Brainwashed Beauty
why mainstream media has transformed a generation's perception of themselves, part two
"Imperfection is beauty, genius is madness, and it's better to be absolutely ridiculous than absolutely boring." -Marilyn Monroe
No, I am not going to add a statement of angst to that quote. Marilyn Monroe's words ring true to this day, and they will never change. Neither will what happened to her.
This article is for women to learn about how social media has affected our views on beauty, and for those who have never experienced or weren't targeted by this topic to be educated about it.
One Story Out of Many
Marilyn Monroe, the IT girl of the 1950s-60s. She left behind a legacy of iconic acting roles in the past and is considered to have paved the path of modern feminism for the future. However, she was seen as a sex symbol of the era and was seen as a tragic story with her sedative overdose in 1962.
But I'm not here to talk about her struggles or her physical mistreatment, I'll save that for another day. The fame and fashion of the one and only Marilyn Monroe brought a cultural wave of change in America. But it also brought ironically both misogyny and feminism (most people this era 'second-wave feminism') to the silver screen. Marilyn Monroe was seen as both an object and a role model, simply bathing in the light of cameras flashing.
Marilyn Monroe's life on the camera was one of the first times a modern America had seen something like her. And I'd consider that someone like her started a new era, a century even, of pop culture and paparazzi. She was constantly objectified, yet used as a model as to how women of that era should act. She herself fought for civil and women's rights, yet was used as a symbol against them. Monroe was and is the ultimate paradox of Hollywood.
Who Is a Person, and Who Isn't?
Marilyn Monroe is not the only one who wasn't treated like the person she was. She may have been the first whose objectification was normalized by the paparazzi, but she won't be the last. Her experience propelled decades of the same treatment of famous women as objects in front of flashing lights. And with social media, objectification has become worse.
As established in article one, we need to be aware that social media has control over our lives, particularly what is considered 'beautiful. And social media has established a standard of beauty. To maintain this standard of beauty, they placed it everywhere. Ads, videos, magazines, all featuring this standard of what a woman should be, are oversexualized and objectified.
The media likes to send the message that all women need to look like this; they need to sit still and look pretty, not respected or empowered. This beauty is also so greatly valued in our society that any deviation from the norm is rejected. This devalues women in general, saying that their beauty and demeanor are much more important. More on that later.
The definition of objectification is treating a person or animal-like an object, also known as dehumanization. Both are inherently dangerous and are given a voice by the media. And it is so dangerous because by not treating these models, these women, as people, there are no boundaries to what you can do to them. By hyper-sexualizing women, the media forces women into gender roles and harmful stereotypes.
A Tale of Two Genders
The patriarchal society has campaigned for two things: there are only two genders, and that each gender is forced to act a certain way. And while we both know that this isn't true, it still is a large problem.
Gender roles were huge during Marilyn Monroe's time. Post World War II forced women into being the housewife, and the man as the breadwinner. But today, gender roles look a bit different. Statistics have shown that social media platforms are 'gendered'. Platforms with more image-based are dominated by female users, and text-based ones are taken over by men.
A lot of ads are also 'gendered'. And before I continue, I apologize for the repeated use of the word gender. But blue and pink, footballs and shopping bags, and any other seemingly conflicting gender-based imagery has reentered our lives with the power of a button. Advertisements target both men and women to feed into these roles.
A little more subtle, but gender roles and the social concept itself have been picturized all over the media. Gender reveal parties, 'upholding' masculinity, everything is spoken and viewable, from comments to likes.
Social media enforces the message by pushing it. They've been pushing these gender roles to the forefront of our lives, starting without childhoods.
Subtlely Sexist
Why did society demonize the femininity it wanted to see? Why shouldn't we be like the other girls, why shouldn't we wear pink? Women all know that part of our feminine-hating childhoods, simply internalized misogyny. But where did it come from?
The simple answer is: everywhere. You can look at the advertisements saturated in gender roles (pink versus blue), the tomboy character in movies, and those memes from 2013. And it's not new. From the second wave of feminism, the Marilyn Monroe era, some feminists denounced feminine objects because they represented the very thing that they were fighting against.
And during THIS era, our society has progressed to hating anything feminine. Women that are seen as smart, intelligent or something like that are seen as masculine. Anything deep and meaningful is perceived as masculine; women can't do that. Take rap for example! Nicki Minaj, Doja Cat, and so many other female rappers that sing about sex or their bodies are demonized because it's feminine, and not 'real'.
Tropes in our beloved movies push this anti-feminine rhetoric. The 'tomboy' trope/'not like other girls' gives young girls who can't relate to the oversexualized/hyper-feminine stereotype are truly not like the other girls. The 'evil character' in those coming of age movies is usually some blonde-haired boy-crazy evil girl that represents a caricature of femininity. These tropes have a lasting effect on our childhoods and still, happen today.
What Does This Mean?
Our society as a whole needs to unlearn this two-gendered, anti-feminine nonsense. It has taken too long for me personally to do what I want to do without caring about what others think. Simply dressing how I want to dress, wearing makeup, and acting how I want to act, whether in or out of the classroom, was something I needed to learn and still am doing.
There's a lot of work to be done, but it needs to start with you. You need to learn, especially women, that there are so many effects of social media and Hollywood on our lives. To break the cycle, you must become aware of it.
The last and final part talks about body image and body types. Until then, stay safe, and I hope you start to become more aware and regain the life you deserve.
Written by Stephanie O.
Sources:
One Story Out of Many
Subtlely Sexist
A Tale of Two Genders
