The book titled ‘Misconceptions: Truth, Lies, and the Unexpected on the Journey to Motherhood’ by Naomi Wolf is a book detailing the author’s perspectives and experiences of her pregnancy, birth, and motherhood period. It is a well researched book intersecting with personal accounts of experiences of pregnancy and birth while relating it to the birth culture in America. The book had three major parts which detailed the author’s pregnancy period, the birth period and the period after birth In part one of the book titled Pregnancy, she discusses about her discovery that she was pregnant and having ambivalent feelings about her pregnancy. She also shared her perspectives on the service rendered by her obstetrician as she felt a lack of compassion in the service provided.…
A beautiful woman is the goal of almost every man on this planet. Without a beautiful woman, the man is seemed as “unimportant” to society. In order to validate themselves, they seek out for the young and beautiful girls without knowing that they are creating an environment for women that is a competition. Women are often pit against one another in finance, appearance, and success. A woman who has these qualities are seen as a rarity.…
Beauty matters. Well, at least for some. From the clothes you choose to wear (and the ones you don’t) to the items you own, everything surrounding you changes how people perceive you, even things completely out of someone’s control. Pressures to adhere to societal norms can cause long-term harm for certain people, but others can take this concept in stride. Due to different upbringings, along with different environmental influences, it allows for a range of perspectives.…
As part of an old high school tradition, hundreds of students crowded into a dimly lit cafeteria and danced until the air hung heavy and sweat glistened off every square inch of exposed skin. The schools that began the tradition of the modern homecoming dance most likely did not expect it to evolve into what it is today; at some point, we, as students, lost the true purpose of the event and instead became preoccupied with image. Even though I would have liked to think that those things did not matter, I still found myself altering my appearance that Saturday night to try and show off the best version of myself. I was not alone; other females joined me amidst a pile of cosmetic products and styling tools, and we had the pictures to showcase…
“It’s Not You, It’s Me!” Despite there seems to be a tradition of oppression towards women found in most- if not all- societies. The oppression of women can be traced back into early civilizations, but why? The patriarchal society that is rooted in most countries is a form of inequality, favoring men over women.…
In “The Beauty Myth”, Naomi Wolf describes this myth as “prescribing behavior and not appearance” (Wolf 14). Women try to attain a look that is unattainable and because they are trying so hard to be skinny and attractive, they are distracted from the real problem. The real problem is their lack of control. Society uses the “beauty myth” to distract women from obtaining power. They are told not to eat, and focus on dieting rather than fighting inequality.…
In recent discussions of Susan Bordos reading about woman’s pressures in society, one controversial issue has been on how women have these expectation in society that they think they have to follow, like being able to cook, be in the kitchen, look pretty, and dress a certain way to get attention. By contrast, other arguments are that men don’t have to worry about their weight, how they are supposed to be stronger, and not having to be in the kitchen or cooking. Proponents of this position emphasize that women in this world have to go off of what society thinks of them, so they have to follow this or they will not get the same attention as they would if they went on and did their own thing. In sum, the issue is whether women follow what society…
Controversies on body image have been a prevalent issue throughout the world dating for centuries that predominantly target women. This contention branches out into the matters regarding body dysmorphic disorders which became the foundation for eating disorders. The motives for eating disorders are attributed to individualistic influences, as well as sociocultural and political-economic influences. Individualistic influences “reflect the differences in women’s psychosexual development” (Hesse-Biber, 1991, p.173). Sociocultural and political-economic influences highlight the opposed view, while focusing on causations for eating disorders that are not credited to the individual, but rather concentrated in society (Hesse-Biber, 1991, p.174).…
Sontag’s essay makes a controversial proposal for women, to get a critical distance from the excellence and privilege which is beauty, as a response to the plight of being criticized if you pay too much attention to beauty and if you don’t do it at all. THESIS STATEMENT MISSING It is easy to see beauty as a form of oppression because women have historically suffered from ridiculous beauty standards. From this point of view, we can understand why Sontag advises women to get distance from what others may consider “beauty”. This reinforces the idea that beauty opposes to intelligence, to women’s capacity and that women only preen themselves for men.…
The issue of institutionalized beauty and the threat it poses towards women has long been a topic of feminist debate. This threat can be described as a power dynamic, where beauty practices allow men to control and subjugate women. Feminists have drawn upon a variety of models in order to illustrate this phenomenon, including western practices like makeup, cosmetic surgery, and high heeled shoes. Moreover, older models have been investigated in order to holistically frame this issue in a way that spans time and cultures. One model that has not escaped notice is the bound foot, whose purpose and meaning has fueled anthropological and feminist debates.…
The contrast in the two frames reflects the transformation of the social construction of femininity throughout the years, from the early double standards placed on women — that women were expected to keep up a beautiful appearance and be sexual beings (as in the right frame) while men weren’t expected to work as hard for their physical appearance — to the more modern, progressive feminist views of women asserting their power and independence and defying the stereotypical gender roles of society (as portrayed in the left…
Issues of gender and power have been a common theme in society dating back as far as Athens in 411 B.C.E. when the Peloponnesian War between the Athenian Empire and Sparta was taking place. Women of this time period were considered pre-civilized, cannibals, dangerous, and most importantly, less valued than men. Throughout history and in our culture today much of the privilege and power that men have over women is unearned. Why is it that men have enjoyed unearned privilege based on their gender? Through Artemisia Gentileschi’s Susanna and the Elders published in Italy in 1610 C.E. and William Shakespeare’s Taming of the Shrew printed in Britain in 1612 C.E. it is visible that inequalities between men and women have been prevalent for centuries all over the globe.…
There has always been an overt fascination with the role gender must play within society, with two distinct identities being constructed in order to cast them upon those that fall under a specific, predetermined umbrella. In this line of thinking, men are given the privilege of holding the majority of power, the assumption that they have inherent strength above all others prevalent within the confines of upholding a status quo. Women, therefore, are limited in that regard, and are assumed to be weak and fragile, unable to express themselves and forced to play role with no power despite themselves. In truth, gender is not separated by a line into two separate kinds of entities, the assumptions thrust upon men, and especially women, just that—assumptions,…
In the article “Is Female to Male as Nature is to Culture?” Sherry B. Ortner discusses how females are associated symbolically with nature and males with culture. The article supports the notion that male dominance is universal. Written in 1974, this was a very popular idea among Feminists in the 70s. The author explores this idea in her structural gender analysis of cultural female devaluation.…
The passage begins with a quote from Ambrose Bierce, stating, “To men a man is but a mind. Who cares what face he carries or what he wears? But a woman’s body is the woman. ”(Bierce). This quote reflects the misogynistic views that psychology was not immune to.…