Sunday, October 2, 2011
Who's that in the window?
For some reason I wasn't able to upload a picture onto the post, but my example of a body practice is using windows on the streets to look at your reflection. I don't personally do this all that often, but I do find myself doing it occasionally. The real problem I have with it is when I'm walking with friends and they stop talking to me or ignore me because they are looking at themselves in a window that we are passing. This body practice is an example of the theory that we as humans believe we are supposed to look a certain way. By looking in a window, we are submitting to the idea that we have to look perfect at all times. It is impossible to look our best at all times, and as humans we need to recognize that. I realize that it is unrealistic to expect people stop looking at their reflections altogether, but I think we should be able to limit this body practice and stop checking ourselves out whenever we see our reflection.
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I found this to be pretty funny, because this is not something I normally think about but it is totally true I have seen people do it a lot and have done it myself a couple times. Also the other thing I found interesting was that I personally think that windows, though very similar to mirrors give people a skewed view in how they look both in a good way and a bad way.
ReplyDeleteI actually do this too even though I try not to. I think people will look at any reflective surface they can to get a look at how they appear to others. This is also something that I think many more girls do than guys. I think it has to do with both the other oriented culture we live in and the idea of a docile body. The other oriented piece because they want to be pleasing to others.. that's essentially why they are checking how they look. Also the docile part because they can change something that isn't right (when I say right I mean by cultural norms by checking what they look like and noticing something is wrong.
ReplyDeleteI laughed after I read the first sentence because I always catch myself doing this walking to class. I usually do it more on the way to my 8am class because this is when I go out in public in sweats and no make up. It's almost as if I want to make sure I look good to others, and there's about a 90% chance I'm going to fix something about my hair or what I'm wearing. The last sentence in the first comment also reminded me that lights also give off that same impression. When looking in the mirror, I've heard many girls say "ugh this lighting is so horrible for me". It proves that we want to look our best at all times, especially around other people.
ReplyDelete(I couldn't upload a picture either)
ReplyDeleteCool choice of a body practice. I think it is so weird that it has become almost a "habit" of sorts for some people to look at themselves in every passing mirror or otherwise 'reflecting' object. I am completely guilty of this, I do it all the time. I am so afraid my scarf is going have tucked itself between my legs while walking, or I'm going to have a strand of hair sticking straight up and look like a doofus. We have been raised to be so self conscious about our appearance (thanks media, and mom haha) so we constantly worry about it. Obviously we can't be in the bathroom all the time checking our hair and makeup and backpack position, so we use mirrors and reflections. But then what, does it give us some sort of pride in looking at ourselves, like, "Oh yeah, lookin' good today!" or what? I think part of it has to do with the confidence we have in ourselves, but also what our culture has shaped us to be.