Thursday, October 25, 2007
Culturally Constructed Body Image
In our culture a number of things play a role in our body image. Television and the media being at the top of the list I'd say. Shows like America's next top model, Dr. 90210, The Swan, and Nip/Tuck give American's unattainable aspirations as far as our bodies go. Right now the normal is the tall, thin model type that's been blessed by God (or the local plastic surgeon) with breasts and full lips. However, back in the 50's the fuller figured women were what was popular, curves were in. Marilyn Monroe was on the big screen as opposed to the Kate Moss's and Nicole Richie's that now inhabit our tabloids and television screens. Also, mentioned in the Carolina Reader articles, our constant advancements in being time efficient has led to too many fast food restaurants and 'convenient' ways of preparing foods, which are usually not the healthiest. It's the busy world we live in that forces us to grab a snack here, and get a carbonated drink out of a vending machine when we can find time. Not to mention the economy's idea of capitalizing on this and supersizing everything.
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1 comment:
I agree with both of your main points. The media does have a huge impact on what we as Americans see as the ideal, perfect body. This also contradicts with our emphasis on fast food, which leads to the opposite, obese body type.
I like how you made the reference to how the ideal body type for women has changed in the past half century from the Marilyn Monroe figure to the absurdly skinny actresses of today.
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