Society Shaping Bodies
For our research, we are focusing on how different mediums shape a woman’s body image. Specifically, we’re focusing on how these mediums are constructed and what messages they’re delivering to women regarding how they should view their bodies. The mediums we chose to focus on are celebrity influence, skin bleaching, photography, pornography, women’s fashion, and the hijab. We will use these mediums to illustrate the message being conveyed about women’s bodies, as well as focus on the history of these mediums to show the development of these mediums over time as well. While we will be primarily focusing on the modern-day impact of these mediums, we will also go back as far as colonial times to not only illustrate the development of these mediums but to also illustrate the significance of these mediums by acknowledging their influence throughout history as well.
Sexuality issues will be addressed within four of our mediums: celebrity influence, pornography, women’s fashion, and the hijab. Specifically, we will consider how celebrities influence body image through social media, how a women’s body is depicted in pornography, how women’s fashion is designed, and how the discrimination against the hijab shapes a women’s body image. Furthermore, we will also look into how this influences her sexuality as women are told both how to and how not to use their bodies, as well as how to present their bodies to the world around them.
Colorism, an intersectionality issue, will be explored within two of our mediums: photography and skin bleaching. Specifically, we will consider how the delayed development of cameras to accurately depict those with darker skin in photography contributed to the overall lack of representation of a variety of skin tones in film and photography. We will also consider how the period of colonization attached an idea of superiority to lighter skin and how that contributes to the use of bleaching products in an attempt to lighten one’s skin to this day. These mediums not only contribute to a woman’s body image, but they illustrate the presence of colorism on a global scale as well.
Our research will illustrate not only the significant number of influences on a woman’s body image but the significance of each medium and the messages portrayed behind each medium as well. The goal of our research is to bring awareness to these issues to as many people as we can.
Creams, Colonization, and Colorism Photographing a Perfect Body
The Restriction of Women Through Fashion Social Media's Impact on Beauty Standards
Discrimination against Muslim Women Women as Sexual Beings: The Pornographic Impact
