Science Fiction in American Culture (Summer I–2020) » June 9th: Cultural Constructions of Beauty

June 9th: Cultural Constructions of Beauty

Overview

  • Images of Women in Advertising
  • “The Beauty Myth”
  • The Twilight Zone‘s “Eye of the Beholder”

I have some background information that might help you reflect upon The Twilight Zone‘s “Eye of the Beholder”. The follow section is about Jean KIlbourne’s documentary, and I have a link to it if you want to watch it. The section on “The Beauty Myth” briefly summarizes Naomi Wolf’s argument on how society makes women conform to unrealistic standards of beauty. Again, these sections are background information. You don’t have to read Wolf’s chapter (or the entire book) or watch Kilbourne’s documentary.

I have a link to Killing Us Softly 4: Advertising’s Image of Women from the Media Education database available through Atkins Library.

Kilbourne on Images of Women in the Media

Jean Kilbourne’s lecture on images of women in the media has been revised and re-presented for nearly 40 years. If we were to locate her thesis, it would be, roughly, that advertisements condition our feelings–consciously and unconsciously–of what it means to be a woman or a man. Additionally, she points out that although men are sometimes objectified, it’s women who suffer the most from advertising’s objectification.

{Of course, just like what we discussed concerning technology from a social perspective, what influences what? Does the media influence our perceptions of femininity and masculinity, or does society influence the media’s (re)presentations of femininity and masculinity.}

Some specific points about how advertisements “use” women:

  • Women are often shown as submissive, silent, and docile.
  • The images of women are often of manufactured or spliced-together body parts of women.
  • Also, the supermodels or “typical” models are a small percentage of the population but appear as the norm because the type is repeated constantly.
  • There appears to be a recurring pattern of infantilization of women and a sexualization of young girls in advertising.
  • Kilbourne believes that many ads show violence against women (both explicitly and implicitly), which goes along with the preponderance of domestic violence and rape of women in society as a whole.
  • In many ads, men are shown as powerful
  • Most ads conform to (hetero)normative white standards of beauty or power. Women of color seem to be “silenced” and dehumanized more according to Kilbourne.
  • Most importanly, (I guess I could be biased…) Kilbourne points out that we’re no longer citizens but consumers. Where else did we hear that?

Although there may be some disagreement, Kilbourne is not the only one who makes the argument that images of women in the media influence how women and girls see themselves. Additionally, she provides empirical evidence for Wolf’s idea of the beauty myth that women are supposed to conform to in patriarchal society, specifically, that the standards are impossible for most women.

I’ve been showing this lecture for several years, and I’m amazed at the responses I get. I’m especially amazed at the defensive tone many male students have about Kilbourne’s argument. I’ve heard that she’s just a scorned feminist who’s “taking out her frustrations on men” to arguments that she is manipulating her evidence by choosing particularly suspect ads. However, the ads she shows are quite representative of images of women in the media. For examples, see the following “industry” websites:

One thing I have noticed about the images of women and girls on the magazine sites above that’s different from many of the images Kilbourne shows is that Kilbourne’s selection had many images of vulnerable, passive women and girls. While those images haven’t gone away entirely from my unscientific sampling of magazines (especially perfume/cologne ads), the above sites have an abundance of happy, active women and girls. Everything from new jeans to ice cream seems to make the models happy. I wonder what that says about advertising? These happy women and girls still conform to Kilbourne’s argument that petite, white, airbrushed models are the standard for conventionally beauty images.

But her most airtight claim is about the ideal(ized) version of women digitally enhanced and manufactured: Take a look at this Dove commercial for a look at how to construct the “perfect” woman.

The Beauty Myth

How does the beauty myth fit into our discussions/reading on psychoanalysis? How does a woman achieve the socially constructed status that is beauty?

Some specific points about “the beauty myth”:

  • p. 10: Wolf argues that women’s political and social gains–including reproductive freedoms–played a role in creating the beauty myth.
  • p. 12: “The beauty myth tells a story: The quality called ‘beauty’ objectively and universally exists.”
    “None of this is true. ‘Beauty’ is a currency system like the gold standard.”
  • p. 14: Women in competition.
  • p.16: “The modern arsenal of the myth….is summoned out of political fear on the part of male-dominated institutions threatened by women’s freedom, and it exploits female guilt and apprehension about [women’s] liberation–latent fears that we might be going too far.”

Role of Women in Media

Maybe I read too much into things, but I see so many romantic comedies ending the same way–marriage and/or children. In fact, it’s not even just romantic comedies: there are countless shows and films that follow the “boy meets girl” format. What do we think about this romantic pattern?

