America's Next Top Model: Glamorization of Violence and Degradation

In analyzing a form of popular culture from a sociological perspective, one television show immediately popped into my mind: America’s Next Top Model (ANTM). After only seeing a few episodes of the show, I was amazed that the issues presented in the show are an acceptable part of mainstream media. Further research on past episodes left me disgusted, to say the least. The show, created by supermodel Tyra Banks, is nothing short of shocking and controversial, chock full of racial and gender issues, stereotypes, violence and the degradation of women.

The show is a “reality” contest on which young women compete to become “America’s Next Top Model,” in hopes of becoming a model professionally. Each episode, the women are eliminated based on the opinions of a panel of judges. Throughout the show, the ladies are primped and prepped and then faced with a challenge of completing some sort of themed photo shoot, often which is degrading or humiliating, not to mention the harsh and generally unfounded comments provided to them by the judges.

The overall context of the show places huge emphasis on gender roles and ideologies, infused with a glaringly obvious sexual sentiment. The bulk of the photo shoots consist of little clothing (in some instances nude, with paint “covering” certain parts), and sexually provocative and even explicit subject matter. The girls picked to compete on ANTM are the typical tall, thin, waif-like supermodel types; apparently the ideal body type for portraying fashion. In fact, there has even been recent controversy over a promo for the show, in which the woman depicted was excessively thin (an apology from Tyra Banks followed the airing of the promo). In one season, the height standard for the women was lowered to give “short” women the chance to model. The woman in this season were required to be under 5’7”, which is really not all that short, given the fact that the average height of women in the United States, according to the National Center for Health Statistics is 63.8” (5’3”) [CDC, 2006]. It appears that most of the women in the United States will never be a ‘super’model in accordance with these acute beauty standards. Aside from setting these generally unobtainable beauty standards to even audition for the show, the women selected are subjected to a full makeover in order to be supermodel beautiful, as set by the standards of Tyra and the other judges on the show. It is a truly remarkable example of gender roles in today’s society.

Although the overall context of the show seems to be a montage of stereotypes, gender typing, and beauty ideals, it is what is in the individual episodes that is strikingly unsettling. There have been many photo shoots on the show that portray death, violence, objectification of women and even homelessness as “art” and “fashion.” These issues are glamorized in a way that is both offensive and degrading. There have also been shoots in which the women are nude, except for some paint on their bodies, posed next to nude men, as well as ones where the models were “transformed” to a new race through costuming and makeup. The latter included the use of “blackface” for the lighter women to make them appear darker. The idea was to make the woman look bi-racial, with the races chosen for each woman based on things such as their bone structure. The only woman whose color was not altered was the African-American woman; apparently she already appeared to be bi-racial. To many, this idea that race is a costume is troubling, not to mention the excessive stereotyping that goes into a shoot such as this.

The show features a blatant overemphasis on sexuality throughout, while at the same time “addressing” topics such as bulimia and homelessness. Yes, a model was actually asked to pose as if she was a bulimic who had just purged, sitting on a toilet with vomit in her hands. Some were posed as homeless people amidst some high fashion extras. It I almost a mockery of the societal problems we face today. The money for the homeless shoot alone probably could have made a substantial impact in those less fortunate, rather than capitalizing on their circumstance. On top of this, almost every photo shoot on ANTM is very sexual in nature. Sex is an icon of the fashion industry, and the show is no stranger to this. Even the theme song’s lyrics say, “You wanna be on top?” For a show that is aired on mainstream television, the message is clear to young viewers: You must look like a beanpole, while humiliating yourself and selling your body to be beautiful. When did this type of message become tolerable, even accepted?

