Thinner Than You Analysis

For this assignment, I chose to analyze "Thinner Than You," a piece by Maureen Connor in 1990. I chose to analyze this piece as it was the one I found most relatable throughout the chapter. "Thinner Than You" is simply a display of a hanger holding an evening gown that is cinched at the waist to impossibly thin proportions. This piece is an example of artwork that is about the body but does not actually depict any body parts. The display is very simple being a dress on a hanger, but I find it very powerful. In "Thinner Than You," the extremely slim dress illustrates the pressure for women to be thin. The meaning of this work is to show how unrealistic society's view of beauty for women can be. This artwork was created in the early 1990s. As the book states, the 1990s and early 2000s were a time when artists were very focused on the body. Not only was the body illustrated in the work, but the very meaning of the work was concentrated on the body as well (MacDaniel, Robertson 82.) I also

The dress' impossibly tiny frame can also be a metaphor for eating disorders that result from the pressure to be thin and beautiful. I also find how fragile and delicate the dress and hanger are to be a metaphor for women feeling weak in society. Instead of being strong and powerful,this piece illustrates how society makes women feel as though they are weak and inferior to men. I find the absence of a body in this piece to also be a symbol for how society makes women feel as though they are only meant to be beautiful. The emptiness of the dress illustrates how women are thought to be ornaments, beautiful things. The artist could have included a body or any other objects to tell us more about who this piece is about. I think Connor does this intentionally to focus on nothing else than the female body