...In the essay “Out-of-Body Image” by Caroline Heldman, Heldman illustrates the strain on the relationship between a woman and her body caused by the manipulation in the media. Early on in the essay, Heldman makes it clear that the media has an issue sexualizing women and she does it through tone and the words she chooses. In the introduction of the essay she discusses the typical body figures people see in advertisements; they are “impossibly slim (and digitally airbrushed).” The words impossible and digitally suggest this sense of fabrication and falseness, a perception that cannot be reciprocated by a typical woman. She continues by suggesting that the depictions of women in the media is poisonous and highlights just how bad the impact of the media is, that it is comparable to poison and is harming not only women but young girls who view these advertisements as well. Heldman also demonstrates the direct effects the “poison” has, she mentions that self-objectification leads to eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia. These disorders stand out from the essay because they discuss a serious disease that could affect young girls and women. Heldman then focuses on the young girl aspect of the problem when she mentions the American Psychologists Association investigative report. The report found that girls as young as seven years old were learning to objectify themselves after watching advertisements and across other medium. Heldman states, “Teaching them to think of themselves...
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...Bailey Gerard-Custodio Ms. Dane ENGL 2593 November 26,2013 Essay 2: Patricia Hill Collin’s Thoughts on Shadow Tag Patricia Hill Collin’s main argument in, The Sexual Politics of Black Womanhood, is that race controls the type of objectification a woman will face. Meaning, race controls the way society perceives a woman. In the novel, Shadow Tag, Louise Erdrich tells a chilly story of a marriage controlled by possession. A woman is shown objectification through her cultural origin and background. Throughout the novel, Gil wished to possess Irene. His possession over Irene’s body was obtained through his depictions of her in his artwork. The idea that an object is something you can obtain and possess would relate the novel by Louise Erdrich to the argument of Patricia Hill Collins. Gil’s obsession over his wife’s body also created a form of domination that utilized a form of oppression. Patricia Hill Collins writes, “Sexuality becomes a domain of restriction and repression when this energy is tied to the larger system of race, class, and gender oppression.” Gil controlled Irene’s image and sexuality through a form oppression that accompanied her race, class, and gender because he found that it exemplified his talent as an artist. “He painted Indians when he painted his wife because he couldn’t help it—the ferocity between them, the need. Her blood ancestors came out in Gil’s painting as he worked.” Gil painted Irene in the way he wanted people to perceive her. He used her ...
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...Root Of Violence Against Women " Each year an estimated 2 to 4 million women in the United States are abused by their male partners. Many of them are severely assaulted, and thousands are killed" (thehotline.org). Statistics such as these are phenomenal. Domestic abuse does not only appear as physical harm but there is a lot of damage dealt with psychological abuse which is just as bad. Domestic violence is a widespread issue throughout the world, mostly due to fear created by the abuser. This problem is recognized worldwide and many theorists such as Nussbaum, Mackinnon and Dworkin have shared and organized their thoughts as to why such an uproar of violence has been rising within our society against women. In order to understand why violence against women is at such a high percentage we must first take a look at and understand what are the contributing influences and factors which play an active role in causing the abuser to inflict acts/thoughts/desires of violent intent onto a female. I shall analyze and go into depth of the theories coined by the names mentioned above as to what they think the root of violence is. But first we need to understand that violence against women does not only consist of physical/emotional damage, but also violation of their entitled rights as an individual human being. When we begin to treat a person as anything less or begin to expect more we have committed an act of violation on their human rights. "Objectification entails making into a...
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...Eunjung Carney English 848 Mrs. Escamilla 03/16/2013 An Essay on a Miss Representation Images of women are presented in all different kinds of mass media. Such images of women in the media portray the ideal women’s body as very thin and as a sexual object. These unrealistic images are particularly found in women’s magazines all over the country. Many young women between the ages of 14 and 32 hold these unrealistic and unattainable images of ideal models’ bodies. There are numerous studies regarding the negative effects of women’s body portrayal in the media. Two of these studies, cultivation theory and self-schema theory, explain why and how women internalize unrealistic and unattainable ideal body images in three ways: women’s body objectification, repetitive exposure to unrealistic images, and women’s internalization of the idealized body. These cause women to have eating disorders and low self-esteem. Women should be aware of theses subtle but strong influences and these negative effects should be eliminated. Many fashion magazines objectify the woman’s body in order to sell products by portraying women in very sexual ways and by emphasizing women’s body images rather than women’s health and ability. For instance, a recent American Apparel ad in a magazine, with the copy “now open,” sends the message that a woman in the ad spreading her leg widely is open for sex. This sexual availability of the woman in this ad implies that she can be had by anyone. Usually...
