Objectification Theory
- provides a framework for understanding the array of psychological experiences that appear to be uniquely female
- formulates a life-course analysis of some womens' mental health risks
- organizes existing empirical data regarding womens' lives
- offers specific predictions to guide future empirical work
- women adopt an observers perspective on their physical self
- attractiveness functions as a prime currency for women's social and economic success
- physical beauty = power - if i am thin/pretty/sexy, i will achieve
Shame
- exposed constantly to images of youth, slimness and whiteness
- comparison that a woman makes between herself and the ideal
- ongoing efforts to change body and appearance through diet, exercise, fashion, surgery, eating disorders - reveal a body based shame
- body correction is motivated by shame, this elevates the task of meeting societal standards of beauty to a moral obligation - obliged to change
- shame that is recurrent, difficult to alleviate and constructed as a manor of morality
Anxiety
- experienced when people anticipate danger or threats to self - threats are ambiguous, as a pose to fear
- appearance anxiety and safety anxiety
- not knowing when/how a body will be looked at and evaluated
- roots in early-life social experiences - negative body comments
- manifests in checking and adjusting ones appearance
- fused with concerns about safety - some men who rape see attractive women as a threat to their power
- "asking for it" - refers to appearance
- more attractive rape victims are assigned more blame
- sexual objectification is a component of sexual violence
- continuous stream of anxiety provoking experiences
Peak Motivational States
- activities interrupted when others call attention to their appearance/body functions
- become more infused with direct overtones of heterosexuality - appearance, weight, breast development
- lose self-consciousness in order to achieve flow
- womens internalisation of an observers perspective on their bodies by definition creates a form of self-consciousness
Awareness of Internal Bodily States
- habits of restrained eaters may lead to a generalised insensitivity to internal bodily cues - hunger etc
Sunday, 30 April 2017
Visual Journal Development
Whilst watching the MissRepresentation documentary, the idea of role models was briefly presented. They offered that young girls and women find role models wherever they can, do not settle for the people that are being presented to you already. This led me to start thinking about role models and women that promoted positivity, self-love, and body positivity. I decide to integrate this into part of my journal as I believe seeing people accept themselves no matter what shape or size, is a step towards the women of society being able to accept themselves and shrug off the notion that their is only one definition of beauty.
I also decided to look at presenting the woman as a literal object. Something that is used or to be looked at on a daily basis. This in turn led to a brief exploration of framing the female. Frames are used to house pictures, something that is to be looked at. Combining female body parts and female imagery into frames allows us to understand how a woman is put on a pedestal and regarded as something to be looked at rather than an actual person.
I also decided to look at presenting the woman as a literal object. Something that is used or to be looked at on a daily basis. This in turn led to a brief exploration of framing the female. Frames are used to house pictures, something that is to be looked at. Combining female body parts and female imagery into frames allows us to understand how a woman is put on a pedestal and regarded as something to be looked at rather than an actual person.
Beginning to Explore Magazine Content
I've started to look at developing the themes I'm coming across in my research and essay planning into my visual journal. I started to look at imagery I found in everyday magazines and I how I could alter this in order to communicate some of the themes within my essay. I've tried to place emphasis on the body being looked at and speculated over. I've also tried to use skeletal themes and imagery to run alongside the Thin Ideal. Fragmenting portraits of women was a further way to investigate how women are cropped and edited in order for them to not be viewed as a whole person.
Revised Essay Plan
With my new theme and change of direction, I thought it would be best to produce a revised Essay Plan that integrated my new theme and research and gave it more structure and meaning. I feel that this will make it easier for me to understand where I'm heading with this, what areas I need to research more on and what areas/idea aren't relevant to my question. I am also hoping that this will help me to find some starting points for my visual journal, as this is something I am struggling to get started on.
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PLANNING
& STRUCTURING AN ESSAY
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Suggested
Research Question.
This
can be a topic or theme, but please try to be as precise as possible.
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How
does the objectification of women in advertising and media affect women in
society?
- Objectification - Thin Ideal - Self-objectification - Internalization |
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Which
Academic Sources will you reference?
