Magazine Beauty

        As summer quickly approaches many thoughts and ideas come to everyone’s mind: no school, warm weather, new outfits, bikinis, and bikini bodies. Women all over scramble and work out like crazy to fit into itsy swimsuits. Swimsuits that they see being worn by some of the worlds smallest women, women that are incomparable to most of the population. They will page through magazines that are advertising, not only these suits, but societies image of a woman’s perfect body. Women then believe that in order to buy this swimsuit they also need to have the same body as the tiny model. Even though all that is actually needed to own a swimsuit is money to buy it. There are no actual laws or regulations saying that skinny girls are the only girls allowed to wear bikinis, but yet for some reason millions of women are fooled by this social idea.

        The idea for this picture came to me as I was cleaning my apartment and came along a pile of catalogs and magazines my roommates and I have collected and stored up over the year. Every single one had a small woman on the cover, most of them in swimsuits or revealing outfits. I thought to myself how often I see these magazines each day, even if I don’t consciously think about the skinny women that’s the image being engraved into my mind what I should look like in a bikini. I started to think about how every where it was unavoidable for women to be “brainwashed” with the idea that they should be skinny in order to wear a swimsuit.

What is True Beauty?

We are constantly seeing ads that point out our “flaws” and give us products to correct them. Lots of ads use terms such as crow’s feet, dark circles, and wrinkles. These make women question themselves and feel that in order to come close to achieving perfection they need help from these products.

            Older women are trying to appear younger using anti-aging creams and erasers. We discussed the Botox baby in class, where women, especially celebrities, are using products at younger ages to prevent the aging process before it even begins. While younger girls are using makeup to make themselves look older.

            In this picture I show a typical teenager’s desktop. I feel younger girls are especially influenced by what is shown on magazine and T.V. ads. Women are trying to look between the ages of 18 and 35. So girls in their early teens are wearing makeup partly to feel better about themselves and also to appear older. The desk in this picture is filled with mascaras, eyeliners, foundations, perfumes, and lotions. All products that were bought to take away any flaws.

            Women in ads have perfect skin with no acne or blemishes. When we see these women we feel obligated to put on foundation to cover our skin up. Then the ads say that natural skin is beautiful so they make lighter, more natural foundations to make skin have natural glow while still covering acne. Making “natural” no longer natural. We are made to feel that we can’t be beautiful without wearing makeup. The media all around us tells us we are beautiful just the way we are. BUT, at the same time they tell us to wear makeup to show our true beauty.

Growing up, I’ve always been a tom boy. In high school all my friends would dress up and wear makeup. I never felt like I had to dress up, or wanted to. Society and the media showed women as dressing girly, like wearing dresses, heels, and makeup. I preferred wearing comfy clothes and being myself. Every day I was faced with someone telling me I needed to dress up, or play my gender role. People judged me because I dressed like a “boy” even though I am a girl.

            I was inspired to show these two pictures of myself over spring break. It was mandatory to dress up for formal dinner nights. The picture on the left is how I looked going to dinner. The one on the right is how I looked after dinner. Although I felt pretty, I couldn’t wait to get back into my comfy clothes. I wish society hadn’t portrayed women as always being dressed up because I don’t like getting dressed up. The few times I actually do dress up, everyone makes a big deal about it and tells me I should always dress like that, but that’s not who I am.

 

"WHAT DO YOU DEFINE BEAUTIFUL AS?"

