Post 4 - Policing Bodies

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From an early age, restrictions are placed on female bodies. Whether they come in the form of dress codes, societal mores, or media influences; women and young girls are constantly being fed messages about what is appropriate dress/behavior and over time they are socialized into believing and accepting this narrative. Many of these harmful messages come to us through the advertising and television programs and films we consume. As a result of this constant imagery surrounding  female bodies, many women are led to believe they have to look a certain way to be ‘beautiful’ and desireable.

The messages women and young girls receive from the media are particularly damning. A study found that “41% of adults felt that media was responsible for dictating public perceptions of the ideal body shape” (Wykes and Gunter 205). For many years society has been telling women there is a certain way they should look, and the current trend right now is thinness. Wykes and Gunter argue that “the long history of representation made the post-World War Two shift to slender beauty acceptable because it fitted into a long history of imagery wherein women were the objects of the male desire and used to being presented as men would like them to be” (Wykes and Gunter 207).  An important take away from this statement is that women have been socialized into accepting this imagery of their bodies simply because it is done for the male’s pleasure. The idea that women are objects and therefore passive, while men are subjects and active by nature is constantly repeated throughout advertising, film, and television. It goes back to the idea that Berger had about viewership which argued that “Men look at women. Women watch themselves being looked at” (Berger 47). This ideology is not only harmful because judges a woman’s self-worth based on her appearance but also because it reinforces the idea that women are docile, passive individuals with no opinions. Also it is important to note that men’s bodies are not policed in the same way as women’s bodies, this is not to undermine the expectations males have to live up to, but they are in no way the same as the expectations society has for women. This is summed up in Kilbourne’s Beauty and the Beast of Advertising “We don’t expect boys to be that handsome. We take them as they are. But boys expect girls to be perfect and beautiful and skinny” (Kilbourne 124). This quotation was taken from a survey of students in schools, it just shows how powerful the media is in captivating and normalizing the policing of women’s bodies.

The implications of this form of policing are seen frequently in everyday life. This is especially true in the workplace where women are expected to balance being attractive but not too attractive because then no one will take them seriously. The article stated that “women who are perceived as more attractive may be rewarded for it earlier in their careers but once they cross into positions of leadership that changes … beauty becomes a liability because our stereotypes around beauty are that they’re incompatible with capability” (Carpenter). This clearly illustrates the fine line women have to balance in order to be taken seriously in the workplace.This directly relates to the idea in Culture, where Wolfe states “ women are allowed a mind or a body but not both” (Wolfe 60). Also it relates back to the idea of madonna and the whore, in which women don’t want to be placed on either side of the spectrum instead they want to be safely in the middle. Alas, this is frequently not the case and many women are pushed into a side of the spectrum. It is important to note that a woman’s appearance in the workplace shouldn’t even matter because she is there to work and produce results; if people are discussing her appearance then they are taking away from her value as an employee and a woman. This policing of women’s bodies goes even further in the schooling systems.

At its core, this idea of policing takes place in schools around the country where young women are constantly being told what is appropriate and acceptable. The goal of dress codes is to make sure that the boys aren’t distracted by the girl’s attire. This argument is blatantly disrespectful and degrading to both boys and girls. Firstly, it belittles a female student to just her appearance at a place where her appearance shouldn't even matter and quite frankly if a boy is looking at her, why do institutions immediately blame her for getting too much attention, why don’t they question why the boy was even looking at her in the first place. Secondly, it makes demeans boys because it equates them as  animals who can’t control themselves. Although several individuals are speaking out and challenging the sexist nature of dress codes, there is still much to be done. These messages are being socialized into young girls and boys so by the time they reach adulthood they have normalized this behavior.

Image via: http://sgvnowproject.weebly.com/slut-walks--young-feminists-protest-rape--victim-blaming-around-the-world.html

A prime example of the harmful nature of dress codes frequently appears in rape culture. The article argues that dress codes can be used as a tool to blame the victim for an assault, “the child may believe the assault was their fault because of what they wore… the reality is only the assailant is responsible for a sexual assault” (Domitrz). Following the Weinstein accusations, Donna Karan defended him by arguing women who dress provocatively are asking for trouble. She said “How do we represent ourselves as women? What are we asking? Are we asking for it by presenting all the sensuality and all the sexuality”. These comments are obviously disheartening at the least but they represent a real side of the argument in rape culture. I think that because she is in such a position of power in the fashion industry nonetheless her comments were shocking to many, and in my opinion she deserved all the backlash she received after she made these comments and although she may not have said them with malicious intent, she is a powerful woman who many females look up to and she needs to take responsibility for her words and learn from her mistakes.

These efforts to police women’s bodies are harmful and degrading to say the least. They should not happen, but unfortunately they do. They are maintained by industries led by powerful men and they typically don’t want to challenge the status quo unless it is brought to their attention forcefully. It is our job as media consumers and makers to stand up against these policing ideas and argue for better conditions for all women whether they be in the workforce, school, or in the media.

Works Cited

Berger, John. Chapters 2,3. Ways of Seeing. London: British Broadcasting, 1972.

Kilbourne, Jean. Beauty and the Beast of Advertising. 1999.
Wolf, Naomi. “Culture.” The Beauty Myth: How Images of Beauty Are Used Against Women.
Wykes, Maggie, and Barrie Gunter. The Media and Body Image: If Looks Could Kill. SAGE, 2010.