WUNRN
Open Society Institute for Southern Africa
http://www.osisa.org/buwa/regional/notions-beauty-and-attractiveness
BUWA – Feminism & Culture: A Journal on African Women’s Experiences
Patriarchy–Beauty–Body–Media: Women’s Images & Challenges
By Portia Tshegofatso Leoto | January 10th, 2014
“The female body is a cultural artefact defined and redefined over
time in response to broad cultural and historical transformations.
Historically, the body has taken on a tubular and slender form in eras in which
the female mind has become more politically, economically and socially
independent. One need only reflect upon the popular image of the 1920s flapper
and the 1970s fashion models to observe the validity of such an assertion” –
Hesse-Biber, Howling, Leavy and Lovejoy (2004).
Hesse-Biber, Howling, Leavy and Lovejoy depict the body as a
contested site of struggle by comparing it to a historical canvas – a surface
that is constantly transformed according to the painter’s wishes over time. As
a young woman, this subject has proven to be close to my heart, perhaps because
of my own experiences and the experiences of other sisters, who have always
grappled with the notion of beauty and attractiveness. What is beauty? Do I
look beautiful? What can I do to look like her? What do they think of my looks?
These are some of the questions that I believe have plagued the minds of most
of us as teenagers and young women on countless occasions. For me, growing up
in Botswana – a patriarchal society where how you look is determined by a
plethora of external forces – has been a real challenge. And I hope this
article can shine some much needed light on this issue and so help everyone –
but especially young sisters across the region – who are battling with these
questions.
Patriarchy, gender and the body
The notion of beauty and attractiveness is synonymous with one’s
body image; how we view ourselves and how we think other people think of us in
terms of looks or appearance. I believe that as societies, we tend to minimise
the role patriarchy has played in influencing body image. Patriarchy strives to
exercise control by defining what beauty is, controlling the mobility of women,
exerting violence and constructing social norms that impact on women’s lived
experiences. Throughout history and up until the present day, a core belief of
Batswana culture – and indeed many other cultures on the African continent and
beyond – is that women should have a certain body type.
Society often begins projecting socially constructed gender
expectations on children before they are even born. This is evident in the
colours used to decorate the nurseries. Colour codes in the form of blue and
pink, pierced ears, head bands and clothing designed for infants’ provide a
gendered foundation that will provide a template for much of the children’s
lives. Things such as toys, books, cartoons and video games develop a framework
that cultivates children’s identities, their relationships with others and most
importantly how they view the world. The process of socialisation is embedded
in patriarchal values, where beauty is emphasised for girls, while independence
and adventure are emphasised for boys.
According to Lighthouse (2006), body image refers to personal
constructions and public projections of our body and body parts, often in
attempted conformity with parameters of ‘beauty’ established in socio-cultural
or non-personal contexts. In other words, body image ‘involves our perception,
imagination, emotions and physical sensations of and about our bodies’ in
relation to values that are not necessarily innate but ‘learned or expected
culturally’.
Body image concerns have been measured by several authors
(Phares et al., 2004; Thompson and Stice, 2001; Rand and Wright, 2000), who
have had differences when it comes to how body image issues affect women, men,
adolescents and children. Akram and Borland (2007) report on the negative
affect of women’s and men’s body image concerns and their attitudes towards
physical appearance. They conclude that women tend to focus more on the
physical appearance aspects of body image and tend to be more negative about
their bodies, and compartmentalise them more than men. This
compartmentalisation allows women to isolate parts of their bodies for
criticism and specific analysis and thus women tend to be more body focused
than men (p.312).
Body image is generally the subjective sense we have of our
appearance and our body. There is much evidence that image plays a central role
in people’s lives – so much so that people spend a lot of money on their looks,
from hairstyles to make up to plastic surgery. Although both women and men are
on the quest to look good, studies have shown that this quest for beauty is
more profound for women – and that it is women who fret more about their bodily
‘imperfections’.
Women and the body ideal
What is attractive varies from one culture to another and
definitely from one historic period to another. In some cultures, facial
scarring is attractive, while drooping breasts are in others. In the historical
context, a core belief of most cultures was that women should display a certain
body type as per society standards. It is for this reason that women have
constantly tried to look a certain way – a way that is deemed attractive at any
given point in time. Failure to conform to the prevailing body ideals always
results in some form of image dissatisfaction. The dissatisfaction with how one
looks may be a manifestation of several ideals emanating from socialisation,
culture, peers and the media.
Today, most women are plagued by the thin-ideal in which a
certain thin body size is desirable. However, it is evident that this female
preoccupation with looks is by no means a recent phenomenon. Body image ideals
have always existed in societies and have continued to evolve over time. A
study by Prevos (2005) reveals that the preoccupation with thinness is not a
recent development. In the early 1940s, it was found that people with
ectomorphic bodies were perceived by others as nervous, submissive and socially
withdrawn. By the late 1980s this perception had changed and thin people were
considered to be the most sexually appealing.
