Starting at a young age, girls dream about growing up to be beautiful. As children we are taught that beauty and perfection are things to strive for, and to stop at nothing to achieve. Girls in modern society have grown up around a very sexualized idea of what beauty is. The idea that perfection is beauty, has been embedded in the mind of girls for years. But who is to say what is beauty, and what is perfection? It is clear that there is a stereotype around the image of beauty and perfection, and throughout the years we see the extremes woman will go to, to achieve this image.
From the time we are kids, girls have an idea of what is "beauty". Most little girls will tell you that when they grow up, they want to be a ballerina because they are beautiful and elegant. Girls are taught that a ballerina is the height of beauty, they are beautiful, skinny, and can move with the utmost grace and make it look effortless.
Many girls and even woman dream of being able to become a ballerina. The photograph on the left shows the bare foot of a professional ballerina compared to the foot that everyone else sees. While everyone sees the beauty in a ballerina, most do not understand what professional ballerinas themselves through to achieve this. Ballerinas will destroy their feet and bodies to perfect their dance. This photograph uses a plain white background and placed the main focus, the feet of the ballerina, in the center so the audience has nothing else to look at but the bloodied and blister covered foot contrasted by the perfection of the other foot. This proves that women will destroy their own bodies to try and achieve the idea of perfection and beauty
Sutton, Tina. "Toe to Toe with Alicia Markova." The Making of Markova. N.p., 01 Apr. 2013. Web. 14 Jan. 2015.
In the same way that a ballerina will destroy her feet for the price of the dance, some girls and women will harm their bodies and risk their health to maintain this ideal beauty. This image depicts a girl who is obviously suffering from an eating disorder. The measuring tape in her mouth and hands symbolizes the problem she has with her weight. Now a days, girls are brought up in a society obsessed with weight. People are expected to be fit and skinny, but this can cause people to develop eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia because they feel their weight is not acceptable. This image placed the girl in the foreground to make you feel closer to her, to allow you to see her pain. It uses neutral colors, like black, grey and white, to express how she feels about herself and to give the image a much darker feel to it. Eating disorders are very dangerous to ones health, however, women will still risk their own health in the hope of becoming an acceptable weight in today’s society and be seen as beautiful.
Moran, Lee. "'Human Barbie' Strives to Live Just off Light and Air."
NY Daily News. New York Daily News,
2 Mar. 2014. Web. 15 Jan. 2015.
Most little girls are given barbie dolls as toys when they are younger. Barbies seem innocent, they’re pretty dolls that are fun to play with, however they also teach girls an idea of what beauty and perfection should look like. Many women undergo plastic surgery to give themselves better features. In the image, left, you can see that Valeria Lukyanova has tried to make herself a real live barbie doll. Valeria has gone through multiple cosmetic surgeries, including removing some of her ribs, to alter her appearance to more resemble that of a barbie doll. In the image Valeria is holding a Barbie doll next to her face to show the similarities of their features. This proves that women will go as far as mutilating and distorting their own bodies in the hopes of becoming a more ideal version of beauty and perfection in today’s society .
Chiara. An Imperefct Body. Digital image.
Blood, Sweat and Tears. N.p.,
10 May 201. Web. 14 Jan. 2015.
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