Real Women Know Better

In our reading, Giving up Beauty, the author says that “not letting the message in is imperative (pg 253)”; it seems as if the women in the two stories have taken that to heart. They have not applauded this person for recognizing that Latinas are different. In fact, they see the problem that lies with generalizing women, no matter what culture or heritage. It is not race but genetics and/or lifestyle that defines your body shape. Therefore, having a fuller figure is not inherent to Latino culture, or any other culture. A full figure can be found in any culture in the world. In America, we are getting bigger, and it would seem to me that the full butt is becoming more popular with white women as well. Could it be that the Latina curves are escaping the Latino community and invading White America? How does it spread? How can we contain it?

Celebrities and people all over the US are constantly looking for ways to avoid the dreaded “butt”. They are starving themselves, and at times killing themselves to be thin. The message that the media is delivering is definitely getting in – and we see its effects. But when we look around our classrooms, our malls, or anywhere real people live, we see that the message is not getting in here. It seems to me that we need to assess who is actually at risk for emulating what they see. Real women, who have real lives, do worry about their looks, but we know that we do not need to workout 24/7 and eat only ice cubes to be happy and successful. It’s true that young women are definitely at risk in many ways because of what they see on TV, and that needs to be addressed. But as we get older, the large majority of us realize that the image really is just an image. What we see every day is real and worth emulating much more than people who rely on their looks for a paycheck and let others define their own beauty.

This makes me think of the commercial Natassja posted.  That woman does not look like any Latina I have ever seen in real life. So it makes me wonder how Latinas in the media have responded to this message. In Maria de la Barbie, the author notices that “Salma and J.Lo may have curves, but their bodies are far closer to the bodies of Hollywood’s other “It” women than to the average girl on the street in Middle America (pg 187).” This calls attention to the fact that even though our cultures are represented, we still don’t see ourselves reflected in the media. I think that there is a huge inconsistency in what we fear and reality. It seems that the media is selling something, certain people (celebrities) are buying it, and those people end up actually being the propaganda we are getting fed. Yes, there is a problem, but how does it affect the average woman? From our readings, it seems that it actually doesn’t. I think we really should worry about celebrities and wanna-be celebs more than the average American woman. Yes, there is a problem everywhere, but I see it as a much more serious problem in their world than it is in mine. Sure, I’m sick of being told that I’m not beautiful because I’m not size 2 or 5’7 or have perfect features. But who really cares? Unless my aspirations are to use my looks to validate my existence and self-worth (which, as you may have seen from my vast collection of sweat pants, that clearly isn’t the case), it doesn’t matter to me what anyone thinks of how I look. And on some level, I believe we all feel the same.