Blog #2

 Body Image

               Lesley Kinzel is starting a movement to create more self-confidence in plus-size women by bringing them fashion in their size. Kinzel is trying to change the negative stigma of the word “fat” stripping it of its harmful baggage. By turning the word fat into a positive meaning, it will diminish its effect to harm people. Kinzel’s outlook on life is to have every woman become confident in her skin  and to overcome the medias negative image on plus-sized women. She writes a blog about plus-sized woman’s fashion; her goal of the blog is to take control of the message that every woman is beautiful, no matter what her size. She stresses that life is too short to worry about appearance. Your body after all is just an outer shell, what really matters is what’s underneath (Kinsman, 2012).
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               This article relates to when we learned about body and media literacy. The fact that so much thought is stressed on women’s body type is harmful to us all. We should stop worrying about what size we wear and start worrying about what kind of person lies beneath. The beauty ideals that the media portrays for women are thin and Caucasian, which is not a good representation of America. Since all representations are constructions made for purposes, the media should change their purpose and make all advertisements more empowering for women by connecting them with ladies who are just like them, not just girls that are a size 00.

               As referenced in “Killing Us Softly 4”, the representations that the media creates are harmful to women in more ways than destroying their self-confidence. It can lead to violence, and lowering women’s self worth. By objectifying women in these ads, it creates an image to men that we are just objects, justifying in their minds that they can harm us (Kilbourne, 2010). Another damaging outcome is discussed in “The Body Politic” it talks about the harmful effects of eating disorders. She describes how powerful she felt being anorexic, receiving nonstop praise for her figure despite her illness (Chernik, 2005). To fight the damaging effects of the media Kinzel is trying to expand her blog so women will be exposed to other plus-sized women who feel confident in their body.

               The article brought up the harmful effects of society, and the pressures of body image that women face every day. The article definitely supported what we had learned in class, how media reflects pop culture, and now that we have a greater understanding of the effects we are seeing more of a change.  One thing from the article that didn’t match up to what we learned deals with “Body Ethics and Aesthetics Among African American and Latina Women”. In the article it discusses how African American women place more emphasis on representation and style verses physical appearance (Rubin, Mako, Becker, 2003). The article portrays it as if every race in our culture feels that being overweight is negative. In reality every sub-group has their own opinion on the body.

               More girls than ever are struggling with confidence issues. I think it’s important to stop focusing on body types. It shouldn’t matter if you’re a size 2 or a size 26 as long as you’re healthy and confident, you are beautiful.

References

Chernik, A. (1995). Reading Women’s Lives. The Body Politic (pp. 157-165).

Kilbourne, J. (2010, August 14). Killing Us Softly 4. Retrieved from

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ujySz-_NFQ&feature=related

Kinsman, K. (2012, March 31). 'Fatshion' bloggers find beauty in all sizes. Retrieved April 1,

            2012 from http://www.cnn.com/2012/03/31/living/fatshion-beauty-bloggers/index.html?

            iref=allsearch

Rubin, L, Mako, F, Becker, A. (2003). Women’s Voices Feminist Visions. Body Ethics and
            Aesthetics Among African American and Latina Women (pp. 243-252). New York,
            NY:McGraw Hill.