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...Women’s’ Magazines Promote Self Objectification I am not a consumer of magazine periodicals other than trade publications such as Fine Homebuilding, Journal of Light Construction and Architectural Digest. So with this exercise I went the library in order to try and find material for this essay. Upon examining the advertisements in various periodicals, I came upon a common theme. If you consume this product, you will be views as appealing by the opposite sex, as is apparent in each and every advertisement in almost every periodical in the genre of women’s fashion. Ill use the January 2016 issue of Elle magazine as an example. Whether it is for a perfume from Chanel where steam rises from brilliant red lips or a photo for a fashion designer where the emaciated model for Michael Kors (Hegemony) walks by several gawking men, to the cover itself where the model is terribly underweight and surrounded by text explaining the content of the magazine. “Fashion, Sexy Minimalism” “She’s Damn Chic” “Rooney Mora is the REAL THING!” (Social Construction) were a few of the main headlines. Not in any of the advertisements did I see anyone resembling a healthy person. Perhaps these apparently starved models are put forth in order to create an object that the women of western culture are supposed to aspire to, but I personally se it as a form of objectification for the unnatural, and a perversion of the woman form. This magazine objectifies women in such a way that they are meant to aspire...
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...In contemporary society, women live a contradiction – they exist as a subject as well as an object. Drawing upon the works of de Beauvoir and Merleau-Ponty, Iris Marion Young explores feminine embodiment in her works called “Throwing like a Girl: A Phenomenology of Feminine Body Comportment, Motility, and Spatiality.”1 She combines the lived body theory of Merleau-Ponty and the theory of the situation of women expressed by Beauvoir to explore the modalities of feminine body experience. 2,3 By investigating the different ways men and women hold themselves and use their body, one can comprehend the root of the differences between the sexes. By exploring observations in daily life, such as throwing a ball, Young explores the reason for terms such...
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...Kathryn T. Gines explores how myths and stereotypes of blackness are produced in television in her essay, “Queen Bees and Big Pimps: Sex and Sexuality in Hip Hop” published in 2005. She exemplifies this through existentialist philosophical notions of objectification, the gaze, and performativity, to determine authenticity and make choice in either conforming to society’s standard of Black, or creating new, radical performances in society. Her points targeted mainstream hip-hop artists but failed to mention how the puppeteers that own the industry control these artists. While the images do portray a derogatory image of Blacks, they are only transmitted because white-owned companies own and project these images. While it is imperative to inform...
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...One of the sisters, Phoebe, is made out to be infatuated by sexual desires due to being linked with a man killing demon, known as a ‘Succubus’. The demon kills men for their testosterone, while trying to reveal the demon, Phoebe’s sister Prue gets transformed into a man. Also interesting in this particular episode is that the men who are disrespectful towards the women are the ones that are killed. While stereotypically women were displayed on television in a way that facilitated the “male gaze” in this episode both the male and female gaze are seen, giving a sense of gender equality. The sisters stare with desire at their neighbour Dan while at a dating event and likewise when Prue turns into a man she gazes at women, rather than men. In a short summary this episode really highlights the power of the women, as they are able to beat the demon and are not represented in a stereotypical way, they are sexually free and very much...
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...This article is a detailed, academically supported body of work, designed to retort the following questions: How and why are semantically sexualised women used as a perceptive marketing stunt’ and ‘what role does the media play in legitimizing gender discrepancies through framing and cultivation strategies? Coaxed by the issue of female objectification in the mass media, the following research was conducted both practically, and theoretically, to overtly annunciate the social and democratic problems associated with advertised female subordination. The relative research involves a semiotic analysis of two sources, coupled with a survey of 40 candidates of varying ages. Furthermore, theoretical mechanisms of media framing and cultivation have been deconstructed throughout this article to uncover the impact of magnified female subordination on the domestic expectations of children and young adults. Through the collection of data, it was able to be conclusively recognized the impact of objectification on social attitudes. Results had shown the many conceptions concerning the female purpose, these include; a woman’s role as a domestic and sexual slave to her male partner. Through the convergence of data, semiotic analysis and academic theory, it may be meticulously understood how female objectification in the mass media is a social complication in the construction of an egalitarian future. ‘Women’s bodies are predominantly valued for its use to others’ Fredrickson & Roberts 1997 ...
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...Study Guides and Literature Essays Editing Services College Application Essays Writing Help Q & A Lesson Plans Home : The Handmaid's Tale : Study Guide : Summary and Analysis of V: Nap - VI: Household The Handmaid's Tale Summary and Analysis by Margaret Atwood Buy PDFBuy Paperback V: Nap - VI: Household Summary This section begins with Offred simply sitting alone, waiting. She had not been prepared for all this stillness, all of this boredom. She thinks about experiments they used to do on animals, how they would give them something to distract them. She wishes she had something to distract her. She lies down on the floor and begins to do her exercises, tilting her pelvis back. She remembers how at the training center they had rest time every day from three to four. Now she thinks it was practice for all of the waiting. She remembers how Moira showed up, after she'd been there for about three weeks. They couldn't talk for a few days, but finally during a walk they were able to plan a meeting in the washroom. The first time was during Testifying, which Aunt Helena came for specially. That day, Janine was talking about how she was gang raped when she was fourteen and had to get an abortion, and the other women respond as they have learned to, chanting that it was her fault. Despite the surroundings, Offred was extremely happy to see Moira. Now Offred thinks about her body. She used to see it as an instrument of her will, but now she sees it only as a container...