Right about now is when we start talking about double standards. The authors we’ve read recently (as well as Jean Kilbourne) point out that men don’t have the same stigmas attached to them or the same expectations:

  • Things to think about as you contemplate your Canvas post for today:
    • What are some roles and expectations that women have but men don’t or, at least, don’t have to the same extent?
    • Where do these roles or expectations show up? Be specific. Don’t just say “the media”–that’s a given in this class.
  • Think about Language and Hegemony
    • Have you ever thought about language and how it replicates hegemonic practices? What’s the word for a promiscuous female?
    • How about a male?
    • Check out the definition for the word ‘slut’ (if you’re on campus, check out the OED’s expanded definition–you’ll need to be signed in through Atkins Library). What’s the double standard in that word?
  • Where else do ideal(ized) images get reproduced?

The Twilight Zone’s “Eye of the Beholder”

This episode goes along well with another Twilight Zone episode titled “Number 12 Looks Just Like You” (Season 5, Episode 17). Both episodes are about social constructions of beauty and conformity in general. I’m amazed at how eerie The Twilight Zone makes me feel each time I watch it. Many horror movies (and science fiction for that matter) from 40+ years ago just seem cheesy because the acting and special effects don’t have the same realism (I now that’s now a loaded term for us after the hyperreality notes from yesterday) that today’s media have. I still find that The Twilight Zone and Hitchcock films still hold up over time. For those of you into studying film technique, notice the use of camera angles and shadows throughout. These techniques reflect the mid-1940s to 1960s genre of film noir. At about 11 minutes into the show, the doctor (who’s smoking…something they did back then) sits in a chair, and a nurse enters the room. Directly across from the seated doctor is a lamp, and the lighting casts an eerie shadow that makes a face. Very creepy.

  • The doctor and nurses frame the tension through lines that reveal this society demands conformity.
    • The doctor claims “We’re afforded to fit into society. We spend lots of time, money, and effort. {This also relates to education, an institution we spend time, money, and effort on to get people prepared to be contributing, conforming citizens.}
    • One nurse says to another “some people want to live no matter what.”
    • Near the end, the Leader comes on the television and gives a speech about the virtue of conformity.
  • Janet Tyler (Ms. Tyler) wants to have her face “fixed,” so she can live like everyone else. She must have been hideous!
    • She says she “wants to belong like everybody else.”
    • The state law is for people to have 11 mandatory surgeries to “fix” their appearance.
  • The Twilight Zone has several episodes about segregation. The show first airs in 1959, 5 years after Brown v. Board of Education, which made segregation illegal in US schools. This episode has subtle allusions to racial segregation.
    •  If this surgery doesn’t work Ms. Tyler may “move into a special area where people of [her] kind congregate.”
    • She responds by screaming such a place is “A ghetto designed for freaks!” and “The state isn’t god. It doesn’t have the right to make ugliness a crime.”
    • The doctor tries to assure her that she “can still live a long and fruitful life with people of [her] own kind of disability.”
  • She ends up with a hideous chud of a man to take her to the place where her kind lives.

Remember, interpret this episode metaphorically. It’s not about using surgery to correct serious deformities; instead, the comment is on the pressure to have cosmetic surgery to attain beauty. In other classes, I’ve shown parts of Dr. 90210, a reality show about cosmetic surgery. Full disclosure: This is a difficult segment to watch, and, while there’s technically no nudity, the pixelations barely leave anything to the imagination, so don’t watch if nudity offends you.

One last thing about conformity: The 1950s is a time in American culture where conformity prevailed and was sought by the middle class. This theme comes through in many films, but it’s subtle. Another science fiction film with this theme is Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956 and remade twice). Interestingly, two prevailing and opposing views about this film are that it’s about the bland conformity of the era and it’s a film about communists secretly turning people into collectivists. Authors and directors aren’t always conscious of the socially constructed meanings they convey in their works, but, sometimes, they have to mask their works so as not to upset those in power. Science fiction is full of examples of hiding the direct focus of criticism because it can project into a different time, galaxy, dimension, etc., which the uncritical mind might miss…

Future Stuff

I’ve assigned Interstellar for tomorrow, and don’t forget I also assigned Stanely Weinbaum’s “A Martian Odyssey.” It’s a short story on adventure, but it isn’t as…deep… as Interstellar. I hope you’ll find some connects between the two texts.

Works Cited

Wolf, Naomi. “The Beauty Myth.” The Beauty Myth: How Images of Beauty are Used Against Women. New York: William Morrow, 1991. 9-19.