Peyton: Feminist Text

“The Beauty Myth” is a book written by Naomi Wolfe that exploits the standards set for women to be considered beautiful by society. Wolfe’s definition of the beauty myth is the theme of my video. The video questions most of the same standards that Wolfe questions in her book, and provides a visual representation of such standards. Standards that are unreasonable and unrealistic yet are presented to be universal and unchanging. I use Wolfe’s notion of the beauty myth to persuade my audience to question society’s meaning and create their own.

My video use many techniques to get my intended message across. I used many photos of celebrities, models and my friends. When questioning the beauty myth standard of being skinny I used extreme opposites to get the point that this standard has no foundation. But some how it is this standard that has created many “powerful industries- including a $33 billion-a- year diet industry and a $300 million dollar a year cosmetic surgery industry,” as Wolfe explains in “The Beauty Myth”. Staying young is also a part of the beauty myth, this standard makes it seem as if the concept of beauty some how fades over time. With video I use magazine covers as the main theme of this standard. I find it interesting that you will find a young women on every magazine cover except for the ones that are especially made for older people, for example AARP. The other standard covered in my video is skin color. The beauty myth sees fair-skinned as beautiful, so I provided examples of many different shades of truly beautiful women (many of whom are my friends). I think this standard is best explained by Wolfe when she mentions how you can find many advertisements with only one African- American and this person is light enough to pass as white.

The video represents the beauty myth as false, just like Naomi Wolf proves in her book. As an example of how this myth is false, I use myself. “The beauty myth is everything, I’m not… but somehow I know true beauty is found within me.” This example of comes back to the feminist concept of consciousness raising, using personal experiences or accounts to represent a whole issue that all women face. I acknowledge that I do not any the criteria to be considered beautiful in society, and consequently acknowledge that all women do not meet all of the criteria, and yet we all think that this criterion is correct.

My video takes this notion of a beauty myth and takes another step forward by questioning what beauty truly is. A combination of powerful quotes and interviews allow me to take this step and inspire my audience to follow. My video is unified using the song “Beautiful” by Christina Aguilera, the song itself ironically questions this myth and reiterates that this myth is false. With lyrics like “You are beautiful, no matter what they say,” the song directly corresponds to my theme that society can say that these standards of beauty exist, but they are wrong.