Reconstructing what it means to be a Woman

Often we find images of women in magazines, television and movies that are so far off from reality, that women wonder how they will ever be able to reach these unattainable likenesses of “beauty”. Besides the need to be beautiful, there are numerous other roles and responsibilities that are required of women.  The average woman is expected to be beautiful at all times, a professional chef for her family, a sex goddess for her husband and Super Mom for her children.  In turn, the products included in these images are advertised as the answer to the aforementioned conflict.  However, these products are quick-fix solutions that will never be able to repair the deep rooted issue many women have with self-image and gender roles.  Susan Bordo affirms that the advertisers play these clashes against each other in the media.  She says, “Indeed, a careful reading of contemporary advertisements reveals continual and astute manipulation of problems that psychology and the people of the media have targeted as characteristic dilemmas of the ‘contemporary woman,’ who is beset by conflicting role demands and pressures on her time”(105). Advertisers are aware that it is requisite for women to do so much, in so little time.

How can we change what the media is feeding us? Yes, we can refuse to consume, however, that is a quick-fix just as fallible as the products they’re trying to sell us. The underlying fact is, whether we like it or not, a lot of the merchandises that are being advertised are necessary everyday items.  We cannot force Dove to change how women are portrayed in their deodorant ads by refusing to buy deodorant.  As a society, we have to reshape and reformulate gender roles and the requirements of women.  Culturally, our standards are absurdly out of touch with reality.  The media targets this weakness and perpetuates it in their ads.  Wykes and Gunter’s suggestion is “the argument that the media causes eating disorders assumes not merely that media representations misrepresent but that they also inscribe, directing women to ‘train, shape and modify their bodies to conform to what, very clearly, are impossible ideals”(286).  The source of the problem is our own consciousness.  We have to rewrite our ideals.  Moreover, we have to rewrite our ideals in a manner that allows them to be plausible. 

This begins with embracing both natural strengths and weaknesses.  Women have to move from the never-ending need to improve themselves. Media and Women are in a power struggle where women will only be the victors if they actively change their culture. According to Naomi Wolf, “though magazines are trivialized, they represent something very important: women’s mass culture” (70).  The blame must be shared for the problems associated with the images projected as what it means to be a woman. We have to stop being so critical of ourselves and each other.   If the desire for improvement is diminished, this will be replaced by the need for good, functional products and it will resonate with advertisers.

.

In reconstructing womanhood and the portrayal of women in the media, we should reflect on the model in this swimsuit ad by H & M.  She is far from the long, straight-haired, slender, white women we often find in swimsuit ads. Neither her pose nor her facial expressions are overtly sexual and the bathing suit she is wearing is not one of the revealing string bikinis that are commonly advertised.  Her body shape is average, her hair is kinky, she's a woman of color (although racially ambiguous) and more importantly, there are not any indications within this image that suggest she should ashamed of any of these attributes.  Her physical strengths and weaknesses are embraced while the image implies that women do not have to be skinny to wear a bikini and look amazing.  This is powerful.  But, do everyday women believe it?  Are women (and men) convinced that this is one of many definitions of beauty?  And if they are convinced, is it to the point that society desperately wants advertisers to provide us with images similar to the image above?  Until the unanimous answer to these questions is "Yes", we will have to continue in the struggle to reconfigure our society's consciousness.

Works Cited

Bordo, Susan. "Hunger as Ideology."  US, 1993. Pg 104. Print

Gunter, Barrie and Wykes, Maggie.  "Conclusion: Body Messages and Body Meanings."
   UK, 2005. Pg 206. Print

Wolf, Naomi.  "Culture: The Beauty Myth. How Images of Beauty Are Against Women."
   US, 2002. Pg 70. Print