Chapter 8 Physical Appearance

Question 1

Explain Charles Cooley’s Theory

Answer 1

“The Looking Glass Self”

1. How do others see me?
2. How do others evaluate me based on what they see?
3. How does their evaluation make me feel about myself?

Question 2

Explain George Mead’s Theory (Interactionist Theorizing)

Answer 2

“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.

Question 3

When do we develop a sense of self?

Answer 3

When we recognize ourselves

Question 4

What are the components of the self as explained by Higgens (1987)?

Answer 4

The actual self - who we are. The Ideal self - who we want to be. The “ought to be” self - what should we be

Question 5

Explain Goffman’s The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life

Answer 5

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

Question 6

What are the characteristics of Impression Management?

Answer 6

Disability, Weight, Age, Identity

Question 7

Explain Appearance Norms

Answer 7

What is Beautiful is good concept - subjective.

They are social constructs, and women tend to be judged on these more harshly than men.

Question 8

How do we measure the Ideal Body through scientific standards?

Answer 8

BMI - we look at health risks (hypertension, type 2 diabetes, certain cancers), being underweight

Question 9

What are the medico-scientific understandings of obesity?

Answer 9

Endocrinology (hormones), genetics, neurochemical

Question 10

Explain the social stigma around Type 2 Diabetes

Answer 10

Blaming the individual, but also blaming the media. Overweight people are portrayed in certain ways. These have serious consequences on a person’s life.

Question 11

Explain the sociological understanding of obesity

Answer 11

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

Question 12

Explain the Ideal Body and Media Portrayals

Answer 12

Female bodies in the media have become thinner over time, male bodies have become more muscular but leaner. They are fictions.

Question 13

What are the three most common cosmetic procedures in Canada?

Answer 13

1. Breast augmentation 2. liposuction 3. eyelid surgery

In the end, none of this is necessary

Question 14

How is the beauty and cosmetic industry so profitable?

Answer 14

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

Question 15

What do people base their behaviour around appearance?

Answer 15

Aesthetic, individuality, health.

Question 16

Explain West and Zimmerman’s study

Answer 16

“Doing Gender” - certain things females do and males do, but this is influenced by culture. Strong man, petite woman - western emphasis

Question 17

How does individualism explain appearance?

Answer 17

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.

Question 18

Explain Beauty Premium Economics

Answer 18

Physical Attractiveness = currency, power

Physical attractive = health/sexual/vitality (affected by ageism, and dear of irrelevance)

Question 19

Explain how Critical Theorizing: Political Economic Perspectives explain appearance

Answer 19

capitalism requires continual development of new markets, expanded markets and consumerism (sisphean - nobody is ever satisfied).
Critique of the industry/ads

Question 20

What were the three ways the market expanded for men?

Answer 20

GI Joe Dolls were made more muscular, Playgirl centerfolds featured more muscular men, Men’s Health Magazine

Question 21

What happened in the 90s for market expansion?

Answer 21

gay communities were profitable, so more things were targeted towards this demographic

Question 22

What does the Feminist perspective say about the industry?

Answer 22

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.

Question 23

What did Simone De Beauvoir say about the ad industry and its impact on women?

Answer 23

Women separate their bodies from themselves. Dining room example.

Question 24

Explain Foucalt’s Critical Ontology of Ourselves

Answer 24

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