Unit 1

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13/05

Reflection: From Richard’s feedback, I did more research on feminism, gender theory, and body image. Also, I read Judith Butler and Susan Bordo’s books about feminism and body image. Here is a speech about body image and feminism.

According to Lili Reinhart’s revealing speech about body image, it shows that young women are conditioned to feel ashamed or embarrassed about certain parts of themselves. And the world is not going to reform tomorrow. We can’t rely on those who profit from our perceived flaws to change their ways. One option leaves us is changing ourselves and show what we are with no shame. We should embrace that we are all unique imperfectly beautiful. In addition, we can be naturally beautiful with scars and acne.

08/05

Intervention：

To accomplish my project, it leads to so many interventions. The two interventions that I had in mind were using tattooing to improve young women’s self-identity and design a cosmetic brand that is all about natural beauty and does not hide women’s flaws, encouraging them to embrace their imperfections and let their true selves shine.

My first intervention is for participants to design and get a temporary tattoo.  (But it would have been better if they had been willing to get a real tattoo.) This intervention is design to find the positive effects of tattooing in relation to body image and self-esteem. The main aims of this intervention are to investigate whether tattooing does have any effects at all, and whether designing a tattoo has any beneficial effects upon the individuals. Additionally, if tattooing does have an effect, whether the individuals’ own portrayal of their self, their body image and their self-esteem are affected in particular.

The intervention is individual-centred. I will record the participants’ psychological changes in four stages. They are the psychological state of not having a tattoo at the beginning, interviewing them with a photographic elicitation element like women with tattoos, designing a tattoo of their own and the psychological state of the week after getting the temporary tattoos. 

The participants are 5 young  women who grow up in Asian culture. (3 Chinese, 1 Korean, 1 Japanese)

Here is the progress of my first intervention. It’s the one of my participants’ mental changes.

Reflection: From feedback from Richie, Some parts of my project are the domain of psychological professionals and require professional validation. So it required me to learn more about mental and body image and interview some psychologists. 

Reference:

Bordo, S. (2003) Unbearable weight: Feminism, western culture, and the body. Berkeley: University Of California Press.

Butler, J. (2006) Gender trouble: Feminism and the subversion of identity. New York: Routledge Classics.

Wykes, M. and Gunter, B. (2005) The media and body image: If looks could kill. London: SAGE Publications Ltd.

Youtube. (2021) Lili Reinhart’s Revealing Speech About Body Image. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Au62AcSDsw (Accessed: 13 May 2021).

Project 5

How to boost young women’s self-esteem and self-identity to overcome appearance anxiety？

As women, appearance anxiety is an unavoidable topic in today’s social environment. Women’s anxiety about their appearance is exacerbated by a variety of factors, both social and personal. A quite popular topic these days is effective and ineffective make-up. It means that not only are women’s physical appearance and even their personal preference for make-up being judged by the public as effective or not.

Through interviews with my friends I have found that despite having different life experiences and upbringings, we are still affected by appearance anxiety.We can accept different aesthetic standards but at heart we still want to conform to the so-called mainstream aesthetic of the moment.

According to a questionnaire of appearance anxiety (AAN) that inquired nearly 300 university students, sex differences in AAN were found, with women scoring higher than men on this measure.
Self-evaluation on one’s physical appearance and self-objectification are associated with higher appearance anxiety and lower self-esteem among women.

My Stakeholders:

Girls who are not confident in their appearance and has low self-esteem

Instagram Face

The Rise of the ‘Instagram Face’ has been unstoppable. It has inspired a new beauty aesthetic and makes young girls be crazy about this aesthetic and fit into this aesthetic.

Reflection: In the first tutorial of project 5, tutor Sasha suggested to talk to psychologists about how anxiety can be can be worked with outside therapy and let me also concern about male gaze. Then I did some research about male gaze and interviewed some women whether they care about what men think and see.

The Male gaze

Women are characterised by their “to-be-looked-at-ness” in cinema.
Woman is “spectacle”, and man is “the bearer of the look”.

Research by Calogero has shown that the male gaze can have detrimental effects on women’s self-esteem and self-objectification, leading to increased body shame and a worsened mental state. For most women, it is not a physical interaction with a man which causes such internalised feelings of self-objectification and negative mental states, but is simply anticipating being the subject of the male gaze. This has led to a rise in women’s demand for their own physical appearance. In order to fit the male aesthetic and attract the male gaze, women will try to change themselves to suit the male aesthetic.  It is not only a worsened mental state and self-objectification which is a potential effect of the male gaze, but also feelings of anxiety about physiques and body shape.

Reflection：In fact many mainstream media have taken steps to embrace aesthetic diversity and introduce some appearance anxiety by using unique models that do not fit the typical aesthetic. However, it is still up to women themselves to accept this, so it is important to value women’s inner strength and increase their self-esteem and self-satisfaction.

Marked for life

A prospective study of tattoos on appearance anxiety and dissatisfaction, perceptions of uniqueness, and self-esteem. The study subjects are 82 British residents. It measures state of appearance anxiety and self-dissatisfaction prior to and immediately after obtaining a tattoo. British residents report significantly lower appearance anxiety and dissatisfaction immediately after obtaining a tattoo. Participants report significantly greater body appreciation, self-esteem, distinctive appearance investment, and self-ascribed uniqueness three weeks after obtaining a tattoo.

So here’s one way that I thought of figuring out this issue. I decided to use design tattoos as a medium and held an event. This event is a way for participants to design a tattoo based on their self-portrait and their story and for the public to show their uniqueness. It is a process of self-discovery. Tattoos have the power of belief. Participants get to know themselves better by telling their own stories or designing tattoos by carving out a self-portrait. This process allows participants to better understand themselves, discover their uniqueness and thus improve their self-satisfaction and self-esteem to overcome appearance anxiety.

Bibliography

Adams, K., Tyler, J., Calogero, R. and Lee, J., 2017. Exploring the relationship between appearance-contingent self-worth and self-esteem: The roles of self-objectification and appearance anxiety. Body Image, 23, pp.176-182.

Calogero, Rachel M. (2004-03-01). “A Test of Objectification Theory: The Effect of the Male Gaze on Appearance Concerns in College Women”. Psychology of Women Quarterly. 28 (1): 16–21. 

Dion, K. L., Dion, K. K., & Keelan, J. P. (1990). Appearance anxiety as a dimension of social-evaluative anxiety: Exploring the ugly duckling syndrome. Contemporary Social Psychology, 14(4), 220–224.

The Conversation. 2021. Explainer: what does the ‘male gaze’ mean, and what about a female gaze?. [online] Available at: <https://theconversation.com/explainer-what-does-the-male-gaze-mean-and-what-about-a-female-gaze-52486> [Accessed 11 April 2021].

The Unstoppable Rise of the ‘Instagram Face’.2021. [online] Available at: <https://www.saveface.co.uk/the-unstoppable-rise-of-the-instagram-face/> [Accessed 12 April 2021].