Essay Example on How Women Present Themselves Through The Media

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Advertising of skincare and makeup through the media has a big influence and power over how women present themselves Advertising shows women with skin soft hairless and smooth with no signs of age or wrinkles Hair from all large surface areas is removed eyebrows perfectly plucked and sometimes mustaches ripped away by hot wax Even when looking at application creams and lotions are never applied with sloppiness but are always precise and measured When entering shops women can get professional help to match up certain products to their skin type to get younger-looking skin or to reduce wrinkles They must have the specialist knowledge to know how to use a large number of devices ranging from a curling iron to an eyelash curler and the correct way to apply lipstick or mascara Women's beauty regimes are painful time consuming and costly but are embedded in their lives and affected by what they see on social media and in advertising Fashion magazines typically portray application of makeup and creams as an aesthetic activity along with styling your hair that can be used to express one's individuality

However, this is not the case as there are expectations as to how a woman should do her make up for different occasions, for example, there is makeup that is appropriate for work that differs to make up seen as appropriate for social events Likewise makeup is sometimes seen as a card of entree into certain jobs and so women who choose not to wear makeup can be seen as having a disadvantage in professional contexts to those who do Bartky 1998 When looking at weight and body image Bartky talks about dieting and argues that it is a punitive practice that is there to construct what Foucault described as the docile body which is a body that may be subjected used transformed and improved Urbina 2016 She agrees and recounts Foucault s argument that the forceful attention that is paid to the smallest details of one's bodily functions under continuous surveillance results in the production of these docile bodies Bartky focuses on the female docile body and argues that behavior shape and ornamentation expected to come from the gendered disciplinary practices women are involved in Bartky argues that in today's society distaste matches up with massiveness and power in a woman's body and the current body of fashion is slimness narrow hipped and taut However since all women do not fit into this categorization they feel they must diet

The tyranny of slenderness in which women must take up as little space as possible and not get large or massive is problematic in Bartky s argument as the growth of women s fuller breasts and rounded hips is natural Women are then seen as unattractive despite having no control over their body changes so try and keep a youthful adolescent body that they are judged for When women aim for these sexy bodies in magazines or on social media they may gain attention and admiration but do not gain respect or social power they desire REF The constant and large media consumption undertaken by these women when looking at magazines specifically affects how they see themselves and treat their bodies In most magazines there are articles on dieting or fat burning exercise guides and sleek down strategies After Christmas it's the Get the bikini body for summer or the shed winter fat for summer articles It has also been found that women visit diet doctors more than men and 90 percent of self help groups such as weight watchers are women Bartky argues that dieting disciplines the body s hungers and appetite is constantly monitored and governed She says that since the innocent need of the organism for food will not be denied the body becomes one s enemy This dieting discipline is subject to the tyranny of slenderness along with exercise Femininity has a big impact on how women are seen for example the lack of muscular strength that is seen to be more masculine produces female bodies that can offer little resistance to physical abuse which is widespread However it can be argued that a growing increase of images of women with more muscular features is changing this view but then again a woman who is seen to have more muscular strength than her partner is seen as more of a figure of comedy not romance Exercises specifically designed for women alone include those that are there to build the breasts and banish cellulite which is said to be a special type of female fat by figure consultants The very idea of Spot reducing exercises that are there to reduce problem areas raises expectations in women subconsciously so the pattern in which fat is deposited or removed is known to be genetically determined

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