The Impact of Globalized Media on Womens Body Image Valeria Del Castillo

Media culture has contributed to the construction of the identity of the individual. Postmodern theories have demonstrated that identity is not fixed and that it becomes flexible, and it is able to change and innovate. Indeed, as media has evolved throughout time, where it mostly served political purposes, nowadays it serves other purposes. Television is governed by the aesthetic of representational realism, of images and stories which fabricate the real and attempt to produce a reality effect !ellner, "##$, p.%%#&. 'dvertisements are designed to sell a lifestyle that celebrates the current social order and influence the masses by creating an artificial desire of what they really (need). In other words, media has become a tool for social control. This is because it creates narratives and discourses that shape our practices, habits and ideologies to the extent that we are produced by them as well as we produce them. Media has perpetuated an artificial concept of what being beautiful means by the propagation of images and representations of a man*constructed idea of beauty. 's a result, women are now influenced to loo+ in this way to be accepted by society, regardless of its horrific conse,uences, such as anorexia, bulimia and depression. This essay will explore how the globalisation of this media images and representations of how the women should loo+ in the %"st century affect the body images of women and society as a whole.

In postmodern societies, identity is not fixed- in fact, it is sub.ect to change- therefore, it is considered to be unstable. Individuals can now invent and rema+e their identities as many times as possible. /ince this identity is related to an 0ther and it often

demands recognition * .ust as 1egel and Mead explain in their theory of spheres of recognition 2 we create ourselves because of the understanding of the /elf and its relation to the 0ther. !olb "#34& explains, 5self*consciousness6 comes into its own, it becomes possible to continually engage in reflection on available social roles and possibilities and gains a distance form tradition !ellner, "##$, p.%%#&. This means that we assimilate the already socially constructed roles to reinvent our own identity. 7ut how do we +now, in postmodern societies where individuality is the most important feature, that we are being true to our own identities if we are always influenced by the media8 's !ellner "##$, p. %9:& explains, the postmodern individual experiences anxiety because of the sub.ect can never be certain about his choice of stay true to his identity or of having constituted an identity in the first place. ;ot only the individual feels anxiety about the level of authenticity in his identity in a society that strives for individuality, but also, the individual is also anxious concerning recognition and validation of one)s identity by others !ellner, "##$, p.%9%&. The reason is that since media has created a certain image that represents how women should loo+ in society nowadays to feel included and be considered beautiful, and since we need the recognition of others that accept and internalise the values that this image represent, we ultimately have to comply to these values and representations to fit in society, to be accepted by others and conse,uently, to accept ourselves.

In the consumer and media societies that emerged after <orld <ar Two, identity has been increasingly lin+ed to style, to producing an image, to how one loo+s !ellner, "##$, p.%9%*%99&. /o, the postmodern paradox is that while we aim for individuality, we copy and further create and perpetuate stereotypes that are created by consumer culture, so the individual is mediated and transformed by this consumer culture. 7oth

men and women are constantly constructing their identities that is influenced by the images and representations disseminated in the media. 1owever, as much as feminism according to some perspectives& has made great progress by giving rights to women, and through their inclusion and empowerment in society, others argue that given the pervasiveness of these images, women have become more oppressed by being enslaved to ma+eup, surgery and other mechanism to be beautiful. =ven though it is presented as a free choice for women to attain the current concept of what beauty means * which is a social construction reinforced by media representations- therefore being an artificial beauty concept 2 this freedom is usually contested, ending up being an illusion. This artificial notion of beauty has been embedded, throughout time, in women)s way of acting and loo+ing. This process, in the life of women starts in very early stages, basically since she is born. <omen have become slaves and sub.ects to their bodies because of society)s demand. 's /usan 7ordo "##$, p."3& states, Taught from their infancy that beauty is woman)s scepter, the mind shapes itself to the body, and, roaming around its gilt cage, only see+s to adorn its prison.

