One of Bordo's main thesis statements was that we are trying to balance our bodies with the way we are seen in society today. We discussed this aspect in class on Thursday. What she means by this statement is that when we see pictures in the media (tv, magazines, ads, etc) our minds become somewhat brainwashed and we begin to think that we NEED to look like the person in the media image. We begin to think that we HAVE to look like that ('balancing') and have that trim, good-looking body in order for society to classify us into the 'hot/popular' people in society. Under this mentality, we also realize that maybe we can't always reach that goal of a 'hot' body, so we try our best to make ourselves look that way using any means (often unhealthy) possible...thus, making our bodies look presentable for society. The media is a poison for the mind...it warps our thinking into thoughts that center around looking like gods such as Cupid and Venus...aka the way society views as the 'hot' man or woman; they don't realize that everyone is perfect, just the way they are. The media mostly tries to show how women can look physically powerful and tiny (THE DOUBLE BIND: 2 contradictory expectations) and be in total control by the way they present their bodies. That's how we TRY to balance the way our bodies look with how society views us today.
Bronzino's An Allegory With Venus and Cupid, we can see how the woman's body is used to attract the eyes of women trying to look like that and the eyes of Cupid. It supports Bordo's stance in the fact that Leppert agrees that the woman's body is "physically powerful" and can turn eyes and minds. The picture depicts what the women's body should look like, just like our ads today in the media. Society today would classify Venus as 'hot' and that she would be the epitome of today's super model. When woman of the day saw this picture when it was painted, they probably felt that they had to balance their bodies with the way society was viewing them, so in a sense they tried any means possible to make their bodies look powerful and tiny (THE DOUBLE BIND), which is one thing that Bordo stresses as very contradictory.
Great job on this post John!
ReplyDeleteI agreed with everything you said, especially about the media brainwashing us, and making us believe we have to look a certain way in order to fit into society today. So many people are influenced by what they see in a magazine or on television. In your post I like how you capitalized some of the words like NEED and HAVE, making them stick out showing it’s like a trigger in your head that just makes you believe something when you see it. It interested me how you said “The media is a poison for the mind...it warps our thinking into thoughts that center around looking like gods such as Cupid and Venus...aka the way society views as the 'hot' man or woman; they don't realize that everyone is perfect, just the way they are.” After reading this in your post it made me think, everyone is perfect the way they are. God didn’t create everyone to look and act the same, there needs to be diversity in this world and you have choices to look and act the way you want, and them actions and choices should be perfect to yourself. You also did a good job with relating the picture of Venus and Cupid to the writings from Bordo and Leppert. Good job!