Body Dysmorphia

Major Claim:
Discussed in the readings this week, the major claims mentioned were the following. To begin, the authors argued how social constrictions towards bodies control the appearance and hygiene of a gender, especially for females. Additionally, another claim being presented was the concept of beauty and how it has dictated societal expectations throughout time and diverse cultures. Finally, the discussion of how certain mental illnesses, such as eating disorders and body dysmorphia, can manifest and dangerously negotiate beauty ideals by influencing those to obsess over obtaining a perfect self-image.
Significance:
The significance of these arguments is that the social construct associated with gendered bodies is that it regulates
In U.S. Society, the beauty standards for women are to be thin but sculpted with an hourglass figure, have long hair, have a large bust and butt, a perfect Hollywood grin, be young, and be abled-bodied. In contrast, men must be tall, sculpted and chiseled with muscles, tan, no hair in the abdominal/chest/or back area, have groomed hair that is not balding, and a large area in terms of male anatomy. With these differences, male beauty standards correspond to worth and opulence while in contrast, female beauty standards are tied to bodily appearance. Considering beauty in one society may be completely diverse in another. In other words, what may be beautiful in one society may not be in another. To illustrate, a few societies stretch their necks with extensions or insert augmentations into various places in the facial/neck area to make the neck appear long and the head shapely. In correspondence. beauty standards have evolved rapidly throughout cultures and in different societies too. In U.S. society, there was corset training in the Victorian era, the boyish and flapper look in the 1920s, long hair and short skirts in the 60s, the craze to be fit and tan in the 80s and 90s, Botox and smokey eyeshadow in the 2000s, and contoured makeup with shaped eyebrows in the
Some known conflicts are the manifestations of eating disorders and body dysmorphia within individuals. For instance, those who suffer from these disorders result in comparing oneself to someone else and/or feel pressured by society to be "perfect" looking. All these claims that were mentioned tie into the study of Gender, Sexuality, and Women's Studies by explaining how there are self-image demands for specific genders contributing to the social construct of gender. Beauty affects women more significantly because society expects them to be the right amount of flawless in appearance rather than to take intellect and personality into