Include
a Harvard Referenced bibliography of at least 10 sources. (or what you have
found so far)
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Benn,
M. (2017). What Should We Tell Our Daughters?. 1st ed. London: John
Murray.
Berger, J. (1972). Ways of Seeing.
1st ed. London: British Broadcasting Corporation: Penguin Books.
Calogero,
R. (2012). Objectification Theory, Self Objectification, and Body Image.
1st ed. [ebook] Norfolk, VA, USA: Elsevier Inc, pp.574 - 580.
Fredrickson,
B. and Roberts, T. (1997). Objectification Theory. 1st ed. [ebook]
EBSCO Publishing, pp.173 - 198.
Gauntlett,
D. (2002). Media, Gender and Identity. 1st ed. London: Routledge
Gill, R. (2007). Gender and the media.
1st ed. Cambridge: Polity Press.
Wolf, N. (1991). The Beauty Myth.
1st ed. London: Vintage.
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What
Images / illustrations will you analyse?
Include
at least one image to analyse in depth (but no more than three)
Examples of the Thin Ideal within advertising and
media:
Ralph Lauren Victorias Secret Body Diversity Campaign Examples of advertising media that combats the thin ideal: Dove Real Women Campaign |
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Essay
Map
Using
the Study Task Handout, construct an essay map outlining the FOUR main points
of your argument.
This
essay map should include a sentence which states your thesis, and how it will
be addressed. It should also include FOUR sentences, each outlining a
different element of your central argument.
You
should also refer to how this essay map links to the key sources that you
have highlighted and the example(s) of Illustration practice.
The
promotion and internalization of the thin ideal leads a woman to
self-objectify herself and in turn has drastic consequences upon both her
physical and mental wellbeing.
The first thing the reader needs to know is how advertising and media objectify women and how they place emphasis on the body and the looks of a woman above her actual being. The reader then needs to be informed of the Thin Ideal, how it manifests itself within media and advertising and how it can be internalized The next thing the reader needs to understand is what objectification theory is, what it encompasses and how women objectify themselves. The essay will then go on to explain the effects of self-objectification on the mental wellbeing of a an individual and how this can escalate to more drastic and serious mental and physical health implications.
Upon
realising the thin ideal and it’s self-objectifying consequences, the reader
then needs to be presented with an alternative. This will take the form of
examining an existing body-positive, all-encompassing campaign and look at
the positive impact this can have. The essay will then explore the idea that
we ourselves can begin to influence a more body positive and accepting
society, as well as how media must change in order to stop the
self-objectifying effect it is having upon women.
The reader will then be informed of how the practical body of work that accompanies this essay begins to explore objectification, self objectification and moves onto explore self-love, body-positivity, supporting each other and allowing confidence to grow.
The
essay will then be concluded with an argument for the change in media and
advertising that we need to see in order for self-objectification and its
ramifications to be lowered.
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Peer
Feedback – How could this Essay Map be refined / developed?
Show
this form to a fellow student. They should record their feedback in the box
below
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Study Task 8 - Rationale
In order to complete the visual journal, i will explore the themes and ideas that i have discovered whilst researching and writing my essay. These themes include objectification, self-objectification, the male gaze, internalisation, fragmentation and cropping and the idea of role models. I will explore these themes by using collage and imagery found in magazines to compile a selection of work that investigates how these themes can be represented and communicated using collage.
I will then move onto looking at the concluding aspect of my essay, and start to create imagery based around self-love, self-acceptance, diversity, equality and the idea of 'girl power'. This will make up the main body of my work as I propose to provide imagery that offers an alternative from the narrow beauty ideal that the media represents and communicates. I believe that to combat this, imagery must be made that focuses less on the body and more on the being. I will look at using collage to create fun, playful imagery that communicates an atmosphere of acceptance, moving against the current media trend and supporting girls to grown and develop their own sense of self-worth and confidence.
