My Hips My Cadera Analysis

Media has a tremendous impact on the way society thinks today. Sources of media such as social media, magazines, advertisements, and television help to guide people’s perspectives. And one of the topics that it influences in society includes the way that society views female beauty. Many people feel that the media affects our notions of female beauty while many others argue against that. Valdes-Rodriguez in “My Hips, My Cadera, talks about the way her body is viewed in different cultures. And supports the fact that the environment you grow up in influences your perspective of beauty. However, while many agree that media does have an influence on our notion of female beauty, this notion can be attributed to different things, such as your culture
Models are seen widely in many media types; on billboards, magazines, social media, television and social advertisements, you’ll see flawless, hairless, and perfectly fit women which are used to sell products. As media sells this type of women as beautiful and attractive, women who don’t fall into this category are sometimes deemed as unattractive to men. For example, because across every media you see hairless women; women who choose to let their body hair be, are seen a gross or unsanitary to many men and sometimes women. While, it is actually untrue because body hair is natural and grows for a reason; many men still find it unappealing, because this is what they see with the women across platforms of media. Another standard that men expect out of women because of media is the perfectly fit body type. Models, which even though have professionals who help them to keep their body shapes and have strict diets, are seen as the desired body type because their skinny and fit. This pushes the standard that in order to be deemed as attractive and healthy you need to be skinny and fit. This results in many men finding that girls who have weight on them are unhealthy and gross. And just like the hairless standard, the views about this are untrue, but are influenced by media. As Valdes-Rodriguez stated “In English, your hips are those pesky things on the side of
This goes in touch with what was stated previously about men pushing these standards; because there are two reasons why women try to imitate these standards: to be deemed as attractive and to fit in. When women see everyday these perfect, flawless models or these women that society deems as attractive. They want to be seen in the same light. For example, in advertisements these women have clear skin, perfectly fit skinny bodies, long eyelashes, nice lips and so on. This causes many young girls to have lower self esteems because they see that they don’t look like that or cannot achieve that look. This can also result into self hatred and sometimes leads to eating disorders. This aim to fit these standards leads young girls and women to starve themselves, exercise daily, or get plastic surgery to feel attractive. According to Valdes-Rodriguez “ My best friend Stacy and I set out dieting right away that summer, to lose our hips so boys from the heights….,would like us”. She was only 12, when she started doing this. You might say that’s a young age to try to seem attractive to boys by dieting and hardcore exercising .But that’s what results from the influence of the media and outlets around you These portrayal of women by the media are everywhere and men finding these features attractive result in many young girls such as Ms. Rodriguez herself