Conclusion
Each of the works I looked at presented an intrinsic link with self-perception and ideas of beauty. LA Raeven portrays the idealistic vision of the perfect body as a mundane everyday occurrence showing the effect on ordinary women, which is evident and illustrated by the participants of Dove’s Beauty Sketches. The body dissatisfaction in the ‘Beauty Sketches’ confirms exactly the effect the media are having on women’s perceptions of themselves. The contemporary climate gives this image of ‘the ideal body’ meaning women are cornered into thinking that the only way to be considered beautiful is to look like these images. This means that they judge themselves harshly and critically against an image manufactured by the media. Women see what society judges to be the ideal and compare their own bodies leading to drastic outcomes of body dissatisfaction often resulting in dysmorphia and eating disorders. This model of perfection emphasises the current public standard for being thin, as well as other difficult-to-achieve standards of beauty for women. This is without resorting to extreme and sometimes life threatening behaviours, all but impossible to achieve for the average woman.
‘The category’s ‘fat’ and ‘thin’ are not innate and do not have intrinsic meanings; rather, they are socially constituted, along with the definitions of perfection and beauty.’[1] This idea of the ideal body stems from society particularly the media and pornography where the ideal body is presented and ingrained into people’s preconceptions of how we as women are ‘supposed’ to look. During analysis of the works the conception of the ideal body is a poisonous idea to be showing women which has devastating effects resulting in eating disorders and in extreme cases body dysmorphia.
Advancements in biology and technology have increased our understanding of the ‘self’. However it has also had a wider and juxtaposed effect on the socially controlled influences in regard to beauty. The introduction of widely available images, particularly as pornographic material is much more easily accessible, has only increased our obsession with the idea of perfection. Art and literature has historically documented images of beauty and the naked form, however the accessibility of electronic media and with it social opinion has led to potentially damaging effects on the health and self-esteem of women.
[1] Diamond, Nicky, ‘thin is the feminist issue’, feminist review,P 11
‘The category’s ‘fat’ and ‘thin’ are not innate and do not have intrinsic meanings; rather, they are socially constituted, along with the definitions of perfection and beauty.’[1] This idea of the ideal body stems from society particularly the media and pornography where the ideal body is presented and ingrained into people’s preconceptions of how we as women are ‘supposed’ to look. During analysis of the works the conception of the ideal body is a poisonous idea to be showing women which has devastating effects resulting in eating disorders and in extreme cases body dysmorphia.
Advancements in biology and technology have increased our understanding of the ‘self’. However it has also had a wider and juxtaposed effect on the socially controlled influences in regard to beauty. The introduction of widely available images, particularly as pornographic material is much more easily accessible, has only increased our obsession with the idea of perfection. Art and literature has historically documented images of beauty and the naked form, however the accessibility of electronic media and with it social opinion has led to potentially damaging effects on the health and self-esteem of women.
[1] Diamond, Nicky, ‘thin is the feminist issue’, feminist review,P 11