Sadie Hinton

Professor Smith

Essay 4

December 1st 2016

Comparative Analysis

Throughout history there has always been a changing image or trend for women and men. Men and women of all ages are constantly being pushed to their limits with their image. Since the creation of technology like cameras and the television people are always comparing themselves to someone else either in a photo or on the screen. People photoshop models and put them up for the world to see and idealize. With the creation of plastic surgery people also use it as an “easy” way to recreate themselves just to look like someone they wish to look like instead of just looking in the mirror and loving themselves for how they are naturally. Many people are starting to realize this and highlight it in texts, visual art and movies. 

Writers have begun to use modern texts and/or visuals to promote the idea of a harsh self-image. Barbie Doll by Marge Piercy is a narrative that legitimately goes through the life of a girl and eventually leads to cutting off limbs and death or, from a more modern perspective, body contouring and plastic surgery. Piercy takes us on a journey of constant criticism specifically to the girl’s “big nose” and “fat nose”. At first, the girl is described as “usual” which almost comes across as though she was created how she was supposed to be but later on characters are introduced that choose to pick the girl apart and make her feel as though she needs to change things about herself to be “normal” which, of course, is a complete example of today’s society with plastic surgery being available. Even if someone didn’t decide to do plastic surgery because they feel comfortable as themselves, chances are they end up changing something even if it just dyeing their hair because then you won’t find a boyfriend or people won’t like you cause the person next to you is better because of what he or she changed because apparently what’s inside doesn’t matter.

A perfect example of a movie that completely makes the idea almost comical is Shallow Hal. This movie stars Jack Black and Gwyneth Paltrow. Jack Black is portrayed as a shallow person, hence the name. He only sees people for what they are on the outside in the beginning at least. Eventually he meets someone, Gwyneth Paltrow, and instantly is attracted to her for what he sees and slowly actually develops feelings. Little does he know what he sees isn’t true. He sees this modern idea of what people think is ideal when really she doesn’t fit that mold but still is as amazing clearly because of the love he had developed for her. Although this is considered a comedy, it is sad knowing that there are some people out there that will only give you the time of day if you meet that current criteria. 

Barbie Doll and Shallow Hal can both be compared in a sense that they pick apart the image of a specific person, in both cases a woman. Although they don’t express it the same way, they both are trying to convey that the perfect face and perfect body doesn’t always make a person perfect. There are so many pressures to be liked by someone just because of how the media portrays beauty that no one ever focuses on the natural beauty that already exists. Both actually end up having a sort of twist in a sense that Hal, Jack Black, doesn’t see her real body and face till later on in the movie and after he had developed feelings and the girl in Barbie doll actually ends up altering her body like most wouldn’t expect. Neither creator wants to promote the idea of body shaming, in fact they want to get rid of it. Bobby Farrelly and Peter Farrelly, directors of Shallow Hal, are using their art to help people understand that just because someone doesn’t meet the medias expectations that doesn’t mean they aren’t worthy of anything. Neither the girl or Gwyneth Paltrow want to be picked apart by anyone but still are. 

Outside of entertainment texts that are portraying these ideas like Barbie Doll and Shallow Hal, there are many articles addressing the poor representation of self-image today. Cosmetic surgery, body image and sexuality by Marge Berer addresses just how people can be pushed to the limits and alter their bodies permanently. A lot of people don’t really understand what makes people want to get permanent surgery to enhance their image and Berer addresses that, “As Leonore Tiefer describes this phenomenon in her paper here: ‘new attention to women’s sexual emancipation around the world can be co-opted by medicalization even as a formal patriarchal oppressions recede.” (Berer 1). Women are using these medical advances to better themselves as they seem fit. In history human beings have been known for using clothes, hairstyles, jewelry, etc. and it has just escalated over the years.

Lastly, Self-Image Among Early Adolescents: Revisted by Pamela K. Pletsch, Mary K. Johnson, Charlene B. Tosi, Christine A. Thurston, and Susan K Riesch ties all the points together and its significance. They all came to the conclusion that, “Because the development of a healthy conceptualization of the self is foundational to adequate functioning later in life, self-image is a concept of interest to clinicians and researchers…” (Pletsch 1). This would mean that people should be worrying about these kid’s self-image at young age and hoping that they have self-confidence because if not, it’ll only get worse later. The media, bullies, everyone seems to be bearing down on them and threre only so much one can handle until they literally want to change themselves. 

To do a complete review, body image today is already at an all- time low. These writers know that and are expressing it through art. Barbie Doll and Shallow Hal don’t express exactly the same message in the exact same way but they both are expressing the issues at hand with image and the fact that somehow some way it needs to be addressed. Through more academic pieces like Cosmetic surgery, body image and sexuality and Self-image Among Early Adolescents: Revisited we can see that it not only is a problem but needs to be addressed. All four pieces of text can intertwine with themselves in hopes to make a dent in body or image shaming.

Work Cited

Berer, Marge. “EDITORIAL: Cosmetic Surgery, Body Image and Sexuality.” ReproductiveHealth Matters, vol. 18, no. 35, 2010, pp. 4–10. www.jstor.org/stable/25767324.

Piercy, Marge. “Barbie Doll.” The Carolina Reader for English 101. Columbia: Hayden-McNeil, 2016. 348-49. Print.

Pletsch, Pamela K. et al. “Self-Image among Early Adolescents: Revisited.” Journal ofCommunity Health Nursing, vol. 8, no. 4, 1991, pp. 215–231.www.jstor.org/stable/3427532.

Shallow Hal. Directed by Bobby Farrelly and Peter Farrelly, performances by Jack Black,Gwyneth Paltrow, and Jason Alexander, 20th Century Fox, 2001.