I am a young teenage woman/girl. I force myself to stick to ideals that I have approved myself with my own freedoms. Some of those ideals are good health, a nice singing voice, intelligence, wit, a clean conscience, happiness, family, friends, organization, higher moral values, a free soul, a wise mind, allure, and beauty. I see nothing wrong with any of those things, including outer beauty. Who are we trying to kid? Outer beauty is very important. It makes us happy. No, I am not just talking about how we look in the mirror. I am also talking about the ability to appreciate the beauty in nature without second guessing it and suspecting something of a more sinister kind. I am an artist, so I value beauty in all of its forms, including the very notion of beauty. But "beauty" has become a dirty word, hasn't it? It now represents narrow standards. We are either told subconsciously (not so bluntly anymore thanks to womens' rights groups) that we must have just the right amount of curves so we do not look unhealthily thin or unhealthily fat, that we must be very thin and toned and resemble the latest ethnic flavor of the month, that we must not be thin at all because that would not make us "real women", or that we must be the right "balance" between a flattering reflection of a man and a "perfect 10".
Beauty used to mean....poems, songs, women, and art themselves. There was no description. Now society tries so hard to play catch-up to womens' lib by attempting to define beauty. A word to those people, campaigns, and organizations: If you wish to express the beauty that you are so enamored to behold, you must do so courteously by presenting it beautifully, while realizing that it will always be subjective. Make art, make pure and uncorrupted people (children and people in need) feel good, and make your life a dance, for when there is a breeze, the people always follow the fragrant flying blossoms and not the stern and solitary rock. Beauty is a subjective thing which you must discover with your own senses.
Now to get to the point of my title, "Am I the only one who finds this wrong?"
To completely understand what I have just discovered, please follow these three steps.:
1. Look through this slide show http://loveyourbody.nowfoundation.org/presentations/SexStereotypesBeauty/flash.html
2. When you are finished with the slide show, please continue to step 3.
3. Listen to what I have to say below.
When I saw the slide show, I was extremely impressed. I was impressed because I realized what truth these people see. I was impressed because up until that slide show, I had only viewed a few of those ads (I was familiar with most of the ads) as being sexist or inappropriate...at most as "Well, what are you gonna do?"
Which brings me to my title. Am I the only one who finds this wrong?
When I saw this cigarette ad, I saw nothing wrong with the scantily clad woman in the background. I hardly noticed her. I viewed her as a prop. Mind you, I am a young woman with all the same body parts as the lady above, who values all people and would never call or consider a person an "object". Am I the only one who finds this wrong? But that is how they made her look. Am I partly to blame? Are my parents? Are my grandparents? The media is well-known for saying "If you don't like it, don't look." But I looked anyway. Now what? I can't be the only person who looked at this ad and many ads like it. I can't be the only one who viewed her as an object. I can't be the only one who was lucky enough to realize this error. The question is: Is it an error by me or an error in itself? Who is to blame? I have been desensitized. I thought I was a smart and sensitive person (I am), but I was desensitized to this big silver naked lady. Chances are, so are many adults, teens, and children. They don't even realize it. What are we going to do about it? What am I going to do about it? I will work on some possible solutions and post them on my next post. For now, I will leave you with this poem:
I need a break...
From comparing thin-ness
From comparing curves
From comparing height
From comparing skin hues
From trying to keep up with the latest stands on whether or not...
My body makes me a traitor to women everywhere
I need a break
My eyes need a rest from myself
I have been washed out
I must go outside and collect nature's pigments
And refill with color
The empty outlines that are left behind
Before I go, I will also give you some good links:
No comments:
Post a Comment