My project will be a written piece
(a Tumblr campaign) that will focus on the beauty standards
created by the media for women, how the media has constructed these standards,
its effects, and how a beauty/body shaming culture gained force on the internet
and social media.
Why is this important? This is a
social issue and ongoing cycle that affects young girls and pressures women.
Education is key in letting the younger generation know that what’s on the
cover of a magazine is fed through editing software and altered. Younger girls
should know that the “ideal” standard of beauty is something that is
manufactured by people.
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| Retro ad from the 1940's-1950's |
I will start my project off by
laying down a historical foundation first. I want to touch on how growing up in
America, popular culture has been an outlet for the media to influence women on
how to look and act. Then I will take my research to the present day, see how
these standards affect young girls and adults, and how projected images
condition society into accepting a synthetic form of beauty. I also want to
discuss an interesting phenomenon on social media, where if a woman ultimately
conforms to beauty standards or strays far away from them, will get criticized
on social media either way.
 |
| Screenshots of "You Look Disgusting" by My Pale Skin on Youtube |
I'm doing my project on this topic
because I’m very passionate about empowering women and helping other people
feel good about themselves. I want to create a movement called the Beauty Breaker Campaign- something that brings women together, empowers them, and promotes a
positive self/body image. This campaign is going to encourage women to "break" whatever preconceived definition of the word "beauty" they have and to fully embrace themselves. No matter if a woman decides to wear a full face of
make up or none at all, no matter what body type she has, this campaign will be designed to show that there are millions of interpretations and perceptions of what makes a woman feel beautiful. In a way, this campaign will be incorporated with the "shaming" aspect of my project.
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| Lane Bryant Ad |
At this point, I am still gathering
as many sources as I can. I have a few scholarly articles and studies on media
and body image but would like to find more. I will be using magazines, books,
social media, and advertisements to reinforce my research and utilize
converging media. The book Pink Think: Becoming a Woman in Many Uneasy Lessons
by Lynn Peril is one source that elaborates on the history of pop culture and
how it created a particular feminine ideal in America. An article that is
beneficial to my project is “Female Body Image and the Mass Media: Perspectives
on How Women Internalize the Ideal Beauty Standard”, which talks about the Social
Comparison Theory, and how projected images from the media affect how women
perceive themselves. I will also use modern women as examples that perpetuate
these beauty standards such as Kim Kardashian, Dita Von Teese, Kylie Jenner, or
Candice Swanepoel.
As for production, I have made
contact with some women I want to interview and use for this piece. At my final
presentation, I hope to have my interviews completed and pictures that have
women and/or young girls participating in the Beauty Breaker Campaign.
Bibliography:
Chapman, Taylor. "Women in American Media: A
Culture of Misperception." RSS.
N.p., 2011. Web. 12 Nov. 2015.
Evans, Meredith A. "Unattainable Beauty: An
Analysis of the Role of Body Shame and Self-Objectification in Hopelessness
Depression among College-Age Women." Http://scholarworks.umb.edu/.
University of Massachusetts Boston ScholarWorks at UMass Boston, 1 Dec. 2010.
Web. 20 Oct. 2015.
"Fringe Group That Photoshops Images of
Plus-Size Women to Make Them Thinner: 'It's Wrong to Accept Being Obese as
OK'" PEOPLE.com. N.p., 20 Aug. 2015. Web. 21 Oct. 2015.
Gimlin, Debra L. Body
Work: Beauty and Self-Image in American Culture. Berkeley: U of California,
2002. Print.
Kretz, Valerie. "Perceived Reality of Images of
Women in Magazines."
E-Publications@Marquette. E Publications, May 2011. Web. 12 Nov. 2015.
Ossola, Alexandra. "The Media's Effect on
Women's Body Image." Hamilton
College. N.p., 01 Sept. 2010. Web. 10 Nov. 2015.
Peril, Lynn. Pink
Think: Becoming a Woman in Many Uneasy Lessons. New York: W.W. Norton,
2002. Print.
"Photoshopping: Altering Images and Our
Minds." BEAUTY REDEFINED. N.p.,
12 Mar. 2014. Web. 12 Nov. 2015.
Sands, Emma R., and Jane Wardle.
"Internalization of Ideal Body Shapes in 9-12-year-old Girls." Int. J. Eat. Disord. International Journal
of Eating Disorders 33.2 (2003): 193-204. Web. 09 Nov. 2015.
Schooler, Deborah, L. Monique Ward, Ann Merriwether,
and Allison Caruthers. "Who's That Girl: Television's Role In The Body
Image Development Of Young White And Black Women." Psychol of Women Q Psychology of Women Quarterly 28.1 (2004):
38-47. Web. 10 Nov. 2015.
Schulten, Katherine. "Is Our Culture of Online
Shaming Out of Control?" The
Learning Network Is Our Culture of Online Shaming Out of Control Comments.
N.p., 26 Mar. 2015. Web. 12 Nov. 2015.
Serdar, Kasey. "Female Body Image and the Mass
Media: Perspectives on How Women Internalize the Ideal Beauty Standard." The Myriad: Westminster's Interactive
Academic Journal. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Oct. 2015.
"Why Women Face "Worse" Online
Shaming Than Men." ELLE. N.p., 31 July 2015. Web. 21 Oct. 2015.
Wolf, Naomi. The
Beauty Myth: How Images of Beauty Are Used Against Women. New York: W.
Morrow, 1991. Print.
"Women in American Media: A Culture of
Misperception." RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Oct. 2015.
Inspirational Media Projects/Works for
Inspiration (Videos):
“When Online Shaming Spirals Out of Control” by Jon
Ronson (TED Talk)
“You Look Disgusting” by My Pale
Skin
“100 Years of Beauty in 1 Minute-
Episode 1: USA (Nina)” by WatchCutVideo
“100 Years of Beauty in 1 Minute-
Episode 2: USA (Marshay)” by WatchCutVideo
“Body Evolution-Model Before and
After” by PresidentoftheWorld
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