beauty ideal presentation

8/14/2019 Beauty Ideal Presentation

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Does anybody ever attend a party wherethe first thing you do is look around andcompare yourself to how other women at

the party look?

- I have a friend:

Shes not even that pretty.

Its okay, youre prettier than heranyway.

She seems to believe that physicalattractiveness is really all that matters.


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Beauty is an idea and a function ofculture.

When ideas about beauty makepowerful impacts they are consideredbeauty ideals.

Therefore, those who try to find beautyare trying to live up to an ideal.(uen)


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The Fashion Silhouette

Affects the natural look of the body to

mold into social standard. (Thomas)


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A Chinese womans foot was

considered beautiful if it was

small, so foot binding was

incorporated into the culture

and took place for about 1000years. Around the age of six,

small girls feet were wrapped in

tight bandages, so they could

not develop normally. They

would break and becomedeformed. These feet remained

small and dysfunctional and

prone to infection, paralysis and

muscular atrophy. The feet

usually stayed between 4-6inches long.


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Many African tribe women have had their lips supported and stretchedby metal rings (lip plates) since early childhood. In adulthood their

stretched lips express the ultimate in beauty. (able)


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Giraffe necks are

common in a tribe livingclose to the border ofThailand and also inmany African tribesespecially in Kenya andTanzania. (able)


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What wasconsideredbeautiful for an

aristocraticElizabethanwoman inTudor England

involvedwhitening theface, pluckingeyelashes, andshaving backthe hairline toshow aprominentforehead.

(Shaw)


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In the late 1700s,women began towear their hairalong with fake

hair up in a giantwig that tookhours to prepare.Women oftenhad to sleep

sitting up andscratched theirscalps with a toolresembling backscratchers of

today. The haircould be built upto 30 inches talland lice andpersistent headaches were

common. (Thomas)


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Corsets. Not only did they make it hard forwomen to move freely or sit down, but they alsodamaged internal organs and restricted airflow. This lead to fainting and less energy than

they would have otherwise. It would take about2 years for internal organs to be trained into asmaller position around the waste and about ayear of not wearing a corset for the internalorgans to settle back into regular positions.(Thomas)


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Today, girls (I say girls

because it all starts

when one is young), in

our society are beingconstructed to

constantly strive for a

slimmer figure.

Anorexia Nervosa and

Bulimia have evolved

into somewhat of an

epidemic. I would also

like to point out that

the average woman

who usually is a

healthy size 12-14,may have a low self

esteem because of

the normalized beauty

ideal to be thin.


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Though there are manyexamples that could still be

given, one can conclude from

all of these that women have

and are still being oppressed

through the beauty ideal.

One may also conclude that it

needs to be stopped.


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The Beauty Ideal works to limit women,encourages competiveness and ultimately tendsto lower womens self-esteem. (247)

The supporting argument behind this statement begins withthe products and rituals that are marketed to women. Thesestandards are not created by the women they affect but bythose with power and influence who create these trendsand options and enforce the standards. (235)

Disciplinary practices

1) Time- shaving, make-up, ironing/straightening hair, plastic surgery

2) Effort- Once one devotes this much time to something it becomes

part of who they are. As if this is naturally what they are supposed tolook like.

3) $

4) An overall view of ourselves as not being good enough.We are not

good enough the way we are but need certain products to improvethe way we look. (237)


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Society has responded to the gains of the

marginalized groups through distractions thatfocus energy on the body. (231) Societalstandards can humiliate those who do not or cannot fit them.

Men as a group have been able to project theirfears and anxieties about frailty and mortality ontowomens flesh.

Patriarchy has shaped women to-stay small, notto take up too much space, stay young, body hairis not acceptable----These are all ways of staying

more youth-like and powerless.


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Throughout these many cultures and timeseach fashion silhouette has molded many

different views of beauty.

All of these women were consideredbeautiful for adhering to each socialstandard.

It is foolish for one to know that beauty canbe all these different things and still believethe beauty construct that she or he haseternalized is the rightone.


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It would be ignorant not to acknowledge the fact that if womenignore cultural expectations for female appearance they maypay a price in lost wages, diminished marital prospects, loweredstatus and so on. Yet, if they conform and follow culturalexpectations, they pay a price in time, money, energy and overalla lower self esteem. (279)

If we cannot totally deny these societal norms for risk of beingchastised for it, what we can do is at least be aware of theseunnatural standards. We can do this by not let them take overwho we are or how we look at and treat others.

We also must work together to stop these institutionalized ways ofthinking to not leak into future generations. We must let them knowthat they are beautiful just the way they are; to save them from a

lifetime of self-deprecation and unfair judgment of others becauseof their looks.


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I want to be really ugly today

Just to stick it to The ManI want my ugliness on displayJust to fuck with The Man's plans

I want to be like Miss Jane HathawayOr Aunt Bea, or Alice, the maidFor whatever it was Marilyn MonroehadIt sure was quick to fade.

I want to invest hours preparingMy ugliness on paradeMy head to toesJust so everybody knows

I want to wear really geeky glassesNot the anarchist horned rim chicI want to be the bearded lady

Not some guy's girlfriend on which hecheats

I want to stand in a pile of ripped upnewspapersAnd to bathe in shreds of magazineadsI want to be so ugly you yell at me in

crosswalksI want to be so ugly I am banned

I want to wear my uglinessLike a badge of honor and prideAs a statement against capitalistbullshitAnd letting others control my in andoutsides

Beauty is skin deep

Ugly is profoundYou cannot get ugly in a bottledowntown

I want to be so ugly it is beautifulBehind the ugly, I feel safe to hideCommitting crimes of which no womendare speak

Pursuing ugliness during her beautymake-up time

I'm gonna be really fucking ugly todayJust so everyone knowsI'm gonna pursue it like others dobeautyJust to stick my thumb to my nose.

Written January, 2006

beauty ideal presentation

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