I had another lively conversation with him yesterday after watching Miss Representation in class. Playing the devil's advocate a little bit, he kept challenging me by saying that I didn't know every person's reason for getting "work" done on themselves, and therefore I can't say that it is always the result of media and societal pressures. Of course, I don't know the reasoning of every individual. In spite of a few exceptional situations that come to mind, however, I disagreed with his challenge overall.
I definitely feel that the decision to get plastic surgery, for most women, is based off of the awful influence of the media today. That's not to say that every girl sees a movie or advertisement or whatever with some tiny airbrushed sex symbol in it and thinks "I want to be sexy too! Why don't I just go get a boob job?" I don't think it is so conscious as that. But after years of bombardment from the time you were a little girl, you would be hard pressed to convince me that the media's messages have nothing to do with the fact that you are not content with the way you look.
I have so many more thoughts on the issue, it's just too much to put into concrete words. But I was glad we watched that documentary. Though I didn't necessarily agree with every aspect of it, it brought back the flood of conviction I experienced when we watched this clip last year in Dr. Coyne's adolescence class:
I looked up the definition of "beauty," and this is what came up:
"A combination of qualities that pleases the intellect or moral sense"
Based off of that definition, I think the world is definitely confused about what true beauty is. It isn't just your hair or skin or size. In fact, according to that definition, it has nothing to do with appearance. Rather, it is the culmination of qualities that are pleasing to the intellect, not to the eye.
Lots of food for thought.
I love that post. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with you about the media impacting young women little by little. I can't say that I didn't feel the need to jet out to the mall and buy a whole new look after reading a 17 magazine. This is a scary part of society.
ReplyDeleteThat was a really interesting. I loved the definition of beauty. I also think it is interesting that Dove put it out. I wonder if in a roundabout way they are trying to get the message across that Dove products help you accept your body the way it is. Just an interesting idea.
ReplyDeleteI feel as though beauty has equated to an almost sense of self-worth in today's world. That we think because we're not beautiful or we lack in specific aspects of defined beauty then we're not worth as much as the next individual that comes along. I too liked the definition you put of beauty, thanks for the post.
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