I will then move onto looking at the concluding aspect of my essay, and start to create imagery based around self-love, self-acceptance, diversity, equality and the idea of 'girl power'. This will make up the main body of my work as I propose to provide imagery that offers an alternative from the narrow beauty ideal that the media represents and communicates. I believe that to combat this, imagery must be made that focuses less on the body and more on the being. I will look at using collage to create fun, playful imagery that communicates an atmosphere of acceptance, moving against the current media trend and supporting girls to grown and develop their own sense of self-worth and confidence.
Feminist Perspectives on Objectification
Seeing and treating a woman as an object - Martha Nussbaum identified seven features that are involved in the idea of treating a person as an object
Instrumentality - the treatment of a person as a tool for the objectifiers purposes
Denial of Autonomy - the treatment of a person as lacking in autonomy and self-determination
Inertness - the treatment of a person as lacking in agency and perhaps also in activity
Fungibility - the treatment of a person as interchangeable with other objects
Violability - the treatment of a person as lacking in boundary-integrity
Ownership - the treatment of a person as something that is owner by another (can be bought or sold)
Denial of Subjectivity - the treatment of a person as something whose experiences and feelings (if any) need not be taken into account
Rae Langton added three other features to the list
Reduction to Body - the treatment of a person as identified with their body, or body parts
Reduction to Appearance - the treatment of a person primarily in terms of how they look, or how they appear to the senses
Silencing - the treatment of a person as if they are silent, lacking the capacity to speak
Instrumentality - the treatment of a person as a tool for the objectifiers purposes
Denial of Autonomy - the treatment of a person as lacking in autonomy and self-determination
Inertness - the treatment of a person as lacking in agency and perhaps also in activity
Fungibility - the treatment of a person as interchangeable with other objects
Violability - the treatment of a person as lacking in boundary-integrity
Ownership - the treatment of a person as something that is owner by another (can be bought or sold)
Denial of Subjectivity - the treatment of a person as something whose experiences and feelings (if any) need not be taken into account
Rae Langton added three other features to the list
Reduction to Body - the treatment of a person as identified with their body, or body parts
Reduction to Appearance - the treatment of a person primarily in terms of how they look, or how they appear to the senses
Silencing - the treatment of a person as if they are silent, lacking the capacity to speak
The Thin Ideal
INTRODUCTION TO THIN IDEAL
The thin ideal is the concept of an ideally slim female body. The common perception of this ideal is that of a slender feminine physique, a small waist and little body fat. The size of the thin ideal is constantly decreasing, whilst female obesity is increasing. This in turn makes the iconic slim body difficult for real women to achieve and furthermore, maintain. This creates a gap between the actual appearance of the average womans' body and its expected appearance, which depending on the extent to which the thin ideal is internalised, may have serious physiological effects. Women generally relate the ideally thin body to positive life outcomes such as happiness, confidence and romantic success. Consequently a majority of women value the thin ideal to some extent.
LINK TO OBJECTIFICATION THEORY
Social studies have linked exposure to media that contain ultra-thin ideals to increased body dissatisfaction, thin-ideal internalisation, self discrepancies and eating pathology in young women.
After researching into the thin ideal a little bit, i can clearly see the link between the thin ideal and objectification theory and i can see how both of these ideologies can help me research and construct an essay that explores the physiological impact that advertising and media can have upon women of society.
The thin ideal is the concept of an ideally slim female body. The common perception of this ideal is that of a slender feminine physique, a small waist and little body fat. The size of the thin ideal is constantly decreasing, whilst female obesity is increasing. This in turn makes the iconic slim body difficult for real women to achieve and furthermore, maintain. This creates a gap between the actual appearance of the average womans' body and its expected appearance, which depending on the extent to which the thin ideal is internalised, may have serious physiological effects. Women generally relate the ideally thin body to positive life outcomes such as happiness, confidence and romantic success. Consequently a majority of women value the thin ideal to some extent.
LINK TO OBJECTIFICATION THEORY
Social studies have linked exposure to media that contain ultra-thin ideals to increased body dissatisfaction, thin-ideal internalisation, self discrepancies and eating pathology in young women.
After researching into the thin ideal a little bit, i can clearly see the link between the thin ideal and objectification theory and i can see how both of these ideologies can help me research and construct an essay that explores the physiological impact that advertising and media can have upon women of society.
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