In a country where pop culture is more important than current events, the media has the power of creating the image of the perfect female. Whatever the culture’s and media’s “dominant body ideals” are, people see “so many images of the preferred body types that they may think these types are common and innately superior and that other kinds of bodies are lesser and defective” (McDaniel and Robertson 86). Women view pictures of beautiful celebrities almost everyday on front pages of every magazine on the grocery store shelves; thus, the every day American is warped into believing that the ‘perfect’, ‘beautiful’, ‘lean’ bodies they see are what is considered normal, and that they are inferior.
What is unfortunate about the media’s perception of what is beautiful and what is not, is that it is a size zero, tan, tall, blond woman, a look that is nearly impossible for the majority of women in the United States. However, women are so brainwashed into believing that there is only one way to be attractive. Our world today is controlled by “the gaze”—a term that “reflects the intertwining of visual control and power structures in society”. This reliance on “visual perception” means, that “how we look” and “how we are looked at” influences who we are socially (McDaniel and Robertson 90). The media and men are controlling who gets looked at and how they get looked at, placing the ‘perfect body’ on a pedestal and disregarding all other women in America.
In our society today, the gaze is very skewed, forcing women into a constant struggle with losing, transforming, and changing their physical appearance because they are dissatisfied. If every female is attempting to look like the same image, there will be no individuality left in our society. In Vanessa Beecroft’s performance, Show, Beecroft explores the “dehumanization” of our female population—all living, breathing clones of each other. As shown by her similar models, American women are losing their independence and dissimilarities from one another by trying to achieve the “beautiful image” reflected by the media.
This “beautiful” image is recreated in Maureen Connor’s sculpture, Thinner Than You. One of the purposes of Connors was to show “the pressure that American Women are under today to strive for extreme thinness” (McDaniel and Roberston 76). Her piece of art is an exaggerated reflection of what America’s gaze is focused on—a thin rail. Lisa Yuskavage also plays with the idea of the “male gaze” in her painting, Pie Face. She emphasizes the female breasts, buttocks, thighs and hips—all body parts scrutinized by the public. Renee Cox’s, Hot-En-Tot, similarly uses the anatomy of the female body to show the stereotypical black woman, and how her body is different than what is depicted in the media.
Barbara Kruger’s, Super Rich/Ultra Gorgeous/Extra Skinny/Forever young, exemplifies what women put themselves through to achieve the look of “perfection”, even if women look ridiculous by doing it. Cindy Sherman also discusses the extent women go to to be attractive, and points out the stereotypes women have established for themselves by doing so.
Stella Vine further touches upon the media’s ideal image, and how the public eye not only effects everyday women, but the celebrities that are idolized as well in her painting, Holy water cannot help you now. Rachel Lachowicz similarly expresses the pressures of the media in her sculpture, One Month Late, and shows how men and women are judged differently.
Women of America should not be at battle with their bodies. They should not conform to the public eye. Females need to realize that there is not one beautiful, no matter what they see in the media--they need to realize how important their individuality really is.
What is unfortunate about the media’s perception of what is beautiful and what is not, is that it is a size zero, tan, tall, blond woman, a look that is nearly impossible for the majority of women in the United States. However, women are so brainwashed into believing that there is only one way to be attractive. Our world today is controlled by “the gaze”—a term that “reflects the intertwining of visual control and power structures in society”. This reliance on “visual perception” means, that “how we look” and “how we are looked at” influences who we are socially (McDaniel and Robertson 90). The media and men are controlling who gets looked at and how they get looked at, placing the ‘perfect body’ on a pedestal and disregarding all other women in America.
In our society today, the gaze is very skewed, forcing women into a constant struggle with losing, transforming, and changing their physical appearance because they are dissatisfied. If every female is attempting to look like the same image, there will be no individuality left in our society. In Vanessa Beecroft’s performance, Show, Beecroft explores the “dehumanization” of our female population—all living, breathing clones of each other. As shown by her similar models, American women are losing their independence and dissimilarities from one another by trying to achieve the “beautiful image” reflected by the media.
This “beautiful” image is recreated in Maureen Connor’s sculpture, Thinner Than You. One of the purposes of Connors was to show “the pressure that American Women are under today to strive for extreme thinness” (McDaniel and Roberston 76). Her piece of art is an exaggerated reflection of what America’s gaze is focused on—a thin rail. Lisa Yuskavage also plays with the idea of the “male gaze” in her painting, Pie Face. She emphasizes the female breasts, buttocks, thighs and hips—all body parts scrutinized by the public. Renee Cox’s, Hot-En-Tot, similarly uses the anatomy of the female body to show the stereotypical black woman, and how her body is different than what is depicted in the media.
Barbara Kruger’s, Super Rich/Ultra Gorgeous/Extra Skinny/Forever young, exemplifies what women put themselves through to achieve the look of “perfection”, even if women look ridiculous by doing it. Cindy Sherman also discusses the extent women go to to be attractive, and points out the stereotypes women have established for themselves by doing so.
Stella Vine further touches upon the media’s ideal image, and how the public eye not only effects everyday women, but the celebrities that are idolized as well in her painting, Holy water cannot help you now. Rachel Lachowicz similarly expresses the pressures of the media in her sculpture, One Month Late, and shows how men and women are judged differently.
Women of America should not be at battle with their bodies. They should not conform to the public eye. Females need to realize that there is not one beautiful, no matter what they see in the media--they need to realize how important their individuality really is.
Bibliography:
Robertson, Jean, and Craig McDaniel. Themes of Contemporary Art.
Second ed. New York: Oxford UP, 2010. Print.
Digital image. Web. 25 Apr. 2010. <http://popartmachine.com/machine
/daily/2009-02-01/women-in-pop-art/womain-hair-blowing-
in-face-pop-art_wallpaper.jpg>.
Robertson, Jean, and Craig McDaniel. Themes of Contemporary Art.
Second ed. New York: Oxford UP, 2010. Print.
Digital image. Web. 25 Apr. 2010. <http://popartmachine.com/machine
/daily/2009-02-01/women-in-pop-art/womain-hair-blowing-
in-face-pop-art_wallpaper.jpg>.
Show, Vanessa Beecroft
Thinner Than You, Maureen Connor
Pie Face, Lisa Yuskavage
Hot-En-Tot, Renee Cox
Super Rich/Ultra Gorgeous/Extra Skinny/Forever young, Barbara Kruger
Untitled (Woman in Sundress), Cindy Sherman
Holy water cannot help you now, Stella Vine
One Month Late, Rachel Lachowicz
