6th
Week 7
This week we read, “Fantasies of femininity,” by Ussher.
The article starts off with the topic of “Make-up,” and how it is not necessary but a choice. Girls have the choice to wear it or not, however the pressure put upon many of us from society forces us to do so. This reminds me of the discussion we had in-class, does the media/magazines send false messages and does it have an impact on us? Well I do think that what is being portrayed is not a true message. For example, Victoria Secret commercials, the models are super thin and make one think “OK I will never look like that wearing lingerie,” it does send a false message which says that how they look wearing that is how everyone or “perfect” girls looklike. As a result whether it is conscious or unconscious we take that in and try to reach that level of “perfection.” It’s interesting to me that the level of “Perfection” when it comes to a woman is always super sexual. For example, Victoria’s Secret commercial (below)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qmt08cZ8S6A&eurl=http://search.msn.com/video/results.aspx?q=Victorias+secret+commercial&form=VIRE1&docid=299516559409&FORM=&feature=player_embedded
Another interesting point in this article is when it talks about fashion and how people determine what is in and what is out. “The clothes and body shapes change with the whims of designers, fashion editors and photographers, not with the desires of women or because of a genuine change in female physiognomy.” (pg.49) In other words, how a woman should look like is continuously changing, in the fifties the hour glass woman had the “perfect body” and now it is the “prepubescent anorexic” and it is silly to think of it as maybe our bodies evolving over time, it could be arguable. I think society continues to evolve and our views/beliefs follow along, and because we are part of society we adapt and conform to the changes.
