A View of Systematic Gendered Repression in the Patriarchal Social Construct

Conformity and deviance are two responses to real or imagined pressures from others. In order for a society to function smoothly, it must have social order; although, that does not mean that all members will behave as expected to all the time. When a person fails to conform to the social norms of society, social deviation arises and some people may react differently than others.

“The Beauty Myth” written by Naomi Wolf is an essay written to present how the advancements of women in social power lead to a societal backlash that lead to a woman’s value being equated to her appearance by both sexes. This devaluation of women has led to a harmful relationship with food and women subjecting themselves to mental and physical torture to be thin. Wolf describes in the 1920s was the first time that women became “preoccupied with dieting and thinness” after receiving the right to vote. In the 1950s, women’s curves were celebrated again because “their minds were occupied in domestic seclusion.” According to Wolf, when women were in male spheres, “that pleasure had to be overridden by an urgent social

Most people in today’s society are not pleased with their image, whether it is physically or how they form their character. In “Enhance Your Body Image” (2015) Rebecca J. Donatelle opens her essay with “When you look in the mirror, do you like what you see? If you feel disappointed, frustrated, or even angry like Ali, you’re not alone.” She continues with a study depicting 80 percent of women are dissatisfied with their appearance (p.339). This does not only mean physical appearance; Santiago Quintana in “The Space In-Between” (2015) talks about how he did not belong in his social environment because resulting in him being bullied. A person’s values are molded by cultural influence, friends and family; furthermore, to be appreciative of

You have just bought a new pair of jeans. You think that you look absolutely great in them until you turn on the television or compare yourself to the person on side of you. Today, women all over the world are focused on the way society views them, which has an influence on the way they view themselves. The field known as sociology of the body investigates the ways in which our bodies are affected by our social experiences, as well as by the norms and values of the groups to which we belong (Giddens, Duneier, et al, 2007). Body image is an ideal image of what one’s body looks like or what she wants it to look like. It can also be defined as the value one may put on physical appearance. This

Through the media society puts out high standards and expectation on women to adhere to what they say is beautiful. Making women judge mental and self consciousness about themselves and even judging other woman in a split second. In the book Mrs. Breedlove speaks on the affect the movies had on her,”She was never able, after her education in the movies, to look at a face and not assign it with some category in the scale of absolute beauty, and the scale was one she absorbed in full from the silver screen” (122). This explains how the media can cause society to be judgmental among their peer and categorize them as either beautiful or ugly. Giving society room to isolate and antagonize the ugly and adore and idolize the beautiful.

While observing deviance, one will realize deviance comes in many forms of behaviors and characteristics. Most think of deviance a bad behavior, which is true, but deviance is much more boarder than that. Deviance can be defined in many different ways, however according to (Adler 2012), deviance is the violation of social norms. (p.11) To get a better understanding, Norms is considered as a way of life for many people, basically what is acceptable in society’s eyes. There are three types’ of norms, folkways, mores, and laws. Folkways are norms that which is strongly constructed more so of traditions, etiquette, and customs. Next you have, Mores, it is constructed

Although not all societies function smoothly. There’s also members that are expected to deviate from the social norms. Which is called deviance. According to Crime, Deviance and Social Control deviance is “Any act that doesn’t fit in with the normal way of behaviors” (Harris, 2014). To keep people complied to the social norms they must find ways to do so.

Many will make the argument that we must all understand each form of oppression due to our all facing oppression under capitalism, a system build upon the inherent oppression of many, however I would like to - using social, political, and historical context - make the argument that all forms of oppression are fueled by and normalised through different (completely harmful and often deadly) ideas and thus, the experiences of those who are directly affected by the aforementioned will be different - and argue that we must address both patriarchy and other forms of special oppression, as well as capitalism, not ignoring, nor favouring either, as even with capitalism alone eliminated, patriarchy would exist independently, at least through societal norms which - without challenge - would be sustained across economic systems, due to its rooting itself in various aspects of our culture and society, I will

Power is defined as the ability to do or act. Oppression is the exercising of power in a cruel or unjust way. Patriarchy is a form of social organization where the father or any man is at the top. Coercion is the force of power to bonds with others in power. These terms relate to the study of crime by addressing the fact that men are consistently in power and have an advantage over women. However, on the other hand, considering men that are in the lower class that have less power and patriarchy they try to create a sense of strong masculinity by participating in criminal acts.

Her book states these issues clearly and, as women’s appearances are often a core aspect of their portrayals in popular culture, such discussions are incredibly relevant to both real women and fictional characters. In many situations, women are perceived based on their worth in motherhood, domesticity, and passivity. Although the women’s movement have made much progress, Wolf states that “after the success of the women’s movement’s second wave, the beauty myth was perfected to checkmate power at every level in individual women’s lives” (125). The beauty myth, or the idea that women should conform to typical ideas of beauty to achieve their own self-worth, turned women into “…a dark vein of self-hatred, physical obsessions, terror of aging, and dread of lost control” (Wolf 120). With all of these pressures to conform and the associated issues that are placed on women to identify with these standards, even with all the other benefits of the women’s movement, women still had to “…remain vulnerable to outside approval…” (122). The problem has grown so widespread that it did not just hold up the powers

These are my personal experiences; for as long as I can recall, society—particularly mass media and the beauty industry—has always influenced me and tried to tell me what to do and who to become, which only grew stronger as I got older; until I realized women were treated, and many acted and/or reacted to these influences as though we are puppets dependent upon approval from the audience of mass media and the beauty industry to assess our value to the world.

It 's not a mystery that society 's ideals of beauty have a drastic and frightening effect on women. Popular culture frequently tells society, what is supposed to recognize and accept as beauty, and even though beauty is a concept that differs on all cultures and modifies over time, society continues to set great importance on what beautiful means and the significance of achieving it; consequently, most women aspire to achieve beauty, occasionally without measuring the consequences on their emotional or physical being. Unrealistic beauty standards are causing tremendous damage to society, a growing crisis where popular culture conveys the message that external beauty is the most significant characteristic women can have. The approval of prototypes where women are presented as a beautiful object or the winner of a beauty contest by evaluating mostly their physical attractiveness creates a faulty society, causing numerous negative effects; however, some of the most apparent consequences young and adult women encounter by beauty standards, can manifest as body dissatisfaction, eating disorders that put women’s life in danger, professional disadvantage, and economic difficulty.

Society follows a norm that requires a general agreement between groups in order to function as a whole. Human beings are social “group animals” (Lessing 1) and need each other to survive with the intention to get along or fit in. These desires to conform “influence our idea about ourselves” (Lessing 1) and people lose a sense of their inner self based on these insecurities. The false concept of ideal beauty of body image is displayed in the media and it pressures young women and men to accept this particular notion of beauty. The role of the media comes into play because it pressures individuals to give in, since they appeal to our need, which is to be accepted. Although, people oppose to media pressuring individuals to conform, it is clear

The adherence of our women to such dictates is due to the need to be accepted by others, achieved through "conformity to peer group standards and practices" (Furman 49). Furman further shares that many women, indeed, see themselves as beautiful only when others perceive them so. According to Ms. Jovie Anne H. Monsalud, a psychologist, people conform to such standards and seek acceptance from others because they, in themselves, lack self-acceptance. With the emphasis of how women should look like through the standards in beauty pageants, many women, then, who are having a difficult time accepting themselves for what they naturally look like, are pressured to follow such standards through working out, cosmetic surgery, radical diets, and consumption of various beauty products and growth enhancers (Urla and Swedlund 397), which have all been made to seem normal by the interplay of today's

A study of the Complexities in exploring the nature of Patriarchy in the Indian Context