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Body image in the twenty first century
Media and societal expectations significantly affect an individual’s view on body image and influence efforts at body enhancement and modification
Societal Expectations And Media Influences Of Body Image Essay
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Society plays a big role in how people perceive their body image. Everyone has their own definition of body image, but it is simply one’s logic or ideal image of what one's body is or should be like (Dictionary.com, 2015). Females of all ages have high standards in society. Even though social expectations do not dictate that women change themselves, the media effects body image by giving us an image to strive to be. Sometimes this image is unrealistic. Over the past 100 years, body image has evolved. Each decade a new body image and style of how the ‘perfect’ female is supposed to look changes. During the 1910’s corsets were worn. This gave women an hourglass body shape. The image was a round soft body, gathered together in a small waist. The known figure of the decade was the Gibson girl. The figure was slender, tall with bust and wide hips (All Walks Beyond the Catwalk, 2012). …show more content…
This portrayed the body image of very slim and boyish. Flapper dress were trending; emphasizing long torsos, flat breasts, and no hips. Women were able to feel free and be as comfortable as a man. Although they did dress up, it was more comfortable. Their hair was typically short and short skirts above the knee were worn to show off long slim legs, knees, and ankles. This image made women begin to exercise to try to get this slender look. Body image is now very different from a decade ago. Women now wanted to be straight rather than curvy (1920s,
Beauty is a cruel mistress. Every day, Americans are bombarded by images of flawless women with perfect hair and smooth skin, tiny waists and generous busts. They are presented to us draped in designer clothing, looking sultry or perky or anywhere in between. And although the picture itself is alluring, the reality behind the visage is much more sinister. They are representations of beauty ideals, sirens that silently screech “this is what a woman is supposed to look like!” Through means of media distribution and physical alteration, technology has created unrealistic beauty ideals, resulting in distorted female body images.
From coast to coast people were reading the exploits of a new type of woman called flapper. Prior to World War 1 Victorian ideals still dictated the behavior of American women and girls. Frederick Lewis Allen describes the traditional role of women. Women were the guardians of morality. They were made of finer stuff than men. They were expected to act accordingly. Young girls must look forward in innocence to a romantic love match which would lead them to the altar and to living happily ever after. Until the right man came along they must allow no male to kiss them. Flappers did the opposite. Flappers danced the Charleston, kissed their boyfriends while they played golf and sat behind the wheels of fast cars. The liberated usually young female disdained the traditions of her mother and grandmother before her. Flappers would smoke and drink alcohol, she cut her hair and wore short dresses. They also changed their views on courtship rituals, marriage, and child rearing. With these they could have the same freedom as men could. The time period also saw a highly physical change in women’s lives like how they dressed and looked. For the first time in American history women could choose to be free from long hair and voluminous clothing. Before the women changed they wore very restrictive clothing consisting of long skirts with layers of petticoats over tightly laced corsets that produced an hourglass figure with wide hips and a narrow waist.
Imagine walking in the streets where all other women and girls are dressed in long dresses, look modest, and have long hair with hats. Then, there is a girl with a short skirt and bobbed hair smoking a cigarette. This girl makes a statement and is critically judged by many people for dressing this way. Women during the 1920s were not to look “boyish” in any way, so when short hair and short skirt were introduced, it was seen as shameful. The girls wearing this new style were known as flappers. Their style was introduced in the early 1910s but did not spark until the 1920s. The style was said to be more comfortable, but was not appealing to the more conservative. Before the change of style, most women were dressed modestly; however, women's
We hear sayings everyday such as “Looks don’t matter; beauty is only skin-deep”, yet we live in a decade that contradicts this very notion. If looks don’t matter, then why are so many women harming themselves because they are not satisfied with how they look? If looks don’t matter, then why is the media using airbrushing to hide any flaws that one has? This is because with the media establishing unattainable standards for body perfection, American Women have taken drastic measures to live up to these impractical societal expectations. “The ‘body image’ construct tends to comprise a mixture of self-perceptions, ideas and feelings about one’s physical attributes. It is linked to self-esteem and to the individual’s emotional stability” (Wykes 2). As portrayed throughout all aspects of our media, whether it is through the television, Internet, or social media, we are exploited to a look that we wish we could have; a toned body, long legs, and nicely delineated six-pack abs. Our society promotes a body image that is “beautiful” and a far cry from the average woman’s size 12, not 2. The effects are overwhelming and we need to make more suitable changes as a way to help women not feel the need to live up to these unrealistic standards that have been self-imposed throughout our society.
How were young women of all classes dressing to be modern in the nightclubs and dance halls of the 1920s and 1930s? Focusing on the middle-classes, yet considering women of both the upper and working classes, discuss what were the influences in their fashion choices.
As the stock market booms and society prospers, women’s fashion undergoes drastic change during the 1920’s. The hems of skirts and dresses rise to newer, more promiscuous level. The traditional long hair, supposedly the crowning glory of a women, is cut shoulder-length or shorter. Defined waistlines are lost, giving way to a shapeless and loose fitting style of clothing. Manufacturing of cosmetics emerges during this decade, and a variety of products become popular among women. The famous Gabrielle Chanel, more commonly known as “Coco Chanel,” introduces her renowned perform in the late 1920s (Yarwood 139). Peggy Whitley, dean at Lone Star College, sums up the newfound cosmetic craze in her American Cultural article: “Powder, lipstick, rouge, eyebrow pencil, eye shadow, colored nails. They had it all!” Associated with the distinct new styles of the era, the iconic “flapper girl” is born. This term is often used for women who donned the edgy style of the time, particularly with a defiant and independent outlook on life. Outside the exciting and rebellious life of the flapper girl, everyday clothing also experiences significant change. Relaxed sport’s attire bec...
