Caroline Potolicchio
Women’s Studies
3/24/11
The Hollywood Bubble
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xKgJYVFqdnQ&feature=relmfu
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xKgJYVFqdnQ&feature=relmfu
After watching the above You Tube clips of the “Young Turks” talk show, I came to the realization that Hollywood and it’s media have a very negative impact on young women and their self image. Because of their negative self image, they often follow through with plastic surgery. Douglass argues in her book “Enlightened Sexism” about how one of the main problems among feminist issues today is that Hollywood and the media are making women think that image is the most important thing to concentrate on in their life. The idea of enlightened sexism is that women are just as equal as men now a days, so they should focus all their power on their appearance and products. This focus will help them gain the power and attention they want. I focused on Heidi Montag, a former Playboy bunny and reality T.V star, and then I shifted my focus to a 21-year old woman who wanted to look like Jessica Alba. I then talked to a friend of mine who recently underwent a breast reduction surgery and found that sometimes a surgery is necessary for one’s health and conscience. However, in reality, most surgeries that are performed are to enhance ones appearance so that they can be younger and sexier.
A 21- year- old Chinese woman is thinking about undergoing plastic surgery to win back her boyfriend. The boyfriend would make her wear a blonde wig every time they were together and he also requested for her to do her make up just like Alba. One day she decided she was fed up with the wig so she told him she wasn’t going to wear it anymore. He told her that if she was not going to wear it, they were done and he wouldn’t be with her anymore. This is prominent evidence that the media is influencing both men and women throughout the world. Douglass argues that the media isn’t the real world and that we have misguided perceptions. Another issue with this situation is that the girl is trying to gain power through changing her image for a man. She wants to “win” him back. She is revolving a decision around a man, and this decision could be detrimental to her life. I think that Douglas is dead on when she talks about how image is the main source of power for women in our generation. Girls in high school and the universities have power if they are good looking, and studies show that if you are good looking you are more compatible. In 1977 Mark Snyder found that when a man was shown a picture of a prospective woman he may talk to on the phone, and if that woman was attractive in the picture, the man would have a more friendly conversation with the woman and vice versa. He also found that if the women were perceived as attractive, they were rated more friendly and attractive, and generally more pleasant than the unattractive women. This study also proves Douglas’s point on how a good outer image has a positive correlation with power. The Chinese woman wanted to gain power through her image, and the way she sought this power was to win over the attention of her ex boyfriend.
Heidi Montag hid herself for two months after her second time visiting the doctor for plastic surgery. After spending ten hours in the operating room, she had nips, tucks, reductions, and augmentations done to her brows, forehead, nose, chin, neck, ears, breasts, and liposuction on waist and the hips. She claimed “child hood teasing brought her under the knife”. It is obvious that her plastic surgeon is protecting the reputation when he says ten surgeries within one operation are safer than doing separate surgeries. Other plastic surgeons argue that it is not safe at all for ten surgeries to be performed at once. The interviewer on Good Morning America asks Heidi what message she is sending regarding image to her fans that are young girls. She answers that she doesn’t think she is sending a bad message because “Beauty is within.” Douglas would argue that Heidi is telling young woman across the nation that in order to be happy inside you have to have be attractive on the outside. When Heidi was interviewed, she stated that a Double D bra size is not big enough or good enough. This message is exactly what Douglas argues against in her book “Enlightened Sexism.” This message is also evidence that Hollywood stars are having a damaging impact on boys and girls. All the stars are caught in a bubble that they truly believe is the real world, and they are dragging kids into this bubble and corrupting them.
After conversing with one of my friends about a surgery she underwent this past summer, I found out a lot about why she went through with it, and most of what she was saying connects back to the issue of media on our generation today. My friend Anna decided to get a breast reduction for various reasons. First and foremost, she was having a lot of back issues and was told that the surgery would be very beneficial for the future. Some of these benefits were being able to continue to work out, limiting the back issues she will have later in life, and not having to worry about her breasts getting uncontrollable after having kids. Just like Heidi Montag, Anna was teased throughout middle and high school. Kids would call her names referring to her breasts. She felt very insecure about her breasts and was limited on what she could wear and in addition being too afraid to wear a bikini at the pool or beach. If a guy were ever hitting on her, her friends would tease her and tell her the only reason the man was interested was for her breasts. The media and Hollywood has corrupted our generation on what we look for in a relationship. Media sends us the message that the only thing that women are good for are their bodies. Women are constantly being objectified as Douglas would argue, and in this example, my friend Anna has been completely objectified. What ever did happen to inner beauty? Part of the problem that is present among our society is that our generation thinks that there is this one ideal perfect body, and if you don’t match it you are either ridiculed or self-conscious. Anna decided to follow through with the surgery because she wanted to go to college without having the reputation for her breasts. She wanted to make a name for herself and define herself with her personality, character, and intellect, rather than her image. Today she is much happier and has been more secure. She is more comfortable in her clothes and her bathing suit. After talking to her, I can’t help but be happy because she is a happier person, however there are flaws within our system that aren’t being addressed. Anna and I both know that she shouldn’t have to resort to the surgery. People should be accepting of who she is. There shouldn’t be this ideal that Hollywood and the media have created.
The reoccurring pattern of outer beauty will be forever present in our society. Television, magazines, movies, and Hollywood stars are too prominent in our society for everyone not to get that message. We will never be able to eliminate the physical attraction that people have for others. There are too many supporters of the various television shows and magazines such as Cosmopolitan and Maxim. The only thing that can be accomplished is for role models in the Hollywood world to send positive messages for young women and men, or for Hollywood to start new trends. This is because it is inevitable that people will strive to be what Hollywood wants them to be. We need to pop the Hollywood bubble and face reality but until we accomplish that, our society will forever be entrapped.
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