Sociology Case
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Women have faced many issues regarding beauty in their daily lives from the past to present. People in society are bombarded each day about the notions of body image and beautification. Body image is measured according to standards outlined by society, which tends to change through time and place. It was not until the 1960s when the ideal body image to be slim and lean rose (MacDonald, 1995). Women struggle with themselves and their body image for most of their lives since women are particularly judged by their appearance and their body size. Nonetheless, we are repeatedly shown images of beautiful, thin, slim women in advertisements, magazines, movies and television. With constant repetition of these types of women being shown, people in society are embedded about the notion of body-image and beautification and they accept this image as the norm for women. Our society creates guidelines or standards for this ideal thin body, which some not all women struggle to become. For most women, the advertising industry and the media dictates the ideal body image that has become acceptable in todays society and culture. Not only is beauty known as the ideal image within society, it is also seen as a weapon that is used against female beauty, which is known as the “Beauty Myth.” The beauty myth defines masculine power and outlines the importance to keep the male dominance intact to this ideal image of women. There are independent reasons to try to overcome this obstacle of the ideal woman but as a group of women common aspects in society affect us. The issue of the ideal body image is a solid and pressing problem especially because many women try to achieve this ideal by going through many obstacles like dieting and sculpting the body by having cosmetic surgery. Feminist have struggled to end this emergence of dieting and the use of cosmetic surgeries because our entire nation has become so obsessed with judging females of all ages on how they look. This notion of the “cult of slimness” was promoted through fashion and the media. Women are pulverized to achieve this standardized look of present day life and due to this their images of beauty are being used against them. My main focus in the paper will be based on the idea that there are mind/body dichotomies of the beauty myth, which women tend to hold onto in their minds. Do all women tend to hold the same belief/norm that the beauty myth is the ideal image for females? And why some women see this myth as being the ideal image? The use of scholarly articles and books allowed me to conduct this research on the ideal body image of females according to society.
Beauty is seen as an aspect that relates to both men and women however it is known to be a main concern for females. For females, beauty is considered to be very important; it “buys attention, affection, promotions” (Freeman, 1988, p.24). The notion of beauty is seen as an important