Blog 5

This week’s in class readings focused a lot on appearance, perception, and body image. The article that I read about bras really intrigued me. It prompted me to really think about these vintage bras in a very visual way. I was curious to know what they looked like, what the advertisements entailed, and so on and so forth. I also get a Victoria’s Secret magazine in the mail about once a week I was looking through that and I thought, “I wonder how advertisements from the early 1900s would compare?” Since it was revealed that girls were more concerned with their breasts rather than their weights, I wanted to know what kind of advertising was circulating at the time. I came across an old advertisement for a corset. What is the first thing I noticed? The women in the advertisement actually look healthy. They look normal. They do not look like they starve themselves. They look supple and voluptuous. Their arms do not look like twigs. When you take a look at an advertisement from this day in age for Victoria’s Secret, that is not what you see. You see a highly airbrushed, perfectly made-up model. She does not have an ounce of fat on her. In fact, take a look at the above picture. You can clearly see the model’s ribs in the Victoria’s Secret advertisement. Comparing the two, I had a revelation. It’s obvious why girls at that time were more occupied with their bust line than their waistline. They were not shown images of rail thin girls declaring them as the epitome of “beauty.” They were shown images of real, normal looking figures depicting a standard of reality. It’s empowering to know that at some time, we were not such a weight-obsessed nation. Let’s get back to our roots.

Blog 4

This week I was really intrigued about the whole idea of homosexuality. I don't know many people who are homosexual, so I guess you could say that I have a lot of questions. I decided to do some research on the web to see what I would discover. Needless to say, it wasn't what I expected. I could not believe how many websites were contributed to being against homosexuality. I honestly thought that we were living in a new era. Granted, most of the sights were religious in nature, proclaiming that the Bible says that homosexuality is wrong. I am a Christian. I don't attend church and I am not very familiar with the specifics of the Bible, but I do believe in God and I do pray. With that being said, I can firmly state that I have absolutely no problem with homosexuality. I am currently in love and have been for about four years. I cannot believe that people criticize homosexuals for following their heart and engaging in something that fulfills their hearts desire. I cannot imagine being deprived of love, and I would never wish it upon anyone. Anyways, when I came across all of the religious stuff against homosexuality, I started to wonder if there were a lot of other people like myself, who were Christians, but didn't have a problem with homosexuality. I was pleasantly surprised to stumble upon the website ChristianGays.com/wrong.shtml. It was such a breath of fresh air. The website uses the Bible to teach us to be accepting of homosexuality. It addresses all of the issues so thoroughly and even examines counter-arguments. I would love to quote all of the good information, but I think it's more powerful to read the material in it's original context. Please visit the website and be enlightened. :)

Blog 3

The other day as I was waiting in line to pay at Scott’s, I noticed the Glamour magazine sitting on the shelf and had to do a double take. Was the girl gracing the cover who I thought it was? Indeed it was America Ferrera. I had just watched the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants movie about a week ago, and she seemed to have lost a lot of weight since then. She actually looked like a size 2 rather than a size 10. I thought “good for her,” and went on my way. I subscribe to the magazine, and got my copy in the mail yesterday. As I was browsing through it I had to do another double take. The pictures inside the magazine that accompanied the article about America did not match her physique on the outside cover. Not too long after that, I caught one of the “celebrity gossip” shows and heard them discussing the heavily airbrushed cover of Ferrera. I knew it! I couldn’t believe that Glamour had done that, seeing as though America has been such an advocate about being happy with her body size. What kind of message is this sending to young women? Even if you’re okay with your body, someone else may not be? Her arms had to be reduced to pin-thin, and her hips and face altered for her to earn to cover spot. What does that say about Glamour as a publication? When I initially saw the magazine, I thought she lost weight, and I applauded her for that. I actually respected that she had the discipline to eat right and work out, areas in which I seem to slack. It sends out a terrible message to women, and I am glad that I am not the only one who noticed. I have included the cover picture of Glamour as well as a picture from the inside spread so you can see the evidence yourself.

Blog 2

I am an avid fan of the television show "Dawson's Creek" which was actually canceled in 2003, but reruns can be seen on TBS every weekday morning. I have all of the DVDs and was watching a few episodes the other night. I was watching an episode in which one of the main characters, Pacey (a guy) was going to enter a beauty pageant. Nowhere in the rules was it stated that he could not enter because he was a male, but the pageant directors insisted that it was against the rules. He ended up being able to enter, and did quite well. It got me thinking about "Dawson's Creek" through a feminist lens. I was thinking about the two girls that are main characters named Joey and Jen. Joey is the all American good girl while Jen is the bad girl from the big city. I was analyzing all of the episodes I have seen and really started to notice how each of them are portrayed, one to seem "good" and one "bad." Joey was always dressed conservatively, never in clothes that would give any hint of what her body looked like underneath it all. Jen, however, was always dressed in tight, body-hugging clothes that revealed her ample cleavage. Even though I love the show, I hate how women can be judged simply by their choice of clothing. I know it is a show, but it portrays an image of reality. People can see Joey as good and pure and Jen as bad and promiscuous because they see those things in reality all the time. This example of "lookism" stood out to me because of the things I have been learning in this class. I think that if more people were introduced to these stereotypes, maybe bigger changes could be made. Before, I never thought about it that way because I liked the show and was involved in each character. Now, I know how to look at things through a feminist lens, and I think it would benefit society to learn to do the same.