Research Paper Models

Research Paper: Models

My research paper is going to consist of both a research paper and a album containing pictures that was collected. My research paper is going to provide information on what two guys imagine and think about when they think of women. These two guys are Mike, my friend and Timmy, my cousin. These guys are basically the guinea pigs in my experiment and their findings will be collected in the album. The other half of the research project is the paper that will not only explain the project but give information on the pressure that has been put on so many women to look like perfect and in many ways models. With the experiment, I handed both Mike and Timmy four magazines: two
Mademoiselles and two Allures. I then asked them
to go through them and rip out the pictures that they would want "their women" to look like. The collection of their ideal women is in the first half of the album. Notice that the pictures are mostly of models that are half dressed, thin and in provactedly positioned posies. The makeup on these women are all perfect and their hair is obviously not out of place. The selection of pictures not surprisingly were of women who not only were half dressed but also in their undergarments. The second half of the experiment was basically done in the same way; but this time I asked for them to tear out pictures that they would want their wives to look like. With four different magazines they tore out pictures of more conservetly dressed women. Their selection still consisted of beautiful women, only this time they were wearing clothes that the average person would be able to wear on the streets and not be called a dirty name. The women were still beautifully made up the a hair and makeup but this time it wasn't so dramatic; their poises were also "innocent"; I'm not surprised. But what did surprise me though was that their style in pajamas totally changed. In the first part of the experiment the two guys picked out the pictures of the women wearing what I would consider "tacky" nightgowns, but for their wives they picked out the pictures where "softer" and a lot less "showy" I guess at that point they did take into consideration that comfort is more important then what it looks like.
These two guys, the guinea pigs, is a very small of a large majority of men with these expectations. From the information that I gathered from the guys, Mike and
Timmy, the expectations that they have for women is "to always look their best, and to do whatever that is possible to make them (men) happy."(I personally think that they are still living in their dream world.) Men, for some unknown reason, feel and want "their women" to always look perfect.
They show their desire for these perfect creatures but also in real everyday life. For example in the movie "Pretty Women" Julia Roberts portrayed a prostitute who was dressed up transformed into the "perfect women" by Richard Gere. He not only bought all name brand clothes to dress her up in but also was taught how to act like a "proper women" with all the lessons in etiquette. The movie not only gave the message that women should be "transformed" into what the men desire; but also sent the message that some women are willing to change in order to live up to the man's expectations. The men's expectations has also developed into really big problems for us, the everyday women. The problem that many women have is the problem with our weight: we are either underweight or overweight. In an article of the
Mademoiselle magazine, a writer wrote in that, "My friend won't stop talking about her new diet plan. She's absolutely obsessed with food. I want to
be supportive of her efforts, but I'm bored to tears. What do I do?"(pg.46) The problem with diet plans is that there are so many drinks, methods, and diet food out there that many feel that once they use these "miracle products" and it doesn't work, they start to feel hopeless, which would lead to depression. There are many men out there that are blind to the fact that not everybody can be as slim as they want. The expectations that many men have for their girlfriends and at times their wives came from not only the magazines but from movies and billboards. It was written that "Vain is Victoria Principal, who according to rumor makes sure that the light reflects a pinpoint gleam in her eyes. Vain is Julio Iglesias, who supposedly has a towel man to position the singer- suntan artists towel so that he's always in optimal rays." (Allure, 1995,pg.158)
This is an illustration that celebrities have to use methods: lighting, makeup artists, and computer techniques before we see the finish product. Many men seem to think that what they see in the magazines and in movies of "their perfect women" is what they look like everyday. I admit that some celebrities do always look good, but then again the have the money to get the plastic surgery; which is another topic on it's own. In a "Reflections" article (Allure,1996 pg.168) an unanymous reader wrote in that, "What I am is worried. I am worried that I'm not tall enough, not thin enough, that my teeth aren't white enough, and that my hair is just all wrong. It seems that everyday I discover another body part to worry about." This reader later wrote that the problems that she had developed over the years starting from high school.
She had these worries and was facing them on her own because she felt that of she told anybody, they would think that she was crazy. This reader, like many other women, feel that what they were born with is: not enough or isn't perfect. In the world that we live in today, the majority of men view a women as two things: a possession and a bearer of babies.
In the Handmaid's Tale,(Atwood,1986,backcover) Offered, "must lie on her back once a month and pray that the Commander makes her pregnant, because in the age of declining births, Offered and other Handmaids are valued only if their ovaries are viable." The description basically summarized the theory that many men believe and pass on to later generations, that women are only good for making babies. My research paper hopefully opened up some people's eyes on the subject of natural beauty and artificial beauty. Everybody was born with imperfections and flaws; there is nobody that is absolutely perfect! Throughout history men have categorized women as sex objects, bearers of babies, and the person that they want to look perfect on their side when they walk into a gathering.
These category expectations are just that, expectations. Who ever said that you can always get what you want? Men have taken it upon themselves from way back when, that they are superior to women and what they say goes. This decision was obviously made by the male majority but it's the female majority that has allowed for this obscured thinking to continue. "Ultimately, it's our decisions, not the conditions of our lives that determine our destiny." (Anthony Robbins,
Notes from a Friend, pg.78) This statement, is what I feel women should start pounding into their heads. Men have taken it upon themselves to create the foundations of how a women should live and be viewed, but we the women have the ability to change what goes on the foundation, like the statement says: A women can never make up her mind."