Society has placed rules and behaviors considered normal according to gender and sex that guides the manner people live their lives. Until recently, men and women body types had a blueprint look. Men had to be six feet and above, muscular with a full head of hair and dominant. Hence, a man that looks otherwise gets their masculinity revoked and deemed effeminate. Women had to have voluminous hair with an hourglass-shaped body and submissive. It is important to note these are mostly western and European beauty standards that have traveled through cultures and influenced the way parents raise their children. Gender shapes the way most people live daily, as going against one’s gender opens them to ridicule.
In response to forced gender behaviors, people have responded by ignoring such rules and, instead, challenging them. In 1967, Katherine Switzer became the first woman to run a marathon despite people trying to stop her. By doing so, she proved that marathons were not just for men anymore, and women were strong enough to participate. The celebrity Jaden smith continuously opposes the rigidity in gendered clothing by wearing clothes considered ‘feminine.’ Consequently, it opposes the notion that black men are aggressive and hypersexualized. Finally, a group of women artists called the Guerrilla Girls advocated for women’s presence in museums and the art world as more than just feminine objectification on canvases in 1985, which led to more inclusion of women in art. Challenging all manner of norms society expects sparks debates that could lead to change.
Body objectification is an issue facing many people, which has roots in childhood. Many children grow up playing with specific toys, which could shape the way they relate to ideas such as beauty standards and gender behaviors. When I was a young child, the only available dolls to play with were white, with long hair and short provocative clothing. The result was I wanted to change my hair to look like the dolls as it was advertised to be the standard of beauty. Other industries, such as the beauty pageant sector where little girls are judged based on their beauty and makeup, further increase personal objectification and from others. Currently, there is progress where dolls exist in every race, shape, and sex, which reduces objectification that rises from low self-esteem.
Hi Tiffany,
I love your post! I feel like, in some type of way I can relate to it, for example, people expected me to have my mother’s body type and I barely look like her. My mother is white and I’m not, I don’t like to be all girly every time I go outside it’s just not me and the fact that my own family and people around me always have something to say about it makes me feel that I’m not at their “level”. On the other hand, it’s just sad how can they judge others for being different, like Jaden Smith for being himself at all times, and not care what they will say and the example that people want him to be because of being a celebrity.