Just Looking ...

As a female in contemporary Western culture I have been exposed to an ideal image of what represents “true” female beauty—i .e. a thin figure—and found myself fairly surprised at the implications of this ad. The idealized “truth” of beauty is fuelled by continuous female expose to media discourse which facilitates the creation of such a high standard for the prototypical female body. Although I am well aware of the effect of the media I had not really felt how such exposure has truly effected my conception of reality (as reflected in the surprise I felt when I read this ad). I guess I never really considered that my “reality”, what I understand as true female beauty, is perhaps quite different from the male “reality”. It seems what the media hails females to idealize does not accurately reflect the opposing male reality and that which they hold as desirable and beautiful (at least according to this ad).

Reflecting on what pictures want it appears that the “desire” of the female models presented in media discourse are not directed towards the male gaze but instead are solely focused on interpolating females to recognize themselves in their female image, calling upon them to attend to any flaws they may have. It seems the effect of such female imagery is not directed towards males and thus does not effect their perceptions of reality as much as it does females. It was interesting to see that what pictures in advertisements call upon females to desire is not necessarily an accurate reflection of the desires of those whose adoration they imply will be received as a reward (i.e., male adoration).