At first glance, it appears that body image researchers have not just focused on the individual. Nearly every researcher in this field acknowledges the essential role that cultural norms for appearance play in the development of one’s body image. They have even gone as far as recognizing the gender differences in appearance norms in our culture. Men are held to a standard of a moderate, muscular built that generally matches the size and shape of the average man, but women are compared to a cultural ideal that has thinned beyond belief (Wolszon 545). The Miss America contestants have become so thin that most are fifteen percent below their recommended weight for their height, a sympt...
In the 1920’s body image and striving to look flawless was not of as much importance as it is today and nowadays all women care about is looking perfect and fitting the perfect image. The 1920’s were what started the reform; it’s when the women started to think about the importance of body image and self-worthiness. The well-known icon, Marilyn Monroe was a major sex symbol in the 1920s but she also taught women that size does not matter. As Marilyn Monroe once said, “I want to grow old without facelifts. I want to have the courage to be loyal to the face I have made.” She proved that women don’t need plastic surgery or any special dieting to be beautiful. She was a truly inspiring woman to many and beautiful not only on the inside but also the outside.
In a society similar to the one of the United States, individual’s body images are placed on a pedestal. Society is extremely powerful in the sense that it has the capability of creating or breaking a person’s own views of his or her self worth. The pressure can take over and make people conduct in unhealthy behavior till reaching the unrealistic views of “perfection.” In an article by Caroline Heldman, titled Out-of-Body Image, the author explains the significance of self-objectification and woman’s body image. Jennifer L. Derenne made a similar argument in her article titled, Body Image, Media, and Eating Disorders. Multiple articles and books have been published on the issue in regards to getting people to have more positive views on themselves. Typically female have had a more difficult time when relating to body image and self worth. Society tends to put more pressure on women to live to achieve this high ideal. Body image will always be a concern as long as society puts the pressure on people; there are multiple pressures placed and theses pressures tend to leave an impact on people’s images of themselves.
In the early 1900’s the ideal woman would be dressed with long dresses and would normally have long hair. Several events such as World War I, in July of 1914, changed women’s role in society. They were not only taking care of the children and the household but they were also taking the role of a man. As men went to war, women replaced them in factories. This caused woman to be more independent. Women realized that having a job was something that could be done; their sex didn’t restrict them from taking this action. This was extremely important as it lead to women being more confident and capable. In the 1920s young women began to change. They went from having long dresses and long hair, to a short haircut and wearing dresses that were above the knee. Women developed a greater interest in looking attractive. According to Russell L. Johnson, the beauty industry grew rapidly as cosmetic expenses sky rocketed from 750 million to 2 billion dollars (Johnson 3). This was one of the causes of the sexual revolution. Women became “ less formal but more expressive (Mag...
Before the early to mid 1800’s, women were forced to squeeze into corsets made of whalebone, steel or buckram. It gave them the figure eight profile which resulted on a number of health problems, including their organs and body to become deformed. Over the corsets, women wore heavy layers of petticoats despite the weather. (Small Business Administration 3) Dresses emphasized the bust and hips, attempting to make women look very voluptuous. With the spread of commercialism, hundreds of new beauty products were introduced. These ever-popular restricting fashions were later outdated.
Women used to dress very conservatively and strict before the turn of the decade. Clothing consisted of fitted dresses, long skirts, and corsets in lady like manners. Since the 1920’s brought women’s rights along, young women decided that they were not willing to waste away their young lives anymore being held down to the rules; they were going to enjoy life. The younger generations of women were breaking away from their old habits and their fashion statements changed their roles in society completely. Women were modeling their lives after popular icons...
In today’s society, we are bombarded with media messages about how we should look, dress and behave. The seemingly unattainable ‘ideal’ body is broadcast on our television and movie screens, in magazines and on the internet, displaying what men and women should look like. With these images being in such abundance, many may see this body ideal as normal, with anything less unacceptable. With the advancement of technology, many of these images are altered in ways t...
The 1960’s was the first time in history that clothing was geared towards the youth market. In result, the industry broke many fashion traditions and ignored many other “social laws”. In the past, fashion houses designed for the mature and elite members of society; however, many agents began to realize that the power of the teenage and young adult market was too great to ignore and they were too smart not to capitalize on such an opportunity. As a response to this information, new and radically innovative fashion styles were introduced into modern society. Prior to the 1960s there were the silk bows, small buckles, and dark colors of the 1900s, "Flapper" fashion took over the 1920s Among these were the little girl/woman androgynous looks for women, the pillbox hat, suits (usually in pastel colors) for women, short boxy jackets, over-sized buttons were used, simple/geometric dresses (or shifts). As for everyday styles, full-skirted formal gowns which often had a low decolletage and had close-fitting waists were worn as evening wear and outfits paired with capri trousers were worn as casual wear for women...
In the society that we live in today, the body plays a critical role in how we perceive our own physical bodies and how they are observed by others. It determines what we choose to wear, how we compare our own bodies to others, and how we carry ourselves in the interactions that we have. This paper will examine how the ideology of the “perfect body”, so dearly embraced by Western Culture, affects how people judge you based on your appearance. This impacts how physical characteristics are associated to our bodies, and how these perceptions influence individuals to change who they are and how they look in order to meet society’s expectations. Individuals want to have traits such as beautiful, gorgeous, hot,fit and muscular associated to their body image. I will also talk about my own body and the personal experiences that I have encountered over the years both positively and negatively influencing my image, and how these experiences can relate to what