Essay on Beauty of Giselle and the Beast of Lebron

As of recently, the media has been flooded with positive interpretations of beauty standards all over the world. According to various sources, beauty ideals, in women especially, are socially constructed in order to judge a person’s value based on physical attractiveness; therefore, it is highly encouraged that people pay attention to their looks and take care of themselves, in order for others to create a positive first impression of one’s character. It is no secret that beauty standards vary from one culture to the next and it is difficult to establish a universal principle of what is considered beautiful. Many countries’ ideals contrast one another and, as a result, allow for stereotypes to emerge. This is the case between American

It is unfortunate that we live in a society that places such a great emphasis and consideration towards the aesthetics of beauty. What is more

Everyday people stare at billboards, magazine covers, movies, television, or pictures on the Internet of someone or something that they classify as beautiful. Some things people glance over and other things fascinate them. For example, when Farrah Fawcett’s famous picture of her in her red bathing suit came out; many teenage boys hung that picture in their bedrooms. Their idea of Farrah’s beauty was based strictly her outward appearance.

Who are we? What defines us? In America, we are defined by our class, what we do and most importantly – how we look. Since the birth of our nation, a notion of “race” has been rooted to our core personas. In fact it can enforce stereotypes of class and careers. It is evident that Black Americans are un-proportionally living in poverty and without easy access to achievement. This harsh reality is not helped by our media-driven society. In a world so heavily integrated with mass media hysteria, we scroll past posts that can have the countering effects of degradation or empowerment through our identities. While movements of Black Power can be painted through media, it also not hard to see the difference between the ways in which Black Americans are manipulated within the lens of media. They are portrayed as fitting a certain stereotype – uneducated, violent and intriguingly exotic. For example, while women in general face the enemy of “sex sells”, black women have this experience intensified. These women are portrayed as exotic sexual beings. They are objectified and degraded with the intent of women of color being seen as sexually gratifying, but nothing more. The parallels to the mindset one hundred years ago is uncanny – black women, black men and black children are seen as objects to appropriate and use for the media’s benefit. We can see this through our some of our “greatest” stars. Miley Cyrus, the Kardashians and even Justin Timberlake have taken a culture and twisted

In the April 2008 issue of Vogue magazine, harvested attention, by having LeBron James of the Cleveland Cavaliers on the cover displaying an all familiar pose on the cover. The image was simple, 6 foot 9-inch black man, bearing teeth, dribbling a basketball and clutching Gisele Bündche a white woman in arm. Reaching over a million readers per month, the magazine perpetuated an age old stereotype. “The Black Brute caricature portrays black men as innately savage, animalistic, destructive, and criminal -- deserving punishment, maybe death. This brute is a fiend, a sociopath, an anti-social menace. Black brutes are depicted as hideous, terrifying predators who target helpless victims, especially white women.” Charles H. Smith (1893), Dr. David

As a darker-skinned African-American, I am told every day that my shade of color is not beautiful in society. Social institutions such as my peers (classmates and sometimes friends), school, media, etc. have all had some influence on my perceptions on what is/is not beautiful. There is a lack of diversity in film, T.V. shows, music videos, music, social media apps, etc. If there is a black woman publicized she is of lighter skin, sexualized, and exhibits European features. Globally, there is a

“LeBron is a beast,” is a common statement his fans say after the 6’8” 250 pound world-class athlete streaks down the basketball court, powers through defenders, and viscously dunks the ball, then stares down the opponent’s bench. There is no denying LeBron James is a fantastic athlete. He considered one of the best basketball players on the planet. He became not only a savoir figure for Cleveland, but an NBA all-star sensation known worldwide for his skills and his shoes. James has been prevalent in sports media dating back to his high school years when he made the decision to skip college and go straight to the NBA. He was on an NBA cover back then, and now I would like to present you a 2008 cover that presents a blatant stereotype of African Americans.

It is no doubt that African-Americans make up a majority of the population when it comes to globally known sports such as basketball and football. We often ignore that there is still racism present in games, just because there are minorities within the atmosphere. Sports as mentioned by Harrison, “is upheld as a meritocratic social arena in which other disadvantages groups can excel.” However, I argue that other disadvantaged groups find it tough, sometimes impossible, to excel in individual sports when they are constantly looked down upon or not welcomed in a sport where there’s white domination.

