Art and Beauty Standards: Perfection is Impossible

My project topic was to look at unrealistic beauty standards for women in society through the pieces we read in class, studies conducted on this topic, finding images online and then use myself as a canvas to portray a direct defiance of these standards through my appearance. For my major project, I created a slideshow of images and my own personal photos of defiance of how beauty standards are used against women in society. I also wrote a 6-page paper looking at how the pieces we read in class, the studies I found on this topic, and my personal analysis as well to help support my thesis. My thesis was: “The literature of these amazing authors and this class has inspired me to create a statement in the form of artwork, both through images from media and using myself as the canvas.”

I used this project as an opportunity to be able to talk about a topic that I am passionate about and be able to make a well-informed and powerful argument for this issue. I first researched studies that looked at how unrealistic beauty standards effected women in their daily lives for work, and also in their personal lives regarding their own self-image. I then looked for images to help portray these unrealistic beauty standards in a very visual way and composed them into a slideshow. After that, I looked at the writings of Fanny Fern and Amy Poehler where they discussed a woman’s image in society, how they are judged, and then how they were directly affected by it. Then, I also included parts of Tig Notaro’s comedy special “Happy to be here” by referencing her appearance while she performed and when she talked about how she is judged on a daily basis for her appearance and how she is mistaken for a man at least once a day.

I compiled all of this into both my paper and slideshow and was so happy with how it turned out. I was able to support my thesis by using the studies I found as evidence to support my claim, by incorporating the readings we had from Fern and Poehler and the comedy show by Notaro to present some real-life examples of how these unrealistic beauty standards affect women in their lives, and then I finally used the images I found on google by using the simple search key of “perfect woman.” The project as a whole showed me just how bad this issue actually is, and I have only scratched the surface of it. However, I felt a sense of pride and gratification after being able to share my piece and use my form of self-expression through my appearance to show defiance to the beauty standards and the love I have for myself no matter how I look.

This project was not only important to me personally, but important in general for the following reasons. It showed the double-standards women face and the oppression of women in society by judging them on their appearance and the idea that they can be this “perfect woman” in appearance. This project was just another voice that was added to the roar of women who are demanding to be respected and not be judged by their appearance in their daily lives. Especially since our male counterparts are not able to enjoy the same treatment that us as women have to endure. The only way change will happen is we join together and demand that it happens, and this project only adds to the increasing scream and shout of the movement that is demanding just that from the society we live in. I refuse to let my voice be silenced by the society I live in, and this project was my way of joining that roar.

Now I already knew a lot about this subject matter since I am a proud feminist and refuse to be caught uneducated about topics like these that affect me on a daily basis and still have to educate others about. (Insert forehead slap here) However, I still managed to learn some new things to add to my ever-growing knowledge on these subjects. I leaned that this brainwashing of unrealistic beauty standards is affecting girls as young as fourth grade, and probably even younger, during a time when KIDS are supposed to be enjoying their childhood, not worrying if they are “perfect” in their appearance. This was surprising as well since it confirmed for me that young girls are starting to worry about this at such a young age when they should be having fun, feeling carefree, and living life to the fullest. This showed that society is robbing children of their childhood’s, and it makes me sick to my stomach knowing that its not going away anytime soon.

My favorite part about this whole project was being able to talk about an issue that is close to my heart and that I am incredibly passionate about (if you couldn’t tell by now XD). The whole process of finding evidence to support my claim and putting it all together was so incredibly cathartic, and I am so proud of the finished product I created. This project allowed me to speak out and share my voice in an environment where I felt safe enough to not feel judged for it. I hope if you made it this far that you enjoyed this post as much as I did, and that you have fabulous rest of the semester. Keep being fabulous <3