Research Paper: Models Essay, Research Paper
Research Paper: Models
My research paper is going to consist of both a research paper and a
album containing pictures that was collected. My research paper is going to
provide information on what two guys imagine and think about when they think of
women. These two guys are Mike, my friend and Timmy, my cousin. These guys are
basically the guinea pigs in my experiment and their findings will be collected
in the album. The other half of the research project is the paper that will not
only explain the project but give information on the pressure that has been put
on so many women to look like perfect and in many ways models.
With the experiment, I handed both Mike and Timmy four magazines: two
Mademoiselles and two Allures. I then asked them to go through them and rip out
the pictures that they would want “their women” to look like. The collection of
their ideal women is in the first half of the album. Notice that the pictures
are mostly of models that are half dressed, thin and in provactedly positioned
posies. The makeup on these women are all perfect and their hair is obviously
not out of place. The selection of pictures not surprisingly were of women who
not only were half dressed but also in their undergarments. The second half of
the experiment was basically done in the same way; but this time I asked for
them to tear out pictures that they would want their wives to look like. With
four different magazines they tore out pictures of more conservetly dressed
women. Their selection still consisted of beautiful women, only this time
they were wearing clothes that the average person would be able to wear
on the streets and not be called a dirty name. The women were still
beautifully made up the a hair and makeup but this time it wasn’t so dramatic;
their poises were also “innocent”; I’m not surprised. But what did surprise me
though was that their style in pajamas totally changed. In the first part of the
experiment the two guys picked out the pictures of the women wearing what I
would consider “tacky” nightgowns, but for their wives they picked out the
pictures where “softer” and a lot less “showy” I guess at that point they did
take into consideration that comfort is more important then what it looks like.
These two guys, the guinea pigs, is a very small of a large majority of men with
these expectations. From the information that I gathered from the guys, Mike and
Timmy, the expectations that they have for women is “to always look their best,
and to do whatever that is possible to make them (men) happy.”(I personally
think that they are still living in their dream world.) Men, for some unknown
reason, feel and want “their women” to always look perfect. They show their
desire for these perfect creatures but also in real everyday life. For example
in the movie “Pretty Women” Julia Roberts portrayed a prostitute who was dressed
up transformed into the “perfect women” by Richard Gere. He not only bought all
name brand clothes to dress her up in but also was taught how to act like
a “proper women” with all the lessons in etiquette. The movie not only gave
the message that women should be “transformed” into what the men desire; but
also sent the message that some women are willing to change in order to live
up to the man’s expectations.
The men’s expectations has also developed into really big problems for
us, the everyday women. The problem that many women have is the problem with our
weight: we are either underweight or overweight. In an article of the
Mademoiselle magazine, a writer wrote in that, “My friend won’t stop talking
about her new diet plan. She’s absolutely obsessed with food. I want to be
supportive of her efforts, but I’m bored to tears. What do I do?”(pg.46) The
problem with diet plans is that there are so many drinks, methods, and diet food
out there that many feel that once they use these “miracle products” and it
doesn’t work, they start to feel hopeless, which would lead to depression. There
are many men out there that are blind to the fact that not everybody can be as
slim as they want. The expectations that many men have for their girlfriends and
at times their wives came from not only the magazines but from movies and
billboards. It was written that “Vain is Victoria Principal, who according to
rumor makes sure that the light reflects a pinpoint gleam in her eyes. Vain
is Julio Iglesias, who supposedly has a towel man to position the singer-
suntan artists towel so that he’s always in optimal rays.” (Allure, 1995,pg.158)
This is an illustration that celebrities have to use methods: lighting, makeup
artists, and computer techniques before we see the finish product. Many men seem
to think that what they see in the magazines and in movies of “their perfect
women” is what they look like everyday. I admit that some celebrities do always
look good, but then again the have the money to get the plastic surgery; which
is another topic on it’s own. In a “Reflections” article (Allure,1996 pg.168) an
unanymous reader wrote in that, “What I am is worried. I am worried that I’m not
tall enough, not thin enough, that my teeth aren’t white enough, and that my
hair is just all wrong. It seems that everyday I discover another body part to
worry about.” This reader later wrote that the problems that she had developed
over the years starting from high school. She had these worries and was facing
them on her own because she felt that of she told anybody, they would think that
she was crazy. This reader, like many other women, feel that what they were born
with is: not enough or isn’t perfect. In the world that we live in today, the
majority of men view a women as two things: a possession and a bearer of babies.
In the Handmaid’s Tale,(Atwood,1986,backcover) Offred, “must lie on her back
once a month and pray that the Commander makes her pregnant, because in the age
of declining births, Offred and other Handmaids are valued only if their ovaries
are viable.” The description basically summarized the theory that many men
believe and pass on to later generations, that women are only good for making
babies. My research paper hopefully opened up some people’s eyes on the subject
of natural beauty and artificial beauty. Everybody was born with imperfections
and flaws; there is nobody that is absolutely perfect! Throughout history men
have categorized women as sex objects, bearers of babies, and the person that
they want to look perfect on their side when they walk into a gathering. These
category expectations are just that, expectations. Who ever said that you can
always get what you want? Men have taken it upon themselves from way back when,
that they are superior to women and what they say goes. This decision was
obviously made by the male majority but it’s the female majority that has
allowed for this obscured thinking to continue. “Ultimately, it’s our decisions,
not the conditions of our lives that determine our destiny.” (Anthony Robbins,
Notes from a Friend, pg.78) This statement, is what I feel women should start
pounding into their heads. Men have taken it upon themselves to create the
foundations of how a women should live and be viewed, but we the women have the
ability to change what goes on the foundation, like the statement says: A women
can never make up her mind.”
332