Several years, society has created an ideology that white and Europeans descent people have more acceptable, attractive and beautiful features than a someone who is African American or has African descent. Society has held a standard of “white beauty” and African Americans have been and still to this day, find themselves partaking in the standard. In the “white beauty” standard, slim waist, petite, long haired, tall women were prone to be more attractive than others (Patton 26, 30). African American women and men were created with all unique shapes, sizes, and skin complexions and would never be able to meet the standard. Many white women could not even meet up the standard, so they used things such as corsets, Botox, or surgery to do so (31).

Images in media, television especially, are a direct projection of the people who control and project them, which often tends to be white people. “‘We face the problems of images projected by people not of us,’ she said. ‘The media is the most powerful mind-manipulating tool on the earth.’”(Ruby, 18) The perception of black women in the media today can be damaging to the self-image of the young black women of today. During the Black Arts Movement, many artists and poets spoke of how white influence in our lives has created skewed beauty ideals in the African-American community. This white influence tends to harm black women’s images of themselves. Most female images seen in mainstream media are white, thin, tall and just plain gorgeous,

In the United States woman can suffer from identity issues. In the year 2016 the first plus size model was shown on the cover of the swimsuit edition of Sports Illustrated named Ashley Graham. Ashley Graham comes from the white ethnic background. As the issue was talked about on multiple radio and TV stations, African American woman have been speaking on this matter. A woman, Chantelle Nunes Norman, who is an African American woman posts “She's a perfect size in the African American community. It's a real shame that a lot of whites consider a starved looking woman attractive, I think she is beautiful at this size and would look sickly if she were skin and bones (Feldon)”. Many issues can come around this logic. One of the main

While both Black and White women are subject to sexualized images, the white woman defines the standard of the socially acceptable view of what it is to be a woman. Not being able to fit into that set of stereotypes, Black women consequently become deemed as the “other” within their own gender. The stereotypes formed for African-American women were even more significantly derogatory than that of the image of the submissive house slave. This ideology of the 19th century Eurocentric norm was to objectify these woman as sexually promiscuous. By exaggerating their actions and portraying them into a negative perception, these portrayals were designed to oppress these women and deem them inferior to their female counterpart. Decades later, these images still have influence today in the perceptions of the Black women and their bodies. A great example of this sexism and racism can be seen in today’s criticism about female sports athletes such as the six-time U. S Open tennis champion Serena Williams and her sister Venus. Both have been scrutinized and over sexualized and ridiculed by today’s media with remarks such as the sisters being “too masculine”, “Gorilla - like” and “Savage”. She is also not only dehumanized by her body but also by the fact that she

From news coverage to entertainment, the media shapes, reflects, reinforces and defines the world in which we live. In publishing, theatre, films, television and popular music-industries largely controlled by white men--Blacks continually struggle for both a voice and representation. Many scholars write about the stereotyping of Blacks in the media (Meyers, 1999; Davis, 1989). Light skinned Black women with classic European features predominate in beauty pageants, music videos, and in the world of modeling. It is with respect

Every single day when I wake up in the morning, one of the first things I do is look at myself in the mirror. Am I skinny enough? Is my skin clear enough? Do I look like the girl from the magazine I was reading yesterday? No. I don’t. But I’ll keep asking these questions each and everyday because that is what the media tells me I need to look like. Because if my waist isn’t small enough I’m not pretty. Because if I have cellulite on my legs there’s something wrong with me. Because if I don’t slot into this unattainable standard. I'm not beautiful. Airbrushing and photoshopping models in pictures to display through media is something that frankly speaking is appalling. We are alienating beautiful human beings because of the media’s dictations on what we should look like. I am sick of being brainwashed to the point where all I can ever seem to do is single out the ‘flaws’ in myself. If we display, real, beautiful, raw pictures of people in media then so many problems caused by this would no longer exist.

Beauty sets standards for society through appearance, especially in younger generations due to use of social media and picture editing. “Beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder” is a saying that has been around for ages (Plato, n.p.). It is an accurate phrase because of contrasting views within particular individuals. Beauty is present in the good deeds of community members as well as the unity exhibited through dreadful events. It is a flower bud breaking through the dirt into the fresh, spring air. To clarify how beauty is viewed, it is often times the exposure of evil accounting for the new appreciation of something beautiful. After recognizing the privileges we acquire, the existence of beauty is revealed and expressed more easily. In current society, appreciating beauty is substantial to