Body Beautiful Or Body Perfect By Francine Odette Analysis

In society, beauty is defined by long hair, lighter skin, and plastic. Society has created campaigns that focus on the natural beauty of women of different shades, sizes, and heights, however, every woman they have used in their campaign were able – bodied women. All campaigns that work towards natural beauty of women leave out women with disabilities. In Francine Odette’s Body beautiful/body perfect: challenging the status quo: where do women with disabilities fit in? She discusses the reasons why women with disabilities are neglected of the right of being called beautiful. She connects these issues starting off with how the bodily images of society impact women with disabilities, who end up medicalizing their bodies, and how society views

Odette makes a notion that both groups are subjected to view their bodies as less desirable and not what society views as beautiful. She makes the point that; “… thinness is often equated with health and success… Fat women, women with disabilities, women from a particular racial or ethnic groups… do not conform to the prescribed norm of social desirability…” (41). Because of how these women are grouped together it is difficult for her to narrow in her research solely on disabled women because they are not the only group of women that are deemed not beautiful. Women with disabilities are given the belief that they are not important and advertisements subconsciously tell the viewer that only able – bodied women are desirable. Moreover, this mindset leads these women to modify their bodies to look as closely to society’s norm and society’s ideal image of

As able – bodied women undergo surgeries to stay within the ideal woman that society wants, the disabled are lead to have a lower idea of their self – image; this makes them suffer physically along with mentally. Feminist has placed their focus on the reality of the Western culture. Odette states that; “… women’s bodies are objectified for the purpose of male pleasure and domination” (42). White, able – bodied, heterosexual men are the reasons why women are constantly fighting to stay beautiful with these surgeries which make disable women believe that is their cure. Disability is seen as a deficit, furthermore, they have to come to the realization that the ideal woman is not part of their experience or within their reach. Women who have physical disabilities are faced with judgment or pity from people they do not know, their families, co – workers, practically anyone who sees them or comes into contact with them. Unfortunately, they are perceived to lack the ability to participate in roles that are expected of a woman; and if they are to achieve this goal they have to do the