In our current trends, the female body is rarely left untouched- it is always being submitted to alterations and improvements because it proves to be good for differentiation between the masculine and the feminine sexes, among female bodies, as well as for the economy. 's a result, we can see how culture affects the female body directly- and the women that fit or aim to fit& with the dominant beauty ideals have correctly discerned that these norms shape the perceptions and desires of potential lovers and employers 7ordo, "##$, p.%:&. Moreover, the freedom of loo+ing in a certain way is pretty limited and the (slender body) or the current (beauty archetypal figure) has shaped culture as well. ;ow this model holds the moral

connotations of self*control and self*mastery in a culture that is currently dominated by overconsumption, in opposition to the connotation of la>iness and inefficiency that rounder women have. 's 7ordo "##$, p. xxi& explains, consumer culture is usually souring us to let go and satisfy our desires, such as gluttony, lust and pleasure, but at the same time, burgeoning industries centered on diet, exercise, and body enhancement glamori>e self*discipline and code fat as a symbol of la>iness and lac+ of will power. ?onse,uently, this has become ingrained in our cultural values than+s to the media representations and images that influence the population. Therefore, we can say, that the power*+nowledge relations that we have in our culture create, what @oucault calls, the docile body. 'ccording to /usan 7ordo "##$, p."44&, 5female6 bodies become docile bodies 2 bodies whose forces and energies are habituated to external regulation, sub.ection, transformation, (improvement) 5A6 through the normali>ing disciplines of diet, ma+eup, and dress.

@or this reason, we can explain this better through @oucault)s concept of governmentality. 's Michael Billon "##$& explains in his article Sovereignty and Governmentality: From the Problematics of the New World Order to the Ethical Problematic of the World Order, as individuals, we internali>e disciplinary power, so we discipline ourselves to ac,uire the habits and practices that are re,uired to be considered beautiful and even feminine by others and ourselves. <e become sub.ects by being sub.ected to power and empowered at the same time because the practices and habits that we perform constructs our agency and differentiates us from others, thus, constructing our identities. In feminist terms, prevailing forms of selfhood and sub.ectivity are maintained, not chiefly through physical restraint and coercion although social relations may certainly contain such elements&, but through

individual self*surveillance and self*correction to norms 7ordo, "##$, p.%C&. 's these practices both homogeni>e and normali>e the concept of current female beauty within our society, indirectly, women that attain this beauty ideal are perpetuating and reinforcing this stereotype. This reinforcement creates discrimination, criticism and .udgment among women- and creates the expectation from males of how all women should loo+.

Media images and representations of women contribute to the duality of mindDbody, aggregating the female connotation to the latter. The reason is that the male embody the mind, which is often considered as the spirit, the concentration and focus, the 'll, the 0ne and the li+e. 0n the contrary, women represent the body, which is often the weighted down term. If the mind is the positive, the body is the negative- and if the women are the body, then women represent this negativity. 'ccording to 7ordo "##$, p.$&, this negativity can be distraction from +nowledge, seduction away from Eod, capitulation to sexual desire, violence or aggression, failure of will, even death. 's we can appreciate in advertisements and maga>ines, the images always introduce an element of sexuality and desire. /o these images and representations create arousal and desire in men, and in certain cases, women do not even need to be acting or spea+ing sexually, but their mere presence represents and activates sexuality. 's a result, women end up being ob.ectified and portrayed as manipulative so their supposed provocation to men is their fault. ;owadays, since men are really young images of women with big 1ollywood breasts which are unnatural& arouse them, instead of the normal breast si>e that no longer conforms to the current beauty concept. Therefore, does it really matter if they are real or not8 'nd what is real right now8 These images and representations of the Perfect woman are now dominating

perceptions on both men and women about women should loo+. 'nd perfect sounds immortal and timeless which women want to achieve through ma+eup and surgery& when truth is that we age, we change and we also die 7ordo, "##$, p. xvii&.

