Okay, so... I found these two pictures separately on google when I searched feminine and I thought that they fit together perfectly. However, it does take a little while to explain, so bear with me.
If you look at the picture on the bottom of the girl coming together by putting the puzzle pieces together, you will see that it is as if society is putting her pieces in the right spots for her, or at least that is how I took it. They are giving her a specific skin tone and shaping her the way they want by the different shaped puzzle pieces. Then, the picture on the top shows a puzzle put together except it is missing one piece, and that piece is confidence. When society puts generalizations and stereotypes on different kinds of people, these people feel, in a way, obligated to look the way that society is telling them to in order to fit in. However, by doing this, they loose a piece of themselves and the confidence that they have in the person that they really are, look and action wise. Also, the top picture is made up of all white pieces. I saw this as if society shapes people to make them all the same, in this case a plain white puzzle, and everyone starts to blend together and look the same. But, they are all plain and normal, and actually boring. I mean, who wants to look at a plain white puzzle when you could look at a puzzle of the jungle or a city that is full of different colors and shapes???
I love this metaphor. Maybe overanalyzing a little, but even the fact that they are using a white model, leaving the darker pieces to the side is telling of what society views as the "ideal" woman. Our society views white, conventially pretty women as the paragon of beauty and when people don't fit that image of the ideal woman it's hard to be confident, like you said. Even the most confident woman wants to feel accepted and when women don't fit the impossible standards of beauty that media and, consequently, the general public have adapted its hard for them to be confident in their own skin.
ReplyDeleteThis was such an expressive and interesting blog. I really liked the connection you made between the puzzle pieces and how society tends to piece people together. Even though I may seem very confident at times, I tend to hide my insecurities because society might not accept them. The second picture regarding all the different pieces put together can really show how society wants everyone to be uniform, stay within the lines, and to not explore the unknown.
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