NAKED MEN... in advertisements harm body image

Tell me, what is strange about these images?

 

 They are all images that appear in advertisements for the clothing line Abercrombie and Fitch. Notice something illogical with this scenario?  For advertisements for a clothing brand these men are wearing surprisingly little clothing.

So how does this advertise clothing? Well, they are not exactly selling clothing so much as selling a brand and an image that goes with it.The main people are are buying into this image are adolescents, both boys and girls. 

There is significant discourse about girls and body image.  Concerned adults tread carefully, trying to emphasize the unreality of super-thin female models but little attention is given to how portrayals of men in popular media may relate to boy's body image.

Boys are expected not to be effected by images such as these in a harmful way while girls are expected to be deeply damaged by skeleton thin models.  I would suggest that boys are actually more susceptible to harmful body images due to advertisements like Abercrombie's, mainly because girls are educated about the dangers anorexia and bulimia as well as taught the realities of photo airbrushing.  With fewer boys advocacy groups than girls' they do not receive the same kind of education, leaving them more vulnerable to body image issues.

Perhaps this is because images of defined six packs create the illusion of health.  The assumption is that these individuals exercise and eat right to achieve their chiseled musculature but having no fat to cover these muscles is not exactly healthy. By under emphasizing these problems boys are taught that for them boy image is a non-issue.Moreover, the nature of this medium in particular, advertising, communicates something different than the photo on its own.  The fact that they use these pictures in an advertisements for a clothing company shows that to them a trim body and a six pack is more more important than anything, even than their clothes.  This seems to take on added meaning from someone who is, in fact, trying to sell clothing which covers up the body. For example, a Renaissance sculpture with similar subject matter would not communicate the same message because there is no agenda to sell the very thing in opposition to what the is image is glorifying. So, since Michaelangelo was not trying to sell t-shirt, his portrayal of a naked man says something different than Abercrombie and Fitch's.

Really, it is less about the image and more about the value messages behind the image.  Boys need education about body image just as much as girls do.  In the quest to identify gender biases and to protect historically marginalized girls we should not forget that boys face the very same problems.

http://www.commonsensemedia.org/advice-for-parents/boys-and-body-image-tips

Servant to Savior: The Evolution of Disney Princesses

Disney's princess movies have captivated children since their first hit, Snow White (1937). Since 1970s feminists have criticized Disney princesses for their docile and subservient images of women.  In response Disney has tried to change their Princess characters over the years, making them into more positive role models for girls.  Today we compare and contrast to see whether or not our new Princesses send better messages.

1. The Archetype: Snow White (1937)
Snow White kicked off Disney's princess franchise during the Great Depression.  She is extremely passive, gentle, quiet, and domestically astute.  As student of history and avid Disney blogger, Kaitlyn Albonem put it, "When we first encounter her as a character she is looking for a prince to come and find her, she is not particularly active in her quest for love". In fact, all she really ever does is sing about her problems.  She laments that "some day [her] prince will come" while in the mean time she does little to correct her state of forced servitude to the evil queen. 
Even when she does run away to the forest she only does so with the help of the queens defected assassin, a man.  When she finally is in the forest she is completely dependent on the kindness of the seven dwarves for food and shelter.  In exchange she is a domestic diva.  She sings her way through her daily housework, perfectly content to clean up after a houseful of coal mining men.
She waits quietly, eventually being captured and seemingly killed by the evil queen until she is ultimately rescued by the prince charming she'd been pining for her entire life.
Snow White is the epitome of the subservient woman.  She does almost nothing on her own except housework.  She happily conforms to established gender hierarchy, taking her place at the bottom where she waits for men to fix her troubles.

2. The Second Wave: Ariel (1989)
After thirty years with no new princess movies Disney resurrected the idea with The Little Mermaid (1989).
Ariel, as the title implies, very slight in figure.  She is a super slender girl of 16, scantily dressed in a seashell bikini.  Perhaps her clothing can be overlooked, given the fact that much of the movie does take place under the sea, so swimwear might be appropriate.
While her wardrobe is questionable her personal character Ariel represents a huge change in Disney's princess mentality.  She is the first to have a mind of her own.  Though she is naive about the consequences of her actions she has much more agency than Snow White and Aurora (Sleeping Beauty) ever did.  She defies the male authority in her life (her father, the king) and instead seeks out a woman, the Ursula, the Sea Witch, to get what she wants.
While this is a positive step forward the problem with Ariel is that all her most of the decisions she makes without men as a guide end in disaster.
While earnest, Ariel is a bit ditzy to say the least.  She uses not intelligence but beauty to get what she wants (much like Snow White) and it just so happens that all she wants is a man.  Her entire happiness rests on a man, her prince.  Though true love is a classic story, Ariel not only loves Eric but apparently needs him, despite the fact that she has never met him. Not only is being with a man her goal for the entire film, but it is a man, her father King Trident, who finally delivers this life to her.  In sum, Ariel is a free thinker, but still dependent.

3. The Feminist: Jasmine (1992)
Ariel's outfit rivals Jasmine's in skimpiness but Jasmine's intellect exceeds Ariel's by leaps and bounds.  Jasmine still lives in a world where all the men have the power but she is not resigned to accept it as Ariel does.  Princess Jasmine expresses almost feminine ideals with her defiant attitudes towards men.  She has a hot temper and refuses to accept and arrange marriage by her father.  She ardently seeks to educate the Sultan (her father), Jafar (the royal adviser), and the title character (Aladdin) about how they should treat her, asserting that she is "not a prize to be won".
Bravo, Jasmine! She is the first Disney princess to acknowledge issues of patriarchy. This represents a huge step forward; a princess who does not see herself as a commodity, and, more importantly, one who is not desperate for a prince.
The criticism I have of this situation is that, despite her apparent intelligence and forward thinking ideas, Jasmine's power still ultimately lies in her body.  Her beauty is what attracts Aladdin and distracts Jafar, and her status as the daughter of the Sultan is ultimately what gives her authority. So her intellect and ideals are almost secondary to her beauty and the power she gets by her relationships with men.

4. The Gender Bender: Mulan (1998)
Mulan is the first princess (technically she is not a princess, but she fills the same niche) whose appeal is stocked not in her appearance but on her cleverness, skill as a warrior, and sense of family loyalty.  Mulan is the first princess whose love interest did not fall in love with her for her looks (aka "love at first sight") but rather overcomes his early distaste to admire her for her skill and personality.
If Jasmine laid the groundwork then Mulan captured the embodiment of Jasmine's talk.  Mulan is the first who is not sexualized in the same way the other modern princesses, Jasmine and Ariel were.  She trades in their revealing belly shirts for a suit of armor. 
Mulan overtly challenges the gender expectations her culture and family have for her.  Despite the fact that she was raised to be a domesticated woman she proves her worth by becoming the most skilled soldier in her regiment.  She saves her commanding officer, and ultimately China, despite the gender prejudices she is up against.  Despite her captain's choruses of "I'll make a man out of you" she is able to use her unique status as a female to save the Emperor and demonstrate to her male comrades that being a skilled warrior is not synonymous with being a man.

5. The Entrepreneur: Tiana (2009)
Tiana's claim to fame is being the first African-American Princess but she is a lot more than that.  She is the first working class Princess and the first princess with dreams about something other than marriage.  Yes, Mulan was a warrior, but she turns to this only after failing in her domestic duties.  Tiana dreams of being an entrepreneur, using her skills to open her own restaurant.  Furthermore, while Mulan wants to bring honor to her family, Tiana's ultimate goal is to be self sufficient.  Unimpressed, she resists the advances of her Frog Prince suitor.
Interestingly enough, Tiana is almost a complete reversal of Snow White, a difference symbolized not just by their character but also their appearance.  Snow White's namesake and claim to fame is in her pale white skin.  Tiana's race serves as a symbol of her complete opposition to Snow White.  Snow White was cured by the kiss of her prince.  In contrast, the kiss of Tiana's prince turns her into a frog, endangering the dreams of her future. A man saved Snow White, Ariel, and Jasmine.  Mulan worked in partnership with men to be saved, and Tiana finally is the one who saves the prince. 
In short, Tiana is the first princess to find a prince who needs her, instead of the other way around.

Changing Gender Roles
So perhaps, these changing roles of Disney princesses can help mitigate parental concern over "princess syndrome".  The obsession with appearance and desperate dependance on prince charming inspired by the early princess movies has long caused parents to worry about how the effects these mentalities have on girls later in life.  But perhaps the ever evolving persona of Disney's princesses will lead the way to more agentic imitations of on screen behavior.

So have Disney princesses really changed over the years or are they essentially the same? Post your thoughts below.



http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/princess-recovery/201204/combating-princess-syndrome

Bella Swan, Not a Role Model

 So Stephanie Meyer's Twilight isn't exactly feminist literature.  The main character, Bella Swan, is utterly dependent on her vampire boyfriend, Edward Cullen, in a way that is surely not at all a healthy relationship for girls to aspire to.  Bella would do anything for Edward, even die (or lose her soul by becoming a vampire).  By most feminist critic's accounts Bella Swan represents archaic gender stereotypes.  She is the submissive women, waiting around for her vampire lover, or werewolf admirer to save her from imminent danger.
But perhaps this is not what the adolescent girls who so earnestly adore the film and book series see when they look at Bella Swan.  I recently watched the second film in the Twilight series, New Moon, in the hopes of looking at it from a different perspective. What do adolescent girls see when they look at Bella Swan?
I came up with three main observations that may help explain some of the allure to young people and, perhaps, redeem the story a little.

1. Bella has no Charisma.

Admittedly, this is an objective observation and is up for interpretation but from where I sit there is nothing particularly cool about Bella Swan.  She is not smooth talking.  She is definitely not popular and has trouble fitting in.  Still, Bella finds herself the object of desire to not one but two handsome, supernatural beings.  Both Edward Cullen, a vampire, and Jacob Black, a werewolf, are hopelessly devoted to Bella and her protection.  Given that Bella is no more charismatic than her tween and teenage fans it is clear to see why they feel so strongly about the character.  They can identify with her, unlike the unlike some heroines of teen films or are extra smart (like Hermione Granger in Harry Potter), very beautiful (like Ariwen from Lord of the Rings) or amazingly skilled (like Katniss of The Hunger Games).  Any girl could just as easily be Bella Swan and this contributes greatly, I think, to her popularity.
2. Bella is Not Wise

Feminists look at Bella Swan with frustration.  She is, as Edward points out in New Moon, reckless and stubborn.  She does not think through her actions. For example, desperate for a hallucination of Edward (which in the film are regularly brought on by her reckless actions), jumps off a cliff into the ice cold ocean, alone without telling anyone.  All the while she knows full well a blood thirsty vampire is after her.
Even ignoring the murderous super human after her there is still the added danger of the cliff itself.  Jacob informs Bella that most people jump from much lower ledges. She also knows that those who jump from this ledge in particular are, in fact, super human werewolves.  Still, she jumps into the ocean with absolutely no plan on how to get out.  Only luck, in the form of Jacob Black's supernatural ability, saves her.
On a more relational level, Bella is desperate to become a vampire and stay with Edward forever.  She disregards the warnings that she will lose her soul and that the life of a vampire is a difficult one and begs to be bitten.  Her only reasoning for this is that she wants to stay with Edward forever.  In her mind she too must be young to match him if they are to be together.
Bella makes decisions based on emotion. Bella makes decisions like an adolescent.  Most of her choices are based on her own interests, mainly her love for Edward.  She is not guided by an esoteric mission (Contrast Harry Potter's quest to defeat Voldemort) or by a higher moral imperative.  She act only on her own desires, which is relatable for young, unattached adolescents who often want to break free from authority figures and do just that.
3. Edward treats Bella like a child.

Bella's adolescence is emphasized by the way Edward treats her.  He loves her, to be sure, but does not trust her judgement.  He tries to protect her from her own decisions, cautioning her not to be reckless and refusing to turn her into a vampire as she desires.
It is not surprising, given the way she makes decisions, that Edward treats Bella like a child.  Actually, to Edward who is 109 years old, Bella, at 18, is a child.  He tries to protect her in almost a fatherly way.  Much older and wiser than she, Edward makes decisions to "protect" Bella that she will not make herself, such as his decision to leave the town of Forks in New Moon.  Though Bella is left in a paralyzing state of depression, this protection is part of Edward's appeal.
Adolescents are not exactly known for valuing parental advice, which may be why Edward is a much more palatable source of guidance.  Bella feels distant from her father, who is clueless about her difficulties.  Edward on the other hand is close, desirable, and wise.  Edward parents Bella much more effectively than her own distant, bumbling parents.  Adolescents this might be a way of fulfilling their need for parenting while still remaining separate from parents.
What does it mean?
What might be key to understanding why Bella Swan is so appealing is to stop looking at her as a role model.  It is entirely possible that girls do not necessarily aspire to be Bella Swan.  Rather, they identify with Bella in her feelings of  lack of power and desire for love, and to be grown up (or in Bella's case, a vampire). Bella is someone not all that extraordinary in and of herself. In this way Bella is a more realistic character.  Bella makes decisions that are actually reasonable to expect from a seventeen year old girl.  In this way, what is so attractive about her is that she is not supposed to be a role model, she is supposed to be just like them.
In the long run teenage girls should get a little bit of credit.  The Twilight Saga in and of itself does not necessarily create an ideal of the submissive woman and the "take charge" man, nor is it nonredeemable.  One parenting cite suggested that talking about Twilight with girls by help them better express issues regarding sex, relationships, and power structures that might otherwise be inaccessible or uninteresting to them, thus providing educational opportunities. Moreover, examining things from the other half, looking at Bella Swan in a more sympathetic light may help adults better understand how girls feel, in a world where they have limited agency.


http://www.commonsensemedia.org/video/modal/1248844


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/15/AR2008081503099.html

Girl + Truck = Okay, Boy + Doll = Homosexual?

So often we talk about wanting little girls to have the same opportunities as little boys, but perhaps in some cases boys are lacking the opportunity that girls have.  This, in my observation, is occurring mainly in play. 
Some parents are especially progressive in trying to protect their children from the ill effects of gender stereotyping, for example the parents of Sasha Laxton, whom as we have discussed in previous blogs, is being raised completely "gender neutral".  Where is the line though?

It seems we draw a very distinct line.  In the "gendered play" department girls seem to have an edge over boys. It is relatively commonplace and accepted for girls to play with trucks, participate in sports, or just generally get dirty, traditionally past times for boys. The girl is labeled a "tomboy" and not a second thought is given.
Unfortunately boys are not afforded the same flexibility.  Boys are confined to traditionally masculine activities.  Any foray into more feminine activities, such as having tea parties or playing dress up is met with resistance and often fear by adults. 
So what is it about boys being "girly" that is more upsetting than girls being "boy-y"?

Strangely enough I suspect the answer lies in a patriarchal past.  Historically, the male experience has been understood as the human experience.  For example, early psychological studies were done almost exclusively on men, then assumed to apply to all people. So the idea of boy's toys being toys for all children is not that much of a stretch for the mine. So, girls can play with trucks and no one bats an eye, but boys cannot play with dolls because dolls are feminine. Within this way of thinking, boys who are feminine are not what they ought to be, they are weak, or weird, or homosexual, but one things if for sure, they are not normal and this makes us uncomfortable.
Or perhaps what causes discomfort is that we don't know what they are.  We have the word "tomboy", but there is no word for a boy who likes to do "girly things" that isn't derogatory.  Boys who like more traditionally feminine activities are subject to names like "pansy" or assumed to be homosexual earning any number of slurs. Perhaps we are limited by our language in this way.  Since we have no way to describe these behaviors in a positive way we assume they are bad and must be curtailed.
But what do you think? How is being a "tomboy" different from a "pansy"? Share your comments below.

Sugar and Spice and Not Very Nice

There have always been, and probably always will be, mean girls but has the saturation of social media and technology amongst young people made it easier for them to be even meaner?  Stories of mobs of girls filming themselves beating other girls and posting the videos to YouTube or Facebook leave audiences horrified.  How could girls, made of sugar and spice and everything nice, do something so seemingly evil?

Scholars have long documented the need young adolescent girls feel to be accepted by and into social groups.  Being well liked and having status is of the utmost importance and so often tactics of relational aggression, manifest in gossip, social exclusion and manipulation, and rumor spreading (Willer 416).
These issues have long existed but the rise of social media makes promoting one's own status by engaging in these practices just so much easier.  It is as if social power is a commodity.  There is only so much of it so it must be earned or stolen through social interaction either by building oneself up, or tearing another girl down.
The problem is there is now little escape from such relational aggression, short of total social isolation.  Because of the pervasiveness of social media technology acts of relational aggression no longer occur as isolated incidents among a few in the community but rather as waves that sweep over one's entire social network.  With the click of a button relationally aggression is shared with the world, ensuring that it is almost inescapable for the recipient.
Social media provides a lot of social power, power which adolescent girls in particular may lack in other aspects of their lives.  But for all the concern given about male oppression of females it seems that the oppressed has become the oppressor.  Girls have use their new found sense of agency in social media to tear down other girls instead of oppressive structures.

The whole situation is a little bit horrifying, should not be cause for dismissal of social media.  Since these technologies are new there is a learning curve.  I suspect that parents, unfamiliar with the medium have struggled to find realistic ways to deal with children and social networking.  I think however, we can put hope in the idea that social media has the potential to be empowering and not just demeaning.  Once again, media education of both adolescents and parents is key to a resolution of the situation.  Girls in particular need to learn how to channel their power to build up without tearing down and social networks are the first place to do that.



 References
Willer, E. K., & Cupach, W. R. (2008). When “Sugar and Spice” Turn to “Fire and Ice”: Factors Affecting the Adverse Consequences of Relational Aggression among Adolescent Girls. Communication Studies, 59(4), 415-429. doi:10.1080/10510970802473674
http://parentingteens.about.com/b/2008/04/19/girls-fighting-youtube-videos-are-mean-girls-getting-meaner.htm
http://www.nypost.com/p/entertainment/too_cruel_for_school_CljzKtibmTTODrdsI4caAO
http://mg.co.za/article/2011-01-21-mean-girls-get-meaner-online

What if Spiderman likes Pink?

I was reading this interesting article recently and I wondered, What about gender makes us feel so uncomfortable? 
One Swedish toy company is marketing against gender stereotypes and doing it on purpose.  A scan circulating from their new catalog shows a little boy in a Spiderman costume posing with a hot pink baby carriage. It's harmless enough, but many are up in arms about it.  But what's the big deal?

Personally, I lapsed into a fit of giggles when I saw the ad.  I still have to ask why it is so funny that a boy plays with a baby carriage.  It is actually a relatively common site to see a father pushing his child in a stroller.  Since children often seek to imitate the behavior of caregivers it should not be unreasonable for a child of either gender to want to play with a baby doll and toy stroller, especially if their are infants in their family. 
But note, no one is upset about little girls playing with baby dolls and toy strollers.  As a matter of fact little girls are encouraged to aspire to be parents while the idea of a little boy having such an aspiration is utterly horrifying to some.
Young boys seem to get the short end of the stick when it comes to gendered toys and pasttimes.  Girls can play with trucks, play sports, and watch super hero cartoons and merely be labeled a "tomboy".  On the other hand a boy who wishes to have tea parties, dance ballet, and play with Barbies invites ominous predictions of homosexuality.
The toy company's goals are admirable.  Any child should be able to play with any toy, regardless of the gender it is assigned.  But the article points to a bigger cultural development.  Apparently there is a substantial movement in Sweden to completely eliminate the concept of gender altogether. 
This, to me, sounds foolish.  Yes, gender is socially constructed but that does not mean it is imaginary or that it serves no function.  It has implications based on both biology and history that can't be ignored. 
I believe in equality between men and women.  Equality, however, in the sense that I use it, does not mean that men and women are exactly the same and ignoring gender differences is just as harmful as perpetuating gender stereotypes . 
There are certain experiences that are uniquely female, for example the ability to bear children.  Ignoring this part of female experience denies the extra difficulties women can suffer as child bearers, working mothers, or victims of sex crimes.  That is not even to mention the fact that women have long relied on other women to provide practical advice through life events, such as childbirth, that men can never offer, no matter how well intentioned or educated, simply for the reason that they will never experience it.
To ignore these differences sounds dangerously like a return to patriarchy, a slippery slope towards a "one story" view of humanity. The goal should be to treat all genders equitably, with appreciation for their different experiences, and respect for their equal ability to contribute.
So what do you think about this Swedish toy company's push against gender stereotypes?  Are they beneficial or detrimental?

The Birds, the Bees, and the Internet

It's a classic tale; Boy meets girl. Boy and girl flirt. Boys asks girl... to be friends on Facebook?

Adults are increasingly perplexed by communication via the internet, and with good reason.  Technology and online social networking has changed so quickly from it's onset it is hard for even computer literate adults to keep up with the changing paradigms.  The general consensus is usually that kids do it wrong.  Don't they know it is better to get to know people in real life? Why can't they do things the right way, like we did before Facebook and Twitter and email?
But, the reality of the situation is that internet social media are not going away.  Every day they are becoming a bigger part of children's and adolescent's relational developement.  In light of that perhaps we should examine internet social media as a different, not subservient, means of socializing.
A 2010 study shows that online interactions may provide an important role in young people's development of cross-gender relationships. Despite common fears of parents most adolescents in the study did not seek to have offline interactions with those they meet in chat rooms.  Moreover, the on social networking sites the participants frequently expressed that they did not accept friend requests from those they did not know offline, thus eliminating much of the worries over "Dateline: To Catch a Predator" type incidents.

Still it is the relationship that youth have with social media that is troubling to many parents.  It may sound strange, even alarming to hear that young people have "relationships" with media but "relationship" is perhaps a better way to describe the nature of the nature of social media use than "consumption".
Young people's use of social media is a relationship in that they contribute to the medium (Facebook, chat room, etc.), the medium is influenced by their contribution and gives them something in return.  One of the possible thing that young people receive in return is the means to achieve their social goals, goals that would otherwise be unattainable, or more difficult to attain without the use of social media.
Girls for instance, were found in the study to use internet social media as an opportunity to experiment with different behavior. This is not to say that they took on another identity, in fact quite the opposite.  They explored facets of their own identities they may have been more difficult in their offline lives because of cultural norms or family expectations.

In the 2010 study's look at cross gender conversations on internet chat rooms found that girls took advantage of the fact that they could not be judged based on their physical appearance, an all too common concern for young girls.  They were able to express themselves with more self confidence and assertiveness than they were normally able to in offline life.This was, in fact, noticed by boys in chat rooms who were often confused by the ways girls talked to them online, sometimes thinking the girls didn't like them. 
This is a minor social discomfort, which has the potential for cultural impact.  Since young people are often still developing their expectations for the opposite gender, challenging these expectations early may provide more open mindedness for offline gender related cultural changes (ex.: fights against gender discrimination).  Such interactions are not likely to occur offline where  there are more concrete disadvantages to going against cultural norms. 
Additionally, adolescent cross-gender conversations online help on personal levels, giving boys and girls more dynamic views of the opposite gender, which will help them as they continue on into higher education, the working world, and adult family life. 
Yes, it is wise to educate children and adolescents about the dangers online, and the importance of things like fresh air, exercise, and physical human interaction, but social media are beneficial in their own way.  As it turns out, they might not be the unproductive time suck we thought they were.

Waechter, N., Subrahmanyam, K., Reich, S. M., & Espinoza, G. (2010). Youth Connecting Online: From Chat Rooms to Social. At the Interface / Probing the Boundaries, 151-178.