ESSAY:
Is thin really still in?
Some
would argue that body image isn’t an identity, but for females the way we feel
in our skin is everything. How we feel we look on the outside definitely
affects the way we feel on the inside and as a result, alters the way we
portray ourselves.
Female
body image is and I believe always will be an issue among women. As humans we
are wired with a competitive nature. We want to be the best, and will do
anything to be so. For males body image tends to not hold such importance but
for females vanity tends to hold priority. Growing up in a generation who is
heavily influenced by social media, girls are constantly being polluted by
unobtainable images. The media sets unrealistic goals for females, making the
average girl constantly doubt herself.
Being
a female myself, I have experienced and witnessed the struggle of acceptance
among girls and their bodies. 91% of women surveyed on multiple college
campus’s say they had attempted to control their weight through dieting. For me
it all started in seventh grade. I had
just started a new school and was in my early stages of puberty. As my hormones
were changing so was my body, but it felt like everyone around me was stuck in
their petite childish bodies. As I began growing I did everything I could to
stunt the process. I would go days without eating and the results were beyond
satisfying. People in school would often comment on how skinny I looked, and
hearing that would make it all worth it. I grew out of these habits when I reached
high school but the thoughts never left.
Being on a college campus my feelings towards my body have definitely
heightened. Living with 3 other girls and “being in these peer-dominated
environments increase(s) appearance comparisons to same-sex peers, or heighten
self-consciousness due to the presence of potential dating partners.(MAKING
THING NOT IN)”. My self-consciousness has absolutely become more prominent. I
have started watching what I am eating and attempting to go to the gym on a regular
basis. I interviewed one of my roommates to see if she felt the same way as me.
She said “ On a good day, I would say I am satisfied when I look in the
mirror. Most days, I am either indifferent or unsatisfied. I think girls feel
like they are in a competition to see who can have the best body. Though it
would be difficult to get away from that, I think girls should try and be more
supportive of all body types and aim for a healthy body instead of a ‘good’
body”. As females we owe it to ourselves and each other to ingrain confidence
rather than to detract it. We need to create a culture, which accepts all
shapes and sizes.
Out of curiosity I interviewed my
best friend who goes to school in the UK. Her responses were over all more
positive. When asked if she was satisfied when she looked in the mirror her
response was “yes”, unlike all of my roommates. She also said her attitude
towards her body has become more positive, instead of working on loosing weight
she is working on toning and strengthening. The only thing, which did reflect
with what my roommate said, was on campus there is pressure to be skinny. Why
is it that wherever you are in the world there is an underlying pressure to
look a certain way?
As a fashion major, I sometimes feel guilty that I am going into an industry
that contributes so heavily to female insecurities. We live in a world where
everything we do or say has had some sort of influence from the media. Going
into an industry, which pushes for thin to be in, I feel obligated to try and
make a change. I believe that all women are beautiful as cliché as that sounds.
The human body is a work of art and our flaws are what make us unique. No one should be told to look a certain way
or strive to a certain ideal. If
everyone looked exactly the same, how boring would the world be?
Body image and identity go hand in
hand, one greatly impacts the other. If you feel poorly about your appearance
it’s going to heavily impact the way you portray/hold yourself. On college
campuses you often hear stories about immense amounts of pressure not only in
the classroom but also from peer pressure. Among females the amount of pressure
coming from each other and ourselves is so vast we will do whatever it takes to
achieve the unobtainable.
Although
I say all of the above the pressure to be a certain size is definitely
overpowering. Even though I know the right thing is to break the social norm,
and just be comfortable with the way that I am, it is easier said than done. As
previously stated, girls have so much pressure coming at them from so many
different angles to look a certain way and, in particular, be a certain shape
and size. It’s sad to see what a toll this can take on girls, especially when
this mindset starts so young. A lot of girls think that being skinny will make
them happy but we all know that’s not the truth. There is more to life than a
size.
work cited:
GillenEva, M. M. (2006). Gender role development and body
image among male and female first year college students. Sex
Roles, 55(1-2), 25-37. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11199-006-9057-4
Goswami, S., Sachdeva, S., & Sachdeva, R. (2012). Body
image satisfaction among female college students. Industrial Psychiatry
Journal, 21(2), 168-172. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.4103/0972-6748.119653
MAKING
THIN NOT IN: PROGRAM PROMOTES HEALTHY BODY IMAGE AMONG FEMALE COLLEGE STUDENTS.
(2011, Mar 07). US Fed News Service, Including US State News Retrieved
from http://search.proquest.com/docview/855514334?accountid=10559
This article is not only about confidence but also about racial stereotypes. We all have a preconceived idea that all superheroes or imaginary character are white. That may sound untrue but when you really think about it what superhero is white and what imaginary character is black. I know I was raised with the belief that Jesus, Santa, the tooth fairy, ext. are all white. Its time that we break racial barriers, why cant Santa be black or be Asian? Vishavjit Singh took a stand to try and break the norm but as he saw everyone that day took a double take because no ones used to seeing a skinny, dark skinned, Captain America in a turban.
“Faking it”
This article is all about how one portrays themselves on the internet. These days we base a lot of our opinions of people on the way that they look on the internet. You may not have even met them but you can come with preconceived ideas just by ones facebook profile. I know before I met two of my roommates I did some hard core facebook stalking and to say I was scared was an extreme understatement. Both girls had purple hair and facial piercings, and the conclusions me and my other roommate were coming too were cruel and unjust.
“Journals”
The third article was about an African American man and how he felt he was being socially isolated. I can definitely relate, I am used to being thought of as spoiled and no one really see’s me for who I really am.
Quote:
“ And we were able to lay to rest any anxieties or inhibitions in those moments — about other people, about the unknown, about ourselves, about violating other people’s personal spaces or not understanding their beliefs.”
"Why women smile", in this video the narrator/author is expressing why she thinks women are always taught to smile. We live in a culture where men are treated as hierarchy. Men are told to project out while women are told to hold in. Women are taught to watch what they eat while men are taught to "eat like a man". The double standard we have created is outrageous. Why should women hold back? We are just as much of a person as a man. In ideal world men and women would be treated equally but in reality that is just never going to happen. We are raised from a very young age that one sex is better than the other. Young boys play with trucks and they build things where girls sit around and play dress up and experiment with makeup on a plastic dolls head. Which to you seems more useful?
Going to a strict private school we were taught to cite from a very young age and its never really been too much of an issue. We were taught to use a site called "noodletools" which made citing very simple. The only thing I've always found a little bit challenging is in cite citations. I find them extremely frustrating and annoying. The only other thing I would like to improve is the way I weave quotes into my papers. I sometimes find it hard to not make my quote stick out like a sore thumb and instead have them be woven in to add to my material.
It is easy for us to say that we hate stereotypes. It may seem like we do, but when you really look deeper into stereotypes we are the ones who create them. Sterotypes are a way to judge categorize people, which may seem harsh yet it is true. We as humans have the tendency to judge and stereotypes are away to do in a more socially acceptable way. This essay made me realize that I should’ve talked more about what my identity means to other people.
This article is heavily about race, which doesn’t necessarily concern my essay. The author does make some interesting points about how people adapt in different environments. This aspect does relate back to my paper, in the sense that college changes a lot of peoples view on their bodies.
week 7:
Sahana,
You’re piece portrays an artist very well. I’m really impressed with how convincing you’re paper is and how well you backed up all your information with quotes. The one thing that stands out to me is the lack of organization. I would re-read your paper a few times and figure out the best order of the paragraphs. I also would create a stronger introduction and conclusion, I think that will really ad to your overall statement. Overall I am really impressed with your paper.
Good job!
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