Construct: Beauty
When I was younger, like in 1st and 2nd grade I don't think what I looked like and how I dressed was that big of a concern for me, but as I got older it became a very important thing, even in third grade I would spend 15 minutes trying to get my hair into the perfect ponytail. Why? Where did I even get the notion of how my hair should be or what type of clothes I should be wearing. The answer, from everywhere; from my mom trying on clothes, the tv shows I watched, looking at the models in my mom's magazine, my friend's older siblings. As women in this culture we are socially constructed to want to look a certain way, to feel that in order to fit in, to have friends, to have a good time, to ve able to accept ourselves we need to wear our hair this way, and dress ourselves in these clothes. When you go into any store the pictures of the models are beautiful and the clothes they are wearing look great on them, everyone on magazines look gorgeous and happy, thousands of commercials for losing weight; gym memberships, food companies, pills, diet this, low fat this. In our culture it is almost impossible to go somewhere and have nothing to remind you of your appearance, but it does not feel like its blatantly pointing things out, sometimes it just feels normal like everyday life. Our culture is in our bodies to the point where you dont have to even think about why you want to look a certain way its just second nature. The advertisement of beauty is such a part of life that when you see a magazine of pretty women you dont think about how this picture and ones like it have shaped the way you feel about yourself and your appearance your entire life.
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I completely agree, we are taught through our culture of what is considered "beautiful" there is no real instinct here. It seems as though many things especially beauty stem only from the nurture side of things. Because in some cultures they are made to believe the the larger a woman is the more beautiful she is, something contradictory to our current American culture. Although at one point, during the times of Sophia Loren and Marilyn Monroe curvy women were considered beautiful. It is all dependent on where and how the subjects in the current culture change and continue what is considered right in things such as beauty.
ReplyDeleteI also agree with your post. Our culture does shape the way we look at our bodies and what we consider beautiful. There are indications everywhere we look from commercials to ads to billboards to tv shows to movies and so much more. Those are all public signifiers to beauty and we are the objects that those ideas are imposed on.
ReplyDeleteAgreed. I remember when I was little telling my sister and mom as they were in the bathroom putting on makeup "I'm NEVER going to wear that nasty stuff!" yeah well... wait until you are 12 Misha. These sort of 'stereotypes' of women, for lack of a better word are everywhere... we pick things up from our role models, media, everywhere. I don't think there is anything natural about this, we are programmed and even subconsciously buy things that are put in front of us by people who control trends. The same people who decide feathers are going to be the "it" accessory this fall.
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