The most disturbing scenes from the show are those which glorify violence against women. In March of 2007, the show did a photo shoot that involved the girls being “dead” and placed in a murder scene. They were provocatively dressed, with makeup on and bruises, cuts, etc. on their body. They were the laid out in a crime scene with the instruction to look dead. The photos depicted models as electrocuted, decapitated, and stabbed, among other things. Even more disturbing was the judges comments to the photographs. “Miss J,” the stereotypically flamboyant judge on the panel told one model that “death becomes her,” and spoke about another saying, “What’s great about this is that you can also look beautiful in death.” Other comments about the photos of the already frail looking models, laying their lifeless, as victims of a horrible crime included words such as “amazing,” and “beautiful.” This particular show was truly a dehumanizing and disgraceful rendering of violence against women.

The consequences of such a controversial display of women as victims and objectification of them can have profound effects on viewers and society as a whole. Although I do believe some of the intent is positive, trying to create art and portray beauty, as well as give young women an opportunity at a career in the modeling industry, the latent, negative consequences far outweigh this. I do feel that part of the manifested consequences are derived from trying to create “shock value,” and entertainment based on curiosity as to what they will do next. Even as intended consequences, these contribute to the negative impact of the show. In terms of latent consequences, I feel that people watching the show are being bombarded with images of women being victimized and discriminated against. In addition, things such as violence, homelessness and extreme thinness are being glorified. It sets standards and expectations for women that are unobtainable, as well as immoral. This show is creating a niche for women in society that permits them to be degraded and abused.

In my opinion, this show is an absolute disgrace, and an insult to women. Although I do appreciate the beauty of photography, I see no justification for parading women around as victims of violence and alternate races through the use of paint, and coining it beauty. The over-sexuality of the show is only adding to a problem embedded deep in our society. As a woman, it saddens to see these women allow themselves to be subjected to such an atrocity. Most importantly, I feel that shows of such extreme natures should be kept off of basic television, as they are not acceptable for young viewers. It is difficult enough to find anything decent on the television today.

Source Cited:

"FASTSTATS - Body Measurements." Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 02 Apr. 2009. Web. 30 Nov. 2010. .

You Are Beautiful If....

A discussion of the three articles linked below:

Link: The Saddest Story Ever Told

Link: Objectification of Women = Go Team!

Link: Sephora Defines "Light," "Medium," and "Dark" Skin

In discussing the beauty ideals of today’s society, there are many sociological concepts, as well as consequences that are prevalent. In many current cultures, the standard of beauty leads to a blatant prejudice and discrimination against those who do not fit that standard. On top of this, in places such as America, it has become so extreme that achieving the standards set is basically unobtainable naturally (without the use of cosmetics, surgery, etc.). Three articles from the “Sociological Images” website perfectly depict the effects of these “values.” Two of the articles portray direct discrimination to a particular group of women, whereas the third is more of an indirect discrimination, as well as a commentary of the effects of beauty ideals on women.

The first article discusses a banner that is being displayed at Louisiana State University in anticipation of an upcoming football game versus University of Alabama. The banner shows a picture of three female college students: Two (supposedly) from LSU and one (supposedly) from Alabama. On the top it reads, “Welcome, Bama Fans.” The significant (and disturbing) thing about the banner is the implicit message. The two LSU fans on the poster are in LSU bikinis and are the typical “ideal beauties,” whereas the Alabama fan, in Alabama swimwear, is heavy stature with pale skin; the underlying message of the poster apparently being that LSU has beautiful woman in their fan base, whereas Alabama’s are overweight, thus making them “ugly.” Not only is this cruel and discriminatory, but, as the article mentions, it is a “sexist, fat-phobic” objectification of women.

The second article discusses discrimination, not against overweight women, but against women with dark colored skin. The focus of the article is an advertisement in a Sephora email for women’s cosmetics. The advertisement allows women to choose their skin tone in order to find a perfect shade of make-up. The three shades to choose from are light, medium, and dark. Sounds inclusive, that is, until one looks at the models chosen to demonstrate the three shades of complexion. They are all quite a light skin tone. The “dark” model is probably the lightest skin tone one could consider as dark. The advertisement completely leaves out the many, many women whose various complexions are darker than those shown. Yet, they show two white women whose complexions are hardly distinguishable (when considering the vast scale of skin shades) as the “light” and “medium” models. Not only are then women all of a lighter skin tone, but as the article points out, they “all three have pretty similar, stereotypically Caucasian, facial features.”

