The, You Look Disgusting, A Woman Named Em Ford Essay

The Beauty Myth’s central argument is the growing standards of physical beauty of women as they grow stronger. This standard has affected women in many ways, such as in the workplace, culture, and religion. The standard has taken over the work of social harassment. The beauty myth expands the belief an unbiased measurement of beauty exists and that women want to express it and men would want that women. The author, Naomi Wolf, states that the beauty myth is not about women themselves, it is about the power of men and their society. The myth supplies power to multibillion dollar cosmetics industries and it keeps women from rising too high in the workplace. Within this book, Wolf shows how the beauty myth functions and affects women in the workplace, media, sex, religion, culture, violence against women by men, and by women themselves in the configuration of cosmetic surgery and eating disorders.

With the idea that women had to beautiful by definition and not by choice, it always seemed as if women had to seek validation and approval from others. Women are so used to being flattered that sometimes they feel less of what they really are. Like Sontag said, “What is accepted by most women as a flattering idealization of their sex is a way of making women feel inferior to what they actually are — or what they grow to be.” (Sontag, 286) As Sontag indicated, women would be called beautiful, but men are called handsome, which is the “masculine equivalent of — and refusal of — a compliment [...] reserved for women only.” (Sontag, 285) Due to this, frequently women are the ones that receive praises while men would rather not be complimented for their beauty. On the other hand, Miss Representation defined beauty as if it applied to both genders. This documentary focused a lot on the idea that many celebrities are attractive because they fit into a beauty rule called the “Golden Ratio” — a rule that says the ratio of one’s nose to lip should be 1:1.618. This rule helped society determine whether one was beautiful

There is a cliché quote that people say, “Beauty is in the eye of beholder.” But in the essay “The Ugly Truth About Beauty” (1998) Dave Barry argues about how women who spend countless hours on their so called “beauty” whereas men seem not to care. Barry uses juxtaposition and exaggeration to poke fun at men and women behavior and shed light on the harm that the beauty industry is doing. When Barry argues his point of his essay he addresses both genders, but more specifically teenage to middle age men and women, but he writes about it in a humorous and light-hearted manner.

The beauty standard is a culturally constructed notion of physical attractiveness that has become increasingly imperative for women and men. However, this standard has become extremely perilous to men and women’s self-image. Camille Paglia, a highly educated individual who earned her PhD at Yale University and became a highly acclaimed author, explicates this conception in her essay “The Pitfalls of Plastic Surgery”. Paglia suggests that the beauty standard idealizes women to look like “sex symbols with an unattainable grandeur” (776). She continues to claim that it forces her audience of higher class women to pay large sums of money in order to alter their features ultimately conforming to a very “parochial” definition of beauty (776). Although Paglia is a highly credible source, she illogically appeals to the reader’s fears in order to persuade them. Paglia fails to give any credible outside sources which affirms her preposterous beliefs. Contrary to her inconsistencies, Daniel Akst, a social journalist and graduate from New York University provides his audience with reputable sources in order to persuade his audience. Daniel Akst believes that there needs to be a “democratization of physical beauty” in which instead of attempting to alter the beauty standard, we must first change how we view ourselves. Akst provides credible sources to establish his credibility where he observes cases studies and cultural experiments from scientists and organizations including:

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.

By taking a different approach and using comedy and entertainment, Tina Fey has brought people together to understand the important topic of body image in a way people will listen. Body image for women has been a major issue in our world and there has been little change to stop it. “‘Why can’t we accept the human form as it is?’ screams no one. I don’t know why, but we never have. That’s why people wore corsets and neck stretchers and powdered wigs” (142). Everyone wants perfection. Everyone wants what they don’t have. No one is perfect. Everyone has flaws. If the world cannot accept this, people will continue resorting to modified images to produce this “ideal beauty.” One of Fey’s more interesting stories is when she talks about photoshop. Photoshop is a tool which contaminates how people see the human body. But this “perfect body” is intangible. Fey states that everyone is beautiful, and it takes a strong society to believe it. “Photoshop is just like makeup” Fey states, “when it’s done well it looks great, and when it’s overdone you look like a crazy asshole” (142). She relays on the idea that we are taking away the reality of our bodies when using photoshop. Fey’s attachment of a joke with the large and complex idea that photoshop dehumanizes a person is what keeps the reader captivated with the story and wanting to know more. Fey is able to reveal that a picture is an alteration of the true beauty of a person when put through photoshop. The reader is therefore able to assume, beyond all of her funny jokes, Fey

The dove beauty campaigns are again a perfect example of this, as they depict a digitally altered photo of a woman being presented on a billboard (Tpiper). Depicting a remarkable transformation of an ordinary woman, this video shows a billboard model being produced through means of excessive makeup and hair styling in conjunction with digital editing after the photo was taken. This woman is not natural. She has pounds of makeup on her face, as well as photoshopped touchups, and yet she is perceived by the public as the standard of beauty. Nobody is able to compare with such a carefully sculpted face, and therefore this establishes unrealistic expectations

In the documentary “killing us softly 4”, Jean Kilbourne discusses the toxic environment that leads to the dehumanizing of females. She goes into intense details on how females have been misrepresented in advertisements over the years. She explains that in advertisements, females have been subjected to inhumane ways such as being a product of sexually expressive methods. Even though in recent years men have been subjected to the same media exploit as women, Jean Kilbourne expresses that it is not as half as bad as what women have been going through, and it is now worse than ever. Jean Kilbourne also expresses how Photoshop is the newest tool in promoting women. Using Photoshop as an advertisement tool allow authors to make women look unrealistically slim.

Lindsay Kite, author of the article “Beauty Whitewash”, advocates positivity of what beauty is to its bearer. Living the life of a society which is full of physical image perfectionism is a huge challenge for any woman to attain. The effect of media implying what is beautiful is encouraging the minds of women into needing a physical remedy. The images of beauty shown in all forms of media create an emotional struggle for many women of color. For these reasons, Kite’s observations combined with life experience, come with a goal to empower women, by focusing on the effect of media’s white beauty standards on women of color.

Though BuzzFeed stands at the forefront and was a very pivotal player in putting body positivity, inclusivity, and representation at the forefront of discourse within the beauty realm, the inconsistencies within their vast content show that either such radical stances on beauty were either not as important as making trite videos and articles on beauty to gain more views and therefore revenue, or merely just another scheme to appeal to a wider audience, including those marginalized by today’s beauty standards. Though they are quick to act as a cavalier for women of color or queer folk by condemning celebrities, brands, and companies such as Kylie Jenner, Karlie Kloss, Khloe Kardashian, ASOS, Urban Outfitters, Coachella, etc. for cultural appropriation

It’s difficult to envision a world where idealized female imagery is not plastered everywhere, but our present circumstance is a relatively new occurrence. Before the mass media existed, our ideas of beauty were restricted to our own communities. Until the introduction of photography in 1839, people were not exposed to real-life images of faces and bodies. Most people did not even own mirrors. Today, however, we are more obsessed with our appearance than ever before. But the concern about appearance is quite normal and understandable given society’s standards. According to Jane Kilborne, “Every period of history has had its own standards of what is and is not beautiful, and every contemporary society has its own distinctive concept of the

The roaring twenties saw many improvements and additions at Ford. By 1919 the Model T held 40% of the domestic market (“Ford Crises of 1920-1921,” 2007). Throughout the 30s and 40s, Ford continued to set the standard for the automotive industry. The company’s first new V-8 engine was debuted in 1932. (Ford Richmond Assembly Plant - Operation during the 1930s) In 1940, while Europe and Asia had gone to war and the United States still struggled with economic depression, the Richmond Branch produced about 100 cars each day. Soon this became a Mercury assembly plant, so five models of Mercury’s including sedans, coupes, and convertibles comprised about one-quarter of Richmond's output. Sales of Ford's 1941 models were among the best ever due largely to the demand created by WWII. (Ford Richmond Assembly Plant – Ford’s Conversion to War Production)

Mass media falsely claims to be an advocate for self-acceptance and the idea that every woman is naturally beautiful, while it simultaneously uses Photoshop to erase all trace of that natural beauty—imagine how much they would Photoshop women if they did not extol real, non-enhanced, beauty! The women in these digitally improved photos look, quite frankly, as real as Barbie and her friends, and few women actually believe that the women in the pictures look that flawless in person. However, these pictures have the power to make any woman, including those in the pictures, feel inadequate because she is not as “attractive” as a Photoshopped image, the power to make a woman detest herself

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.

Often times, women are pressured by the mainstream media to upkeep a stellar appearance. They are expected to measure up to high standards without question. Even before most girls reach puberty, commercials are bombarding them with small Barbie esque makeup kits filled with lip glosses and chalky eyeshadows. The impact it has on impressionable children, both girls and boys is something that will likely last a lifetime if unlearned. Cosmetic companies who are marketing to young ladies say they can simply improve their looks to gain acceptance from their peers if they use the products they are selling. The makeup industry is a multi million enterprise that makes a profit from women’s insecurities and amplified pressures from society as a common tactic many cosmetic campaigns use is to push women to embrace the ‘natural look’ by providing products that will make it appear as if the individual is not even wearing makeup. Companies will spout out that with these products, the end result will be ‘you, but better.’ It is somewhat of an underlying and slightly manipulating slogan, as if to say how a woman appears could be improved because it is lacking in the moment. This distorts how we all believe how a woman is suppose to look.