I decided to do my  blog post on the discrimination of women and what it means to you to be beautiful. Throughout society and our culture the media has always shown women as being beautiful if they were tall, very thin, and white. With these images being shown to us everyday it almost forces us to believe that we are not beautiful unless we look like those women that are shown in the media, when in all reality that's not true at all. I had flipped through magazines and found various images of women, men, children, etc. I took images of people of different ethnicites, elderly people, and people of disabilities because there really isn't just 1 type of beautiful no matter what the media tries to portray to us.
I chose to do stereotypes of women within our culture because so many women strive and try to achieve the look of the women that are shown in ads when really they are beautiful just the way they are. People come in different shapes, sizes, and color; but there is definitely not just one definition of beautiful for all of these. I have shown an elderly couple and a family for they have lived their lives, had children, and made memories of their own.  I think that is beautiful. I have shown images of children with disabilities, and yet they have their whole life ahead of them and still seem to not have a care in the world. I think that is beautiful. I have shown women of color for our media does not put them in advertisements unless they are shown with very light skin or they are in an exotic advertisement. Women of color are just as beautiful as any other white women we see in advertisements.
I had chose this stereotype in hopes to share with all of you that there really isn't just one type of beautiful and that our media and culture shouldn't be the deciding factor on what makes YOU beautiful.

Activist Photo Assignment

For as long as I can remember, I've been getting box braids and pressed buns in my hair throughout my “growing up” years. These protective hairstyles allowed me to wear my hair naturally, but growing up especially in school I noticed my natural hair was seen negatively. Questions from “why don’t you wear your hair like mine?” to deliberately touching my natural hair are a few of the misfortunes I and many other people have had to experience.   

The policing of women’s hairstyles is nothing new. More and more, women of different ethnic backgrounds with different hairstyles are facing scrutiny in the job employment world. Many women are forced to choose between their natural hair and their jobs. The standard of beauty or what is considered appropriate hair to wear when going to some job interviews is the straighter Western European look. Plenty of women have been asked to wear their hair differently or have been completely denied a job because they choose to wear their hair either naturally or in a protective style that suits their ethnic hair. We do not have the privilege of our hair not making radical statements as it unfortunately did for celebrities such as Zendaya and Solange Knowles. The problem is that when you’re focusing on a women’s appearance you are taking away from their accomplishments, professionalism, and experience.

These women in the picture above are fighting these societal views by choosing to wear their hair naturally or a way that fits best with their hair type and personality. 

-Sava Gidey   

Gender Wage Gap

By: Madelyn Brown & Ally Hlavka

We decided to focus on the gender wage gap.  Full-time female workers make 78 cents to every dollar a man makes.  This is especially surprising considering women don’t pay less for things than men do.  Products at the store are not priced differently based on gender, that wouldn’t be fair.  It wouldn’t be considered fair if women paid significantly less for the exact same college degree as a man.  Therefore, it shouldn’t be considered fair that women get paid significantly less to do the same exact job a man does.  This is not only a problem that exists among a few different types of jobs, almost every type of job has a gender wage gap, where women make less than men.

In these pictures both individuals are showing that their degrees were worth the same amount of money.  Theoretically, these are two individuals who attained the exact same degree, have the exact same job, dedicate the same amount of hours and have the same job responsibilities.  The man gets paid 22 percent more than the woman.  This puts into perspective the difference between 78 cents to every dollar a woman makes in comparison to a man.  The gender inequalities within the workplace have improved over the years.  Where women used to mostly hold jobs that were considered "female jobs", like being a secretary, they are now in positions that were traditionally held by men.  This being said, the gender wage gap still exists and it is an issue for all women and families they have to support.

"That" Girl & Proud

RaeLynn Barott

Gender, Race, and Popular Culture (230-1)

Photo/Blog Post Assignment

March 30^th, 2015

           

We have all, at one point or another, encountered “that” girl. The girl who “just wants attention,” the girl who “can’t take a joke,” or the girl who “can’t take a compliment.” The girl with “a bad attitude,” or the girl who refuses to “act like a lady.” We all know one of those “man-hating, bra-burning, button-wearing, annoying, angry feminists.” Those girls who make a scene and go off on feminist rants when someone makes a sexist remark or a joke about rape, and “ruin all the fun.”

