Inner Beauty Doesn't Matter.... Right?

                In class today, we began discussing the article, “Television and the Domestication of Cosmetic Surgery”. This article discusses topics such as, “the practice of aesthetic eugenics as charity”. Which is basically taking out the physical traits that make someone “ugly”. In relation to the topic of aesthetic eugenics, the article began to talk about the show “Extreme Makeover”. The show is aimed to make the viewers feel bad for the “candidates” because there is something “wrong” with them physically. After the candidates receive their plastic surgeries, however, their whole lives are “changed”. Making it seem that since their physical appearance has changed, they are somehow a different person.              
               While I am not someone to judge another person on how they look or live their life, there may be a thing as too much plastic surgery, an extreme amount; if you will. I would include a clip from the show “Extreme Makeover”, but I couldn't find one that I thought suited this post well enough. I did, however, find an episode of the show “My Strange Addiction” that seemed to fit in very well. The episode is entitled, “My Strange Addiction: I'm a Living Doll!” The episode follows three adults who are “real life dolls”. 

                                      As you will see in the video, the man in the episode has had over 100 plastic surgeries including five nose jobs to achieve the doll look. 
 

               Going back to the show “Extreme Makeover”, while watching a clip of it in class, another show of the same concept came into my head.

                The Show “BridalPlasty” is a show where, you guessed it, the women compete for a dream wedding. Oh and a wish list of plastic surgeries. 

                                           

In the video, the host of the show states that, "some may need some extra help", in reference to every bride wanting to be perfect. The clip then shows the women discussing what they believe is ring with their bodies. 

Below, you can see some of the wish lists of the "contestants" on "BridalPlasty".

The fact that these women believe they need to be "fixed" with plastic surgeries is very saddening to me.

             In an article from the National Women's Health Network, Sandra Bogar  states that, "The recent show, Bridalpasty, took the concept of an indulgent bride to new and dangerous extremes." She also states, "The first time I saw advertisements for the show, my heart sank. The messages it sends to women and the implications it makes about women are horrendous. It tells women that they are not good enough as they are, and encourages women to be unsupportive towards one another. Moreover, this show inflicts mental and physical harm by undermining self-esteem and positive body image and using radical, dangerous surgery to needlessly alter young women’s bodies."

            I agree with her completely and am so glad she brought this issue to light. The problem with the media in today's day and age is that is targeting women and trying to make them think who they are now is not good enough. The beauty standard that women are put up too is unrealistic, sexist, and in my opinion, complete and utter bullshit. The only opinion that should matter is your own. The only person you need to impress is yourself. 

        

           Now, I have come to realize that I very much enjoy ending off these blog posts (chill, Kayla, you've only written two..) with music videos. So, instead of a twenty dollar nose job, have a twenty dollar nose bleed. 

                                       

Rumor has it, he's too old for you.

Well, its 8:45 on the night this blog post has to go up. In less than three hours, I have to have completed a 350 word blog post that needs to express the ideas of both gender and media while tying in topics we have talked about in class. Oh, and it also has to make sense and sound eloquent, I’m sure. Originally, I was going to discuss one of my favorite TV shows, and then the topic went to the show “Everybody Hates Chris” and the working class African American family, and now who knows. There is a myriad of topics I could be discussing right now, but the truth is; I don’t know much about anything that has to do with media or the way gender ties into it. So, let’s talk about something I do know; movies. My mother has the movie “Rumor Has It” on in the background while I’m trying to type this. I’m watching Jennifer Anniston kiss Kevin Costner and it is getting me thinking about the age difference between the two characters. I mean, he had sex with her mother for God sakes, and her grandmother! Not judging, of course, but…anyway. Now I’m looking up the age differences between other characters in other well-known movies. This search led me to a site that talked about on screen age differences. This offered zero information, other than the titles of the movies I am about to talk about. In the movie, “PrettyWoman”, Richard Gere was 40 and Julia Roberts only 22; leaving an 18 year age gap between the two. In the movie, “The Wolf of Wall Street”, Leonardo Dicaprio’s and Margot Robbie’s age difference is that of 16 years (can you believe he is only 39?!). Another example of Richard Gere loving his younger ladies is the 2012 film “Arbitrage”. In this film, Gere is 63 and his costar Laetitia Casta is 34, this means there was a 29 year age gap between the two of them. And finally, let’s bring it back to “Rumor Has It”, in this movie; Kevin Costner is a young 50 while Jennifer Anniston is 36. In case math isn’t your strong suit, that’s 14 years between the two. There was a film we watched in class recently that talked about the age gap between men and their younger female lovers in film. In my opinion, in the media, women are made to look and be younger, as well as demure and pure. Women are made to look weak. Women are made to look like as soon as an older man takes interest in you, you need to drop everything to be with him. That is just not the case in real life, or at least it shouldn’t be. Let's end this "angsty" post with something empowering brought to you by the ever so wonderful, Fall Out Boy.