Ideals

Throughout the Renaissance, artists opted away from religious ideals their predecessors throughout the Middle Ages had emphasized, revamping concepts of the individual in their works. In particular, they focused on realistic depiction of new subject matters, deliberate creation using artistic abilities, and importance of human ideals. Contrary to religious figures of the Medieval Ages’ art, in the Renaissance, patrons of the arts began to commission artists to create art about classical themes.…

Mass Media’s portrayal of unattainable body ideals are seen everywhere in the media. Women’s magazines, television, books, movies, social media and advertisements all use bodies to display what beauty should look like. The mass media is the most powerful way to spread images of these sociocultural ideals. Two of most leading ideals spread by the media is society 's ideal of beauty and attraction. Although the media affects both men and women, I’ll be explaining how the media concretely affects…

This German artwork from the 1930’s is one the most famous depictions of Nazi propaganda in its time. This source is useful for a historian investigating the period of Nazi Germany as it is a visual representation that depicts many of the ideals around Hitler in a time where Nazi Germany was at its peak of power. Further, this propaganda that presents one German view of Hitler, by presenting an underlying message and bias with this Christological representation of Hitler, a Historian can gain an…

Baldassare Castiglione’s The Book of the Courtier offers various opinions on what constitutes the ideal man. The descriptions serve as a paradigm for men of the noble class to emulate. In fact, Castiglione’s work sets the standard for what it meant to be a gentleman. According to him, being an ideal Renaissance man demanded total, conscious effort needed in mastering many traits, all the while making the ownership of these various characteristics seem uncontrived and natural. Because the…

Jefferson who took the job of writing the first draft. Written in the second paragraph of the Deceleration, are the 4 ideals; ‘ we hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights , that…

that women were supposed to look. Of course it has changed over time especially in the United States. Women are held to an ideal of body perfection. Not only are women encouraged to be thin, but they have to be thin with curves. Women are bombarded by messages of this perfect and thin-ideal. So much so, that children as young as three years old have internalized this thin-ideal. Children have also started stating that they'd be more likely to be friends with people with thin figures. I want to…

socially constructed ideal, where the main purpose is to associate ones physical and behavioral characteristics with either being male or female. The issue is not with gender itself, but with the restrictions that gender puts on an individual and the fact that gender becomes something that the individual must strive to emulate. This ideal is used in advertisements, mainly because it is prominent and apparent in society. Advertisement agencies, such as Secret, manipulate this ideal to ensure the…

In history there has always been different ideals of the perfect body and the societal norms that come with having this body. Many doctors of the nineteenth century have tried to rationalize this theory, mainly known as eugenics, and they also have tried to build the perfect human based on the ideals of it. Eugenics is the theory that by cutting the individuals on the lower half of the bell curve, one will create the perfect human race (Davis 4-5). The ‘normal’ or ‘perfect’ body is usually…

capitalistic ideals; “distribution according to productivity”, “equal opportunity” and “freedom” directly contradict inheritance and he goes on to present a proposal that would abolish inheritance. I intend to argue that inheritance is in fact aligned with capitalism and will provide further evidence by calling to attention how Haslett’s plan to end inheritance would directly conflict with capitalism. I will start by highlighting how inheritance is supported by the first two ideals Haslett…

The Renaissance was a period of revolutionary change, therefore literature, art, and architecture all flourished. When the medieval era shifted into early modernity, this new era adopted new political and social reforms, and these new ideals ran through Renaissance writings. There are notable examples that affected this transition to modernity such as Baldassare Castiglione’s The Book of the Courtier and Niccolò Machiavelli’s The Prince. These pieces of revolutionary writings are prominently…