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Nowadays, society is obsessed with the way our body looks because it is now used as a way to portray what is on the inside. The ideal body image is socially designed as the ultimate goal that one can attain in order to fit-in and be acknowledged in today’s society. The image that society has on the “perfect body” that has been gathered through media, ads and culture, is something that most people have started to “idolize” and are setting
In order to be accepted in the current social society, you must follow a certain set of norms throughout life. Social norms are the unwritten rules on behavior that are expected and established opinions on what is appropriate and what is not. People who do not follow these instilled norms may be casted aside, judged, or suffer a consequence. Society’s expectations have dictated what normal human behavior is that people conform to as a way of life. These norms, however, are not set in stone, so they may be challenged.
Not Just a Bowl Beauty is one of the main foci in society today where selfies, beauty enhancement or plastic surgery, celebrities, and the media reign over society—constantly defining what people should aim for in terms of appearance. Appearances are everything to many people rather than inner beauty such as character and values. In turn, this beauty-obsessed world has led to people becoming more shallow, superficial, and unaccepting towards anything besides the “norm.” It is quite ironic to have a “norm” considering how each individual is different and live in different cultures and such. People are not meant to be or look the same neither should they adhere to a certain standard in which someone else has established.
Dualism is the major focus of Anne Fausto-Sterling’s (2000) “Dueling Dualisms” with deep discussion on the dichotomy of “sex/gender, nature/nurture, and real/constructed.” However, her movement to the concept of intertwined biology and lived experience are insightful. I would like to look at how Fausto-Sterling describes and supports the idea of nature and nurture working together to create gender and sexuality. Fausto-Sterling (2000) stated “sexuality is a somatic fact created by a cultural effect,” meaning that there is truth to the biological form that creates the body and it still severs a function, but this biological body is altered through the environment. Fausto-Sterling (2000) suggested that the body and culture are always moving together to create individual lived experience and that one “cannot merely subtract the environment, culture, history and end up with nature to biology.”
These physical appearances create a society that makes other individuals feel like they should have that body too. Having these physical characteristics allows individuals to exist in a community however it can also make someone feel insecure about their body. Butler describes how “[our] body is and is not [ours]” (Butler 117). Meaning that yes it is our body but at the same time, it isn’t because it's controversial to what our body should look like. This relates to the “perfect body” because someone who is overweight is criticized as someone who eats unhealthy and doesn’t exercise.
Melissa Febos' essay "The Wild, Sublime Body" demonstrates the complexity of the human body and the societal norms that attempt to control it. Her argument centers around the idea that the human body is a powerful and untamed force that should be embraced, rather than repressed, and throughout the essay, she uses personal anecdotes and vivid language to persuade her readers to reconsider their relationship with their bodies. In a world that often seems obsessed with body perfection and control, Febos' essay offers a refreshing and powerful perspective on the importance of embracing our bodies as they are and not caring about the societal norms that surround them. This essay will analyze the persuasiveness of Febos' argument and explain her
It seems that during nearly any given time period in the history of mankind, the aesthetics of an individual has played an important role. Whether it was which single figure in a band of ancient hominins stood the tallest or whether is was which woman could better please the eye of a king with her hourglass figure, health and body image are often an underlying reason for success. The idea of proper health and image therefore seems to be a timeless notion that people of all time periods and social rankings gravitate to upkeep. The concept of positive health and ideal body image was very significant to the majority of people in Europe during the Modern Era. Healthcare was always a relevant topic to people, even if the practices were completely
In society, there are many standards that people must uphold to. In western society, it is uncommon for men to have long hair or for women to have short hair. Naturally, people will be conscientious of their differences between other people and try to change them or cover them up, and often times people who do not follow the standard are looked down upon. This leads to people trying to fit into the groups around them almost thoughtlessly. However, when people conform without thinking, it can lead to dangerous consequences.
As explained in the article “The Importance of Appearance and the Costs of Conformity” by Deborah Rhode, how one is treated is often tied to cultural standards regarding appearance. “Many of the mental health difficulties associated with appearance are the product of widespread social stigma and discrimination. ”(Rhode 41). I felt this discrimination early on in my life and absorbed the view that my weight and size made me worth less than others. The interactions with my peers contributed to my developing mental state and perception of my body.
Social forces are common in cultures all around the world. Whether it is the compulsion of women to get married and have children or the thrust upon men to be adequate in supporting such families, there is clearly a boundary line that has been created between genders and what is expected of them. Judith Lorber’s “Believing is Seeing: Biology as Ideology” claims that gender is socially constructed. This theory illuminates a study on recreational steroid usage by Matthew Petrocelli, Trish Oberweis, and Joseph Petrocelli, titled “Getting Huge Getting Ripped: A Qualitative Exploration of Recreational Steroid Use.” By using Lorber as a frame to analyze Petrocelli’s work, I have concluded that expectations embedded in bodybuilding result from
Introduction “The Body and the Reproduction of Femininity” from Unbearable Weight: Feminism, Western Culture and the Body by Susan Bordo (1993) introduces the discourses around the female body, and the different perspectives that influence this body. She goes on to explain that the body is a medium for culture, from which contemporary societies can replicate itself. In addition, Bordo (1993) provides continuous insight on how women have changed throughout the years to be more within societies norms, and how they have transformed so much to manage their bodies to becoming desirable within the culture. Throughout this essay, I will be explaining how women have for centuries, used there bodies as a means to rebel against these norms that have been placed upon them, such as being a typical housewife. For years, women have been discriminated against and unable to speak their opinion.
It is expected that those living within the society live up to and conform to those norms in order to achieve the societal values. Different types of social norms include, folkways, mores, taboos and laws. Social norms are generally learned from an early age without us realising it, and as a result we assume that the norms
How did the beauty ideal evolve throughout the years? The ideal of the perfect human body can been seen as a result of culture. Every culture is different or differs in at least a few aspects. A lot of factors in a culture contribute to the formation of a beauty ideal.
Body image has become such a big issue among society especially females mostly. According to Mariana Gozalo, states “Using Will’s sociological imagination, I thought about how there are girls who wish to look skinny because it is what is being idolized on TV and magazines and online ads. “Social media make us believe that there is a “ideal body” shape. In my opinion, there is no such a thing as the ideal body shape, because everyone is beautiful in their own individual way.
Society 's Beauty Standards Hawkins (2017) stated that the definition of beauty has been shaped by society 's standards instead of what people actually look like. It signifies that the society sets up expectations of how we define beauty by manipulating beliefs of people to recognize that body shape, skin color, race, ethnicity, or anglicized features are what makes a person distinguish their beauty instead of what people actually look like in reality. This makes people believe that the beauty that they see, especially in films, is something that they need to attain in order to be considered as attractive. Unrealistic beauty standards affects physical and mental health Vitelli (2013) stated that content analysis of female characters