Chapter 8 Physical Appearance Flashcards
Explain Charles Cooley’s Theory
“The Looking Glass Self”
- How do others see me?
- How do others evaluate me based on what they see?
- How does their evaluation make me feel about myself?
Explain George Mead’s Theory (Interactionist Theorizing)
“The I and the Me”
The “I” is the subject with power, the “Me” is the self as perceived by others and the “I”.
Basically, this says that you can’t see yourself as others see you until you have a developed self.
When do we develop a sense of self?
When we recognize ourselves
What are the components of the self as explained by Higgens (1987)?
The actual self - who we are. The Ideal self - who we want to be. The “ought to be” self - what should we be
Explain Goffman’s The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life
The performance of self: Dramaturgical performance, Front Stage vs Back Stage, Impression Management.
Essentially, we try to manage how we are perceived by others by changing our appearance
What are the characteristics of Impression Management?
Disability, Weight, Age, Identity
Explain Appearance Norms
What is Beautiful is good concept - subjective.
They are social constructs, and women tend to be judged on these more harshly than men.
How do we measure the Ideal Body through scientific standards?
BMI - we look at health risks (hypertension, type 2 diabetes, certain cancers), being underweight
What are the medico-scientific understandings of obesity?
Endocrinology (hormones), genetics, neurochemical
Explain the social stigma around Type 2 Diabetes
Blaming the individual, but also blaming the media. Overweight people are portrayed in certain ways. These have serious consequences on a person’s life.
Explain the sociological understanding of obesity
the quality of life, especially in the western world, has lead to increased obesity. Ex) all you can eat, drive thrus, processed food, food pricing, food advertising
Explain the Ideal Body and Media Portrayals
Female bodies in the media have become thinner over time, male bodies have become more muscular but leaner. They are fictions.
What are the three most common cosmetic procedures in Canada?
- Breast augmentation 2. liposuction 3. eyelid surgery
In the end, none of this is necessary
How is the beauty and cosmetic industry so profitable?
Confidence, overall advantage like getting jobs. Internalizing being seen as unattractive and trying to alleviate that.
We think in black and white, discomfort arises when it comes to between the two.
We tend to compare ourselves to people more attractive than we are. This is an upward comparison
Downward is comparing ourselves to people less attractive than us.
We improve our appearance to attract attractive people
What do people base their behaviour around appearance?
Aesthetic, individuality, health.
Explain West and Zimmerman’s study
“Doing Gender” - certain things females do and males do, but this is influenced by culture. Strong man, petite woman - western emphasis
How does individualism explain appearance?
People don’t want to be too dependent. Because we don’t acknowledge the fact that we need other people a lot more often, we get uncomfortable when a disabled person asks for help. We all depend on each other, that’s how society functions.
Explain Beauty Premium Economics
Physical Attractiveness = currency, power
Physical attractive = health/sexual/vitality (affected by ageism, and dear of irrelevance)
Explain how Critical Theorizing: Political Economic Perspectives explain appearance
capitalism requires continual development of new markets, expanded markets and consumerism (sisphean - nobody is ever satisfied).
Critique of the industry/ads
What were the three ways the market expanded for men?
GI Joe Dolls were made more muscular, Playgirl centerfolds featured more muscular men, Men’s Health Magazine
What happened in the 90s for market expansion?
gay communities were profitable, so more things were targeted towards this demographic
What does the Feminist perspective say about the industry?
Women were not happy about all the new products, because they were competing with men and had gained sexual freedom which was seen as a threat.
What did Simone De Beauvoir say about the ad industry and its impact on women?
Women separate their bodies from themselves. Dining room example.
Explain Foucalt’s Critical Ontology of Ourselves
advertisements are discourses about masculinity and femininity. Leads to the alienation of the body from ourselves.
Cartesian Duality.
People treat us initially by how they view our bodies. Example: women and men are treated differently by medical professionals. Women’s chest pain is never diagnosed properly, it is interpreted as anxiety. Doctors respond to the gendered body. DOCTORS SUCK
