In defence of our beauty
In defence of our beauty!
In today’s day and age, nothing influences us as much as popular culture. With national and global media having extended all previously established frontiers, advertisements are one of the key methods to mobilize the markets, to induce wants in people, to persuade people that what they only desire is what they actually need! And though people believe that advertisements don’t really affect them, the fact remains that advertisement has become such a large part of our lives (people see an average of an ad a minute!) that we unconsciously imbibe their messages, which influence our thoughts, feelings, attitudes and perceptions.
However, in an alarming trend which has caught up in recent years, advertisers have started using the female form to sell their products. From biscuits to clothing to toothpaste, incredibly beautiful women, with great hair, skin and bodies are being used as models to sell these products. The question to be considered is this: how has this affected the image of the ideal women in most ‘normal’ women’s eyes?
There are, as always, both negative and positive aspects of this issue. The use of such perfect women in advertisements has, indeed, increased female insecurities by portraying an unrealistic image of a woman. False expectations can be created in the minds of both women and their partners whose perceptions have been influenced by what they see in the media. Also, there can be a conflict between real life and the so-called ‘reel’ life which can pervert a person’s view of reality.
The process is a reversible one though. If advertisements can influence a society, in turn, a society can influence the advert. Advertisements showing the perfect representation of the female form only reflect on every woman’s aspiration to attain that form. Advertisement also offers a form of escapism, where ordinary women can escape from their normal mundane lives into the glamour of the screen; an offer which they welcome gratefully.
That, however gives no right to the advertisement agencies to show women as mere sex toys, something happening not only in adverts nowadays but also in the hip-hop music videos where girls hop on screen wearing hardly anything, while the men, in an unlikely paradox are covered from head to toe. Since the field is almost completely male-dominated, this makes us take a hard look at underlying male-chauvinistic attitudes present in the media. Even products which are targeted at a specific group have advertisements showing half-naked women for no reason whatsoever! Such advertisements, which stereotype women in this way, pitting them against each other, only further evidences the male chauvinistic attitudes present in the system.
People have argued that women are not really represented as merely sexual creatures but can, in fact, serve as role models to other women who see them as achievers. But which woman with a right mind would want to pose as a piece of decoration in an advertisement? There are exceptions, yes. Advertisements showing women as committed, determined and confident people, striving to achieve what they have set for themselves haven’t been unheard of. However, they are few and far in between, much the pity.
By idealizing the perfect female body advertisement pressurizes females to attain that perfect shape which has lead to an increase in the likelihood of eating disorders, pursuit of unnecessary cosmetic surgery, anti-aging treatments, etc., Here, in India, where fair skin is almost a necessity, fairness cream adverts have only caused more harm than good, leading to despair in the so-called dark girls. People have argued and protested about such advertisements; however nothing has really come out of it. When looking for brides (reading the classifieds, another excellent indicator of societal trends), most people look for girls with fair skin. This is mainly because of the Indian media which glorifies the image of a woman who is not dark!
If this is such a heated debate, then why are female models not complaining about the work they do? The fashion industry is such a competitive one that they wouldn’t dare. Most models just take whatever work they get, they don’t have the luxury to complain about the ethics behind what they do. Even though they are viewed as biddable objects, they really can’t do anything about it. Some adverts even use a child-like interpretation of women, denigrating all women and the models as well as condoning paedophilia!
Sometimes even the selected models are not completely perfect. Air-brushing is an art most magazines and newspapers have adopted. The policy is simple. If perfection is unattainable, then there will always be a constant demand for their products. It’s true. Even the most beautiful woman is unsure of herself, what about us normal women who are constantly bombarded with hundreds of perfect women? Studies have shown that women who view the media’s portrayal of beauty are more likely to have a negative body image then anybody else!
Advertisements are definitely necessary. Our world, which runs on money, would stop if people stopped becoming consumers. It is however, completely depraved when capitalists and companies distort women’s self-confidence and self-security just to sell their products!
For your information:
Some companies have been repeatedly producing disturbing images of women in their advertisements. About-Face (www.about-face.org) has a handy list of these companies here: http://www.about-face.org/goo/archive/. Like the people at About-Face, I urge you to reconsider buying from these companies next time you go shopping. They also have a gallery for winners which can be viewed here: http://www.about-face.org/gow/.
While looking for information for this article, I came across a list of websites which deal with this issue. Here are some resources for those interested…
What is body image? Self explanatory, really: http://www.edreferral.com/body_image.htm
Adios Barbie! A body image site for everyone: Factual information on the doll most of us loved playing with. Suitable for young children and woman who have, sadly, started to dislike their bodies. http://www.adiosbarbie.com/
HUGS International: Don’t let the scale ruin your day.
http://www.hugs.com/
The Girls, Women and Media Project: Raising awareness of images of girls being presented by the media. http://www.mediaandwomen.org/
Women of Colour Web: Has articles and information for women of colour in the United States. http://www-lib.usc.edu/~retter/pit.html
Exoticize my Fist! : A feminist Asian American resource site. Also features Gay and lesbianism in Asians. http://www.exoticizemyfist.com/
Reflecting Venus: Combating discrimination against fat and overweight people.
http://ca.geocities.com/ardenpeep/venus/venus.html
All images above are from about-face.org. Great Great Website!
Welcome to the world of the immature
Things yesterday taught me:
People are definitely as stupid as I always thought they were.
Kumaraswamy is as ineffective as I first believed he was.
The policemen in this city have no idea how to go about their work.
And Bangalore is no stranger to chaos but yesterday took the cake.
So. Rajkumar is dead. The man who has constantly been in the news, the staunch Kannadiga, the man who millions idolized. Is. Dead.
It seems sort of strange. I've gotten used to seeing Rajkumar in the papers, on the news, on billboards and hoardings. The first time I ever heard about Rajkumar was only in my ninth though, when he was kidnapped by Veerappan. Then the only thing which interested me was the two weeks holidays we got. Then slowly I learnt more about him and though I wasn't particularly impressed by him (understatement of the century perhaps?) he was an integral part of the city.
Which is why yesterday's situation disgusted and horrified me. If those people out there were really Rajkumar's fans, they would definitely not have behaved the way they did. They would definitely not have had done the things they did. Stoning. Setting things on fire. Vandalizing. Looting. Lynching police officers. This is my city!
So here's my take on why they did it. It looked like those people out there were only looking for an excuse to lose control. None of them looked as though they were old enough to be fans of Rajkumar. And it's not as though Rajkumar was murdered or assasinated. He died of natural causes and that's what makes it even more strange.
However, India is a country with more than 60% of the population below the poverty line. And in a city such as Bangalore, the divide is rather marked. With the IT Industry, the economy is no doubt booming but the wealth is all concentrated in the hands of the limited few. But with Bangalore's reputation, more and more people are coming into the city in search of jobs only to be disappointed. Not only that, they see jobs going to people from othe cities, they watch as they grow rich at the expense of those who lost out and they retreat, disillusioned and angry.
And so, the frustration of being unemployed, yet seeing huge malls go up, yet seeing well dressed people driving by in luxury cars, seeing cafes and restaurants that they can ill afford, seeing all this coming up in front of their eyes, which they have no chance in hell of using, well, they definitely will have negatively influenced them. And with Rajkumar's death, they found the perfect opportunity to vent, to let loose their rage.
I'm not commending what they did. Infact, I'm sick and disgusted with what they did. But perhaps the blame can be more evenly distributed? The government, which has never held good to its promises. The disparity between the rich and the poor which is so wide. Yesterday, the ugly side of Bangalore showed its face. Now that we've seen it, what can we do to prevent such things from happening again?
We can't depend only on the police. Though definitely, they did do as much as they could but the fact remains that they are ineffective with no idea how to handle situations like yesterday. Which is why hundred of policemen were injured yesterday and some even died. It was the saddest thing I had ever seen.
What we can do is try to reduce that disparity which I talked about. Guarantee permenant employment to those who deserve it. Spread awareness about jobs available and qualifications required for it so that people can work towards that. Perhaps set up a dole system like that present in other countries. When people are satisfied with their lives, they wont go around trying to disrupt others.
Dr Rajkumar may have been a hero as great as MGR and NTR. I don't know. But the real hero for me yesterday was
Javed, the eighteen year old high school boy who saved eight children from a fire in the Meerut Brand India fair. He finally succumbed to his burns yesterday but not before embedding himself into my heart and others as well as a true hero. It's people like him who still let me believe that the world is, indeed, a good place...
I have three blog posts saved in my drafts.
And yet I dont wanna post any.
WRITER'S BLOCK! GO AWAY! NOW!!!
Geraldine Brooks: March
