Gendered Societal Expectations of Appearance and Their Effects Upon the Individual
Gendered Societal Expectations of Appearance and Their Effects Upon the Individual
It has long been generally accepted that we as humans are influenced greatly by the things that surround our everyday lives. These things can include friends, family, co-workers, the media and even society as a whole. The society in which people live can play a huge role in how they view themselves and how they view others. Over the years researchers have come up with many theories as to how and why society has such a large influence on people. Now-a-days there are appearance prescriptions for everything in our society. It is not good to be too fat, but it is not good to be too skinny either. The way a person looks, dresses and acts is a large factor in how other people will think about, talk about and respond to them. These societal prescriptions also differentiate between other factors such as gender, race, level of education and more. Interestingly most of these prescriptions for appearance in society today are relatively unspoken until someone violates them. This paper will attempt to shed some light on the complex societal prescriptions regarding personal appearance and body imaging; more specifically it will delve into how those prescriptions are gendered within society and how people respond both positively and negatively to those prescriptions.
As previously stated appearance prescriptions are very strong in our society especially when it comes to societal expectations regarding gender. These gendered expectations cause people to do all types of things for the sole purpose of fitting in to societal norms. Some women exercise religiously to maintain a good looking body, other women go tanning regularly because they think it is embarrassing, or even unacceptable, to be pale; there are also many men who do the same things for the same reasons. While looking good is not a bad thing sometimes these societal prescriptions, or expectations, can cause people to go
It has long been generally accepted that we as humans are influenced greatly by the things that surround our everyday lives. These things can include friends, family, co-workers, the media and even society as a whole. The society in which people live can play a huge role in how they view themselves and how they view others. Over the years researchers have come up with many theories as to how and why society has such a large influence on people. Now-a-days there are appearance prescriptions for everything in our society. It is not good to be too fat, but it is not good to be too skinny either. The way a person looks, dresses and acts is a large factor in how other people will think about, talk about and respond to them. These societal prescriptions also differentiate between other factors such as gender, race, level of education and more. Interestingly most of these prescriptions for appearance in society today are relatively unspoken until someone violates them. This paper will attempt to shed some light on the complex societal prescriptions regarding personal appearance and body imaging; more specifically it will delve into how those prescriptions are gendered within society and how people respond both positively and negatively to those prescriptions.
As previously stated appearance prescriptions are very strong in our society especially when it comes to societal expectations regarding gender. These gendered expectations cause people to do all types of things for the sole purpose of fitting in to societal norms. Some women exercise religiously to maintain a good looking body, other women go tanning regularly because they think it is embarrassing, or even unacceptable, to be pale; there are also many men who do the same things for the same reasons. While looking good is not a bad thing sometimes these societal prescriptions, or expectations, can cause people to go
References: RESOURCEFULNESS. Social Behavior and Personality: An international Journal, 29(Chaiton, 2009), 277. Raag, T. & Rackliff, C. (1998). Preschooler’s Awareness of Social Expectations Of Gender: Relationships to Toy Choices Stice, E., Maxfield, J. & Wells, T. (2003). Adverse Effects of Social Pressure to be Thin on Young Women: An Experimental Investigation of the Effects of