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Bootylicious and proud? May 21, 2007

Posted by lana in Beyonce, Women's Bodies, beauty, bodies, female perfection, full-figuring.
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        Beyonce Knowles says that women should be proud of their figure and not worry about their weight. I agree that women can be sexy no matter their size and state of dress. Sexiness is not equivalent to how perfect your makeup may be or how revealing your clothes are… it’s all about confidence and appreciation for your own body and for yourself. Beyonce’s music backs this idea of loving what you were naturally born with, but it’s still depressing to see the effect that Hollywood ideals can have on an artist as beautiful as she is. It’s one thing for her to say these things, but then to have to go around and lose 20 pounds for a movie role when she hardly needs to…

“Exploited or empowered” May 17, 2007

Posted by Wednesday Girl in Empowerment, Women's Bodies, beauty, bodies, fashion, female emotions, female perfection, feminism, girl power, identity, power, sexuality.
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The article Resisting the Raunch Culture that Objectifies Girls, discusses the effect that risque clothing has on young girls. This clothing, which attracts male attention and leads to increased sexual activity, often results in depression and low self esteem. The writer claims that in dressing more modestly, girls will claim more power and increase self esteem as they will learn to see themselves as more than just sexual objects.

I agree that dressing in skimpy clothing can have no positive effects on young girls, but the problem can not simply be solved by telling them to wear more clothes. I think the focus should be on discussing why girls feel a need to objectify themselves and reclaiming power within themselves first before changing their outward appearance.

Bananarama May 7, 2007

Posted by amyliu in Bananarama, Evolution, beauty, bodies, sexuality.
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I came across this girl group called “Bananarama”; they were created in London in (get this) 1981 and have been around and producing music ever since.  I didn’t know who they were at first so I youtubed some of their singles and below are some of the results that I got.   It’s really surprising to see the evolution that they’ve made in not only their images but also in the music they’ve created to fit into what was considered ‘pop culture’ at that time.  Each video that I’ve posted below was made within a decade of each other (1983, 1993, 2005 – respectively) and it’s so weird to see the last video in comparison to the first because the girls look totally different – and younger!  The ‘Cruel Summer’ video made in the 80’s looks like they’re having a lot of fun just dancing around and being silly, whereas in the other two they’re trying to look more sexy.  In ‘More, More, More’ the girls are dancing around in their bras, doing the 90’s thing (Madonna also went through this phase.. who could forget her cone boobs!) The last video, ‘Look on the Floor’ alters the girls’ voices to sound more futuristic/pop, this is also apparent in the beats of the song.  ‘Look on the Floor’ also shows attractive, younger guys dancing while the girls just sit around and don’t really move much… except to lean provocatively into the fake wind.

Anyway, y’all definitely know these songs (well, the first two anyway).  Enjoy!

ANTM May 4, 2007

Posted by lana in America's Next Top Model, beauty, bodies, fashion, links, magazines/photography.
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To continue on with my last post about America’s Next Top Model, both of the plus size models were eliminated, sadly. Whitney had been one of my favorites, both because of her personality and particular beauty, although (I agree with the past comments) that Diana’s shoots were subpar. The last episode’s shoot proved to be particularly interesting; the girls did two shoots on the beach, with one shoot aimed towards a women’s magazine and the second aimed towards a men’s magazine.

I’ve always been conscious of there being differences between the photos found in each, but seeing as how I don’t make a point of perusing magazines like Sports Illustrated as often as those geared specifically towards women, I’ve never really noticed the extent of the differences. In the women’s magazine shoot, the models were directed to look soft and natural and were encouraged to create an ideally romantic scene with their male model partner. It was interesting to see that the judges disliked Dionne’s women’s magazine shoot because she made direct eye contact with the camera, which brought an unwanted intensity to the picture.

In the men’s magazine, there was, of course, a more in your face sexuality. Intense eye contact was encouraged in this case (see Jaslene, Renee, Brittany, Dionne, and Natasha’s pictures). There was a lesser sense of naturalness and much stronger body language. The sidewise eye contact which Renee makes with the viewer was heavily praised because it is that sort of look, according to the judges, which is greatly popular amongst men’s magazines because it engages the (presumably male) viewer into believing that the model in view desires them.

ANTM always somehow manages to open my eyes to the impact of body language and posture, and the different ways in which it can be read by the members of each sex. I remember seeing one episode from another season (I believe it was the last one) in which Tyra was educating the girls how to pose for different audiences. More high fashion poses were encouraged amongst female audiences (more hunched forward shoulders, more dramatic body lines), so that there wasn’t an obvious display of sexuality. With male audiences, arched backs and strong, frontward poses– poses which were deemed totally unacceptable– were expected and encouraged. Regardless, I just found it interesting to see how magazines cater to the sexes, playing upon stereotypes of the so-called male ideal and women’s love for all things romantic.

Angelina Jolie- gold standard of beauty? April 14, 2007

Posted by mehass in angelina jolie, beauty, female perfection, race.
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In my web surfing tonight, I happened to come across this article in the Australian publication The Age. What surprised me most was not that Jolie is representative of a standard of beauty that is desired by women and emulated by their plastic surgeons, but instead this comment from Professor Ava Shamban, a cosmetic dermatologist who spoke to a gathering of plastic/cosmetic surgery specialists in Australia:

“Angelina Jolie, with her exquisite looks, is the current gold standard of beauty in the states and in the West in general right now and that’s not about to change. The exotic look, like (actresses) Halle Berry and Penelope (more…)

Brazilians and sexiness? April 12, 2007

Posted by lana in beauty, bodies, female perfection.
4 comments

An interesting article that I found. Extremely short, but the final quote was thought provoking.