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...Portrayal of Women in Rap and Music Videos :: 4 Works Cited Length: 1724 words (4.9 double-spaced pages) Rating: Blue Price: $24.95 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Misogyny and degradation of women is present in almost every genre of music, yet the one genre that completely revolves around demeaning women is rap. Over the years rap and rap music videos have continually become more sexual and degrading towards women. Rap has been criticized numerous times for this reason, and that is because rap is one of the most popular genres of music for the younger generations. It is more than a genre of music, it is a complete industry filled with clothing and other merchandise. The reason this constant demeaning of women exists is because rap as a genre that rewards the objectification of women. The excuses used to justify the misogyny in rap are incomplete and lack accurate support. The most effective way for this continuous cycle ends, is if the fight and protest comes from the women themselves. Men are the problem in the objectification of women but in order for it to stop, women need to step up and take control of the situation. Women need to act sooner rather than later because in recent years the rap industry has become more and more sexual. Ra... ... middle of paper ... ...Society 113 (2000): 255-69. JSTOR. 29 November 2009 . McLune, Jennifer. "Hip-Hop's Betrayal of Black Women." Perspective on Contemporary Issues. 5th...
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...Cultural and gender norms are ever present in the modern world, which creates social constructs for women. This determines the way people perceive them and the way they perceive themselves. Media today tends to judge women based on the way they dress or their physical appearance (Breger 39). Furthermore, mainstream media portrays women as sexual objects, or entities, specifically when they are required to bring sexual pleasure to their male counterparts through the way they look or act. Such media, therefore, is implying that women’s sole purpose is to bring men sexual gratification (Wright and Tokunaga 956). This increases the sexual objectification of women, specifically in magazines, television, and social media platforms, demonstrating...
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...Fashion Advertising Reflect Societal Stereotypes/Expectations of Women? A regular American is exposed to over 3,000 ads every single day and will spend two years of his or her life watching television commercials. These commercials have the will to show food, cloths, beverages and the most important: beauty items in the most perfect way. These adverts show beautiful and flawless women exposing not only their desirable bodies and faces but also, their ideologies. Every time regular TV viewer watches television, magazines and even newspapers he is constantly in contact with this a massive and wild environment that has a clear effect in society. Sometimes the audiences do not realize the significance and the...
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...David Foster Wallace’s essay “Big Red Sun” is a review of the Adult Video News Awards. At one point in his essay "Big Red Son," Wallace asks several pornography industry insiders the following question: "$4,000,000,000 and 8,000 new releases a year—why is adult video so popular in this country?" Based on Wallace’s observations at the AVN awards and convention, Harold Hecuba provides the best answer to this question. Harold Hecuba answers the question of what makes the adult video industry so popular by saying “It’s the new Barnum [as in the Barnum & Bailey circus]. Nobody ever goes broke overestimating the range and misogyny of the average American male.” In essence this quote means that the reason people are so enthralled by adult videos is because of the ways women are objectified in the videos....
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...“Killing Us Softly” Personal Response Essay “Killing us Softly” is a documentary by Jean Kilbourne on the message that the advertisement industry sends out to women and the near impossible standards of feminine beauty it upholds. Cindy Crawford once said “I wish I looked like Cindy Crawford”. Now this might sound bizarre to many, but the truth is, in today’s world of Botox and Photoshop, cosmetic surgery and strict diets it is impossible to be that ‘perfect body’ that ads portray. According to a photographer for a leading fashion magazine, a particular shot goes through at least 20-30 rounds of airbrushing. Tag lines such as “beauty knows no pain” and “nothing tastes as good as skinny feels” develop and encourage such unhealthy attitudes. According to a study, an average American views 3000 ads per day. Ads have a quick, cumulative and subconscious effect. They create a toxic cultural environment where the well being and health of an individual are threatened. They show these models who have so-called perfect bodies, no blemishes, no marks, no wrinkles, and no nothing. But the problem is that beauty starts being equated with a painfully thin marks-free fair body. This affects the self- esteem of women and they become ashamed of their physical attributes and try harder to achieve those exacting and impractical standards. A popular weight loss tag line says “the more you subtract the more you add”. So women start going for sizes 0 and 00. These not only affect health...
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