Body Dysmorphia

Major Claim:
Discussed in the readings this week, the major claims mentioned were the following. To begin, the authors argued how social constrictions towards bodies control the appearance and hygiene of a gender, especially for females. Additionally, another claim being presented was the concept of beauty and how it has dictated societal expectations throughout time and diverse cultures. Finally, the discussion of how certain mental illnesses, such as eating disorders and body dysmorphia, can manifest and dangerously negotiate beauty ideals by influencing those to obsess over obtaining a perfect self-image.
Significance:
The significance of these arguments is that the social construct associated with gendered bodies is that it regulates
our appearance affecting how we dress and groom ourselves. To expand, the media broadcasts the newest fashion fade of the season or a contemporary product guaranteed to enhance one's physical look. With concerns to this, women's bodies are more controlled than men's. For example, the biological process of menstruation for a person with female anatomical parts is represented in a negative manner such that it is considered disgusting, foul, a taboo, shamed, and concealed. With that, the media draws hygienic attention to women more than men by showing a vast amount of advertisements for menstruation products, sprays, body washes, deodorant, and vaginal medicine. This is saying that women need constant grooming in order to conform to societal beauty and hygienic standards.
As for the claim about "beauty", beauty in regards to appearance has expectations for different genders.
In U.S. Society, the beauty standards for women are to be thin but sculpted with an hourglass figure, have long hair, have a large bust and butt, a perfect Hollywood grin, be young, and be abled-bodied. In contrast, men must be tall, sculpted and chiseled with muscles, tan, no hair in the abdominal/chest/or back area, have groomed hair that is not balding, and a large area in terms of male anatomy. With these differences, male beauty standards correspond to worth and opulence while in contrast, female beauty standards are tied to bodily appearance. Considering beauty in one society may be completely diverse in another. In other words, what may be beautiful in one society may not be in another. To illustrate, a few societies stretch their necks with extensions or insert augmentations into various places in the facial/neck area to make the neck appear long and the head shapely. In correspondence. beauty standards have evolved rapidly throughout cultures and in different societies too. In U.S. society, there was corset training in the Victorian era, the boyish and flapper look in the 1920s, long hair and short skirts in the 60s, the craze to be fit and tan in the 80s and 90s, Botox and smokey eyeshadow in the 2000s, and contoured makeup with shaped eyebrows in the
2010s.
The constraints of beauty standards may have a detrimental impacts on a vast majority of people.
Some known conflicts are the manifestations of eating disorders and body dysmorphia within individuals. For instance, those who suffer from these disorders result in comparing oneself to someone else and/or feel pressured by society to be "perfect" looking. All these claims that were mentioned tie into the study of Gender, Sexuality, and Women's Studies by explaining how there are self-image demands for specific genders contributing to the social construct of gender. Beauty affects women more significantly because society expects them to be the right amount of flawless in appearance rather than to take intellect and personality into
consideration.
Important Concepts:
Important concepts mentioned in the readings this week were the following. First, the term objectification is the viewing of one's body as just a valueless object rather than a meaning. This term is important to discuss because objectification occurs on a ritual basis for women, especially women of color who are exotified. We need to begin seeing people as an individual with interests and intellect rather than just a superficial entity. Another term that can be discussed is ageism. Ageism is the discrimination of an individual due to their age. For example, someone of an older age my feel targeted and self-conscious about certain actions (such as fashion choice, interests, and even occupations) because they feel they are too "feeble" or "past their prime". To conclude, commenting on one's age may seem like a subtle gesture, but it can be debilitating to someone's confidence.
Notable Quote or Staggering Statistic:
On page 194, "The most recent data from the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery reports a 64 percent increase in vaginal cosmetic surgeries in 2012 (from 2,142 performed in 2011 to 3,521 in 2012)." This quote rendered previously is rather shocking because although vaginal surgery can sometimes be for medical purposes, it shows that society's standards of beauty has an impact on those with a vagina. The reason for these vaginal surgeries were because if one does not acquire an unnoticeable labia minora or majora, they feel insignificant not complying with media's and the pornography industry's desired norms of how a vagina should appear.
Class Question:
Do you feel like today's generation of children are forced to grow up faster than our generation due to beauty standards? Why or why not? What may be contributing to this?
Synthesis:
In today's society, we can combat these beauty norms by remaining true to ourselves and practicing self-love when it is necessary. When practicing self-love, it is important to recognize all the intersections of bodies whether they are a different race, size, class, identify as transgendered or another gender, et cetera. With this, we can build ourselves up through our representation of beauty through our own style, individuality, intellect, personality, and a numerous amount of other characteristics.