            If being “that” girl means refusing to be apathetic towards injustice, refusing to pass up the opportunity to advocate for self-love and loving others, then “that” girl is me. I am “that” feminist girl, and I am absolutely proud of it. Being aware of how pervasive misogyny is in our culture, as well as constantly noticing the ways it is perpetuated in every day life, is agonizing and exhausting, but it is empowering. The day I realized I was a feminist was the day I began to love myself. Feminism has guided me on a path of self-discovery and self-love, and has taught me true compassion.

            To be apathetic is to be compliant, and I refuse to be complicit in my own dehumanization. When I speak up against injustice, I am standing up for not only myself, but for others as well. Feminism is the reason I can go to school, get a job, and vote. I have all the opportunities I have all because women’s rights activists like Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Stanton and Alice Paul, to name a few, decided to speak up. Change cannot happen unless people speak up. I am willing to be thought of as annoying and I am willing to sacrifice the approval of others in order to advocate for justice. I choose to be “that” girl, for the sake of my own happiness as well as other’s. Feminism is not a dirty word, and I am happy to be an advocate for it. I am “that” annoying feminist, and I am proud.

            

"Don't Judge the Way I Dress"

 

I decided to do my photo assignment about the judgment and stereotypes about the way women  dress. I asked my friend to participate in my assignment by picking out an outfit she would typical wear to go out. That she feels comfortable but at the same time has gotten bad feedback about her outfit. She picked a red shirt that shows her stomach and a cute flowery skirt that is short. I think she looks very nice and cute I would wear the same outfit. At the same time she has told me how people have make comments about that she is barely wearing clothes or that she looks slutty or that she is thirsty for a man's attention. Which is fallen into stereotypes about how society see women trying to dress. Judging someone's appearance in any sort of way is given them stereotypes of who they are. Which is a commonly issue in society today, because popular culture thinks women are trying to dress in some type of way so they can get attention. When in reality "we" and I say we because I also have had the same problems of how I dress and be called those names and asked if I don't owned any clothes. Were not trying to be slutty or dress as a skank to get someone's attention I dress like that because I like the way I look. It's clothes I like buying at my favorite store, I feel comfortable of being able to show my stomach not to be sexy but just to be looking nice. It does not define who I am and I should not be judge or be called names.
That is the problem with society nothing is ever good enough, if a women wears not so much clothes she's trying to be a slut but when she wears a long dress and is covered up she looks bad and is trying to dress like an old lady. The posted the picture with my friend and I because this was a picture I took of us when we were going out, I never thought of using it in my assignment but it was last Friday. You can see our stomach and we are wearing tight leggings. I wanted to show how I do like to wear this kind of clothes on a typical base, but I also always get asked "don't you have more clothes to put on?"
Yes, I might be influence of the things I wear because of the media, because obviously I look at magazines I see what trends are in and which one is last season. I also know what does look good on me and what I feel comfortable, it is not because I am trying to dress so I can get judge in society I dress how I want to be dress. WHY JUDGE ME IF YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW MY NAME.

Define Yourself

When thinking about this assignment I had a lot to consider when figuring what I wanted my project to be based on. It became apparent to me that I wanted it to be based towards an issue that majority of people can relate too: derogatory terms and harmful stereotypes. Wether it's face-face, online, or texting, these terms are becoming more relevant. In the photograph I had mentioned a few which may make some cringe just reading. What I hate to admit is that there are way worse terms that people are being called now. It seems to me that our society focuses on the negative, the bad not the good. They pay attention to the not so perfect parts of your body instead of seeing that being imperfect it absolutely beautiful. This pop culture has created an idea that is so engraved in our brains on what is beauty looks like and how your supposed to act and look to be perfect. I would like to make a note that this idea is what is making us critize others and ourself for not being that "ideal" perfect. We start name calling because "that persons too ugly" or "that's her 3rd guy in a month, she's such a slut". After comes the depression and then what? Suicide? I believe this is relevant in many ways to our class because I feel like this class is about figuring out who you are and defining yourself. To me this photo is saying be your own voice, challenge others and yourself to not let negativity win. To love all of your imperfections and others. Most importantly to love and respect yourself.