This concept of perfection has blurred the line between what is considered a real woman and what is not- however, this no longer matter on society today. Philosopher Fean 7audrillard created the concept of the (hyperreal) to understand the disability of the conscious mind to differentiate the real from a simulation. 'ccording to 7audrillard "##"&, models no longer constitute an imaginary domain with reference to the real, and thus leave no room for any fictional extrapolation* they are immanent. @or this reason, he argues that in a postmodern world, individuals will leave the banality of the real for the ecstasies of the hyperreal. 'nd this is exactly what has happened to society regarding the body and the image of women. <omen have attained this loo+s because it allows them to feel normal in a society that excludes women that do not fit with the beauty standards. 'nd the element of perfection is always transforming, raising its meaning to higher levels because we identify and compare ourselves to the media images of women and to what the plastic surgeons say, ma+ing this a culture that focuses on the defects of the women. 1owever, others might argue that media has helped disseminate and accept other body shapes, for example, the Bove ?ampaign or the @orever%" ?lothe line, even if it is for mar+et expansion and not for their true social conscience.

Therefore, as we have constructed the hyperreal of the female body, we have also constructed the identity of women from other races, such as =uropean, 'frican or 1ispanic given their culture and race through the dissemination of these images and

representations. ;owadays, globalised media representations essentialise the identities of women from different parts of the world, ma+ing these meanings widely accepted and hardly contested. /usan 7ordo "##$, p.#& explains the racist ideology and imagery that construct non*=uropean races as primitive, savage, sexually animalistic, and indeed more bodily than the white races. Moreover, as this both extend to men and women, women have to bare the fact that they are women and that the media ob.ectifies them as well as portrays them as guilty*provocateurs. This racialised images contribute to the perpetuation of the white slim perfect female because of the constructed connotations that media have provided blac+ and 1ispanic women with animalistic, docile and their representation of male moral downfall. 's a result, globalised beauty advertisements usually use a blac+ model with white features. This demonstrates the prevalence of these beauty ideals and the need to use white features to cover those of other races that represent more negativity than a white body.

This is not only shown through the globalised media, but through the beauty ideals that have become widely accepted in ;on*<estern societies as norms. @or instance, beauty ideals in 'frica completely differ from those of the <est, given that they regard slenderness as disease and wea+ness. 's an example, the beauty pageant (Miss ;igerian) has been widely critici>ed for embodying <estern ideals of beauty that do not represent ;igerian values or culture Ganguard, %:":&. 'lso, eating disorders in 'sia have increased exponentially in the past years, and it is especially alarming since this culture did not have any concern on women)s body image. 's many 'sian countries become <esterni>ed and infused with the <estern aesthetics of a tall, thin, lean body, a virtual tsunami of eating disorders have swamped 'sian countries

7ordo, "##$, p. xv&. 's a result, we can see how the globali>ation of images and representations of female western beauty have imposed itself on other cultures, which creates the dilemma on whether this phenomena has fostered hybridity or McBonaldi>ationDMadonni>ationD<esterni>ation of beauty ideals8 /ome would argue that current societies have adopted the hybrid model of beauty because in some media representations there are appreciations for some cultural diversity, for example, Fenifer Hope> as a Hatina, being proud of her curves or actress Hucy Hiu being praised on her rare 'sian beauty. 1owever, they have become westerni>ed, as well as their culture)s ideals of beauty that demand the women population to loo+ in a certain way.

's a conclusion, the globali>ation of media images and representations of female beauty, besides constructing and reshaping our identities, have homogeni>ed and normali>ed the female body and the concept of beauty itself. 's 7ordo "##$& states, cultural, racial, ethnic and sexual differences are (smoothed) if they disturb 'nglo* /axon, heterosexual expectations and identifications. This means that media representations homogeni>e the concept of female beauty. 's @oucault explains, through governmentality, as much as the sub.ect is empowered to be able to reconstruct the habits and practices that create the meanings and the images of what female beauty now is, individuals are sub.ected to these ideals that have become hegemonic in our society throughout time. 'nd- more often than not, these hegemonic practices, beliefs and beauty culture has derived from masculine western power* relations. 'lso, 7ordo "##$& states, media representations of the perfect woman function as models against which the self continually measures, .udges, disciplines and corrects itself. This means that as much as we try to subvert these hegemonic beauty values, we are under constant pressure from peers, family, society and

ourselves in general to loo+ li+e those images and as a result, become the perfect woman 2 a concept that has been artificially manufactured for women to live in slavish freedom and happiness.

References

7audrillard, F. I =vans, '.

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Sim lacra and Science Fiction

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