The final article is somewhat different, yet related to the above two. It again discusses an advertisement, only this one was run in a newspaper in Singapore. The large, bold letter across the top of the advertisement read, “A True Sad Story.” It shows a woman sitting, sad and hunched over, as if devastation has hit. What is the sad story on which this woman is reflecting? She is upset due to the fact that she has small breasts. The advertisement goes on to tell about this woman’s “sad” story, and how their product has come to save the day. According to the article, the product is a breast enlargement cream. On a broader scale, this is indicative of the discrimination women with small breasts experience. More specifically, the article addresses the collateral of this discrimination. After reading the girl’s story, it is clear that the stereotypes, prejudices, and interactions prevalent in our everyday lives take a great part in building (or tearing down) our self-worth.

Discrimination is extremely evident in all of these articles. In addition to this are the concepts of prejudice, racism, and social norms. In looking at the idea of “beautiful” that these articles portray, there is a distinct population of women (the majority of them) who are not included. Women are continuously discriminated against based on their appearance, whether it is in the workforce, in a social environment, or even, as in this case, when just looking at an advertisement. In fact, as the final article alludes to, it is often times impossible to be “beautiful” or happy without seeking it from an outside source; anything from cosmetic surgery to skin lightening creams. Not to mention being accepted and loved. This in turn, leads to avoidance by women. They will become “fake,” sometimes to a great extent, to avoid being discriminated against because they are “ugly." As the third article discusses, the woman in the ad lost her boyfriend because of her small breasts. I thought it was an extremely valid point when the author stated, “The problem isn’t that you have a shallow boyfriend who would leave you just because the size of your breasts; the problem is that you couldn’t keep him interested.” We even face discrimination in our personal relationships.

There is unconcealed prejudice against overweight women and dark women in the first and second articles respectively. Unfortunately, the prejudice in our society against both dark and overweight women, among others, is what leads to this discrimination in all forms. Discrimination based on looks can be categorized into a certain type, called social discrimination. As discussed by Vincent Parrillo in Understanding Race and Ethnic Relations, 'social discrimination' is, “the creation of a ‘social distance’ between groups (pg. 108).” In this case, there is distance between those that are deemed beautiful and men, and those that are “ugly.” People that are beautiful are superior to all others. Men, apparently, are the principle judges of who fits in this category. This is the basis of the idea of social norms. “….a relationship exists between prejudice and a person’s tendency to conform to societal expectations (Parrillo, pg. 88).” Parrillo goes on to explain that conforming to these norms is the result of “accepting the prevailing prejudices.”

In addition to this, the principle of exclusion also applies. “Real women” are excluded from the media and advertising. Dark women are excluded from the Sephora ad in article two. Women of varying ethnicities are also excluded from the Sephora ad, where the three women depicted resemble those of Caucasian descent. Obviously, racism is another factor intertwined in these concepts. Advertising plays a huge role in the prejudice and exclusion of women. “Consumers may think that they are unaffected, but advertisers successfully create a false consciousness and teach young women that they are appetizing only when ‘plucked, polished and painted’ (Parrillo, pg. 97).” These advertisements tell us, you are only beautiful if you look like this, or, as in the case with the third one, it is truly a sad story to have small breasts.


Obviously, these patterns of prejudice and discrimination against women, unobtainable beauty ideals, racism, and social norms can be seen everywhere in today’s society. Just this afternoon, as I was “accepting the discrimination” in preparation of an upcoming military ball, I was in the make-up aisle of a store. The first thing I noticed upon entering the aisle was the lack of dark shades of make-up. Is it that the darker colored women are so naturally beautiful that it is not needed? If that is the case, where are all these beautiful women in the ads, movies, on television…? Or, is it that dark women are beyond the help of make-up in achieving beauty? These questions may seem ridiculