In previous articles, I have discussed the socially constructed nature of beauty in Western society. However, in this article, I will look at this construction in relation to women’s bodies. A disconnection between women and their bodies currently exists because of the unrealistic beauty ideal that is perpetuated through the media; in particular, through advertising. According to Dr. Fabienne Darling-Wolf in her article “From Airbrushing to Liposuction: The Technological Reconstruction of the Female Body,” “advertising constructs multiple identities for women to consume” and also defies “the very materiality of the body.”
Many women participate in disciplinary practices in order to meet ideal standards of appearance, gesture, health, and performance. I was somewhat shocked, but certainly not surprised, to hear that some of these practices include control of facial expressions, careful constraint of movements, scent, ways of eating, and control of bodily functions, as Susan Wendell notes in her article “The Flight from the Rejected Body.” Wendell also describes what she refers to as socially enforced “disciplines of normality.” These often internalized disciplines contribute to the cultural norm, and are not necessarily the ideal, although the two are interrelated.
Both women and men strive to meet cultural norms, or come as close to them as possible, because they are constantly bombarded and driven by the cultural ideal. Those who do not meet standards of normality are often faced with both external and internal shame as well as self-hatred.
These cultural norms and ideals that exist within our society create a disjunction between women and their bodies. I have often wondered if my own body is real at all anymore. I, like many women, have not only internalized dominant beauty ideals but have also attempted to construct my appearance, among other things, according to this ideal. Furthermore, I have always thought that in doing this I am actually taking control over my own body. Yet, as Wendell states, it is this myth of control that actually encourages women to meet body ideals. Wendell also states that the female beauty ideal requires women to objectify their own bodies, along with the bodies of other women. However, she claims that “objectifying one’s own body is more complex; one must, in a sense, split one’s consciousness from it.” This includes “treating it primarily as an instrument for accomplishing one’s goals, regarding it as a physical object to be viewed, used and manipulated and treating it as a material possession to be maintained, exploited and traded.”
In my own opinion, taking care of our bodies means more than just exercising and eating healthily, it means acknowledging our very real bodies, rather than objectifying and exploiting them. It also means valuing and bonding with our natural bodies, not experiencing our bodies through cultural expectations only. However, this brings to mind another very important point: what about those people who do not identify with their biological bodies, i.e. those who are transgendered? Moreover, what about men’s bodies, and those men and women who are within different cultures?
The gap between women and their bodies is widened further by a current plastic surgery trend, one that we can observe through the media. Because plastic surgery reconstructs the female body, a woman’s real body is rendered irrelevant. Plastic surgery, according to Wendell, has begun to raise the standards of normality. More and more women are dismissing their very real bodies in order to pursue the cultural ideal and correct physical “abnormalities.” Darling-Wolf states that plastic surgeons redefine the female body “as an object for technological reconstruction.” Furthermore, they offer their services as “a solution to those unfortunate characteristics that pull women away from the young, white, middle class ideal.” They also “evaluate proportions through the measurement of Caucasian faces.”
Consider, for example, the recent plastic surgery of 23-year-old reality TV star Heidi Montag. Heidi recently had ten surgeries in one session, but still claims that beauty comes from within (to see Heidi make this claim, watch her interview with People magazine). In using Heidi as an example, some may believe that I, like the media, may be objectifying her. Although Heidi may actually want to be objectified, probably because she has internalized dominant beauty ideals, this is not my intention. I do not want to exploit her efforts to become this ideal. I merely want to use her as an example in order to create awareness about a struggle that so many women (and men) face. As I am now on the topic of celebrities, I would like to note that one Hollywood diva whom I appreciate is Lady Gaga. Her outrageous outfits suggest that she is aware of the socially constructed nature of her identity. However, the issue of women’s rejected bodies is not merely a bad romance; it is a very real reality.