Women tend to internalise this thin ideal and this
internalisation is a result of individual attitudes that are approved of by
significant or respected others. Kandel (1980) calls this a process of social
reinforcement. Agents of socialisation – such as family, peers and the media –
are believed to reinforce the thin body image through comments or actions that
serve to support and perpetuate this ideal, including by teasing women about
their weight, encouraging them to diet and glorifying ultra-slim models (p.
238). It can be attested that these sources increase expectations concerning
the benefits of thinness, such as increased social acceptance, and these
expectations play a major role in the propagation of this ideal.
With the rise of globalization, many aspects of Western culture
have been emulated by the rest of the world. Akram and Borland (2007) suggest
that for many girls and women in Western cultures, appearance is central to
their self-definition. They are socialised early into learning that their
bodies should be used to attract others and they learn to see themselves as
objects to be looked at and evaluated by appearance. This pressure is
constantly reinforced by a strong cultural ideal of female beauty – an ideal
beauty has become synonymous with thinness (p.315).
Women often go through body enhancement procedures to achieve
the desired societal body ideals. These body image enhancement procedures range
from traditional approaches (grooming, dieting and exercising) to extreme
surgeries (tummy tucks and liposuction) – and can even involve potentially
deadly eating disorders (anorexia nervosa and bulimia). It is quite evident
that the pressure to conform to the ideal body image can be stressful and has
resulted in the majority of women suffering from a negative body image.
The female body as a contested site of struggle
A contested site of struggle is a phrase often used to depict
the fact that women’s bodies are not neutral entities. There is more to the
body than just flesh and blood. Women’s bodies are not neutral in the sense
that there are so many external factors that act upon them and eventually
dictate the way of life of women. A woman’s body has come to be recognised as a
contested terrain in contemporary societies, where battles for control are. The
war on women’s bodies ranges from acts of extreme violence to bills targeting
‘indecent dressing’ to attacks on women wearing mini-skirts. Along with being
bombarded by messages about their bodies on a daily basis, women live in fear
of violence and this is a strategy to control women’s ability to think, feel,
move freely and act independently.
The struggle for independence and liberation for women has not
been easy, especially due to the external forces acting on the female body.
Society has always used direct and indirect levers to control women’s bodies in
one way or the other. So even the greater equality of opportunity for women in
recent times has resulted in a cultural demand for women to be thin –
political, economic and social gains have coincided with increasing pressure to
lose weight. A woman who climbs the corporate ladder is stereotypically
expected to look a certain way so even ‘liberated’ women still end up having to
conform to a certain ideal. This is an example that a woman’s body can never be
a neutral entity. Someone has to have some kind of control over it.
The role of the media
The media has proved to be a powerful source when it comes to
how women view themselves since many magazines, newspapers and television
programs are geared towards portraying the ideal woman – from her expected
roles to how she should look. The preceding statement is supported by Gill
(2007), who argues that we live in a world that is increasingly saturated by
the media and information and communication technologies. One of the earliest
and most famous studies conducted by the National Organization of Women in the
United States of America found that more than one third of adverts showed women
as domestic agents, who were dependent upon men. Most importantly, the study
also reported many examples of women being depicted as decorative objects (pp.
7-10). And this is important because the media has such a profound impact on
the lives of women – providing a platform for their dreams and aspirations,
particularly when it comes to achieving the ideal body type.
The fashion industry has been openly criticised for promoting
the thin ideal using models that are too thin, even though this thin goal is
unattainable for most women. Advertisers have defended their continued use of
this unhealthy and unattainable ideal with the argument that ‘thinness sells’
but it also causes damage since the use of ultra-thin models makes many women
feel bad about their bodies since they end up internalizing thin as the ideal
shape.
The cosmetics industry has also perpetuated a negative body
image. According to Gallagher and Hebert (2007), cosmetics companies promise
women an outcome and suggest an ideal way of looking. Voluminous eyelashes,
moisturising lip colour, natural looking face powder and age defying creams all
become part of an ideology of beauty. This ideology works by transforming an
ideal beauty into a timeless and universal standard towards which ‘ideal women’
should strive (p.57).
This quest for the ideal has certainly taken another dimension
on television where we see Western programmes such as Extreme Makeover and I
Want a Famous Face. Most of these programmes are premised on transforming the
appearance of women from ugly ducklings to swans in a single show – although
the techniques use range from new hairstyles, clothes and makeup to extensive
plastic surgery. Gallagher and Hebert (2007) argue that female bodies often
develop the status of a commodity – the ideal version of which, as prescribed
by society, can be achieved through various processes, including surgical
means.
Women are put under immense pressure to look ideally
‘beautiful’. Makeup has become an integral part of many women’s lives since it
gives them the chance to transform – or rather to ‘improve’ – their looks and
generate self-esteem. It must be noted that the same advertisements that claim
to unlock every woman’s beauty instil the notion that women are somehow inherently
flawed without beauty enhancing products. This subtext leads to body
dissatisfaction and consequently low self-esteem in many women – and highlights
once again the on-going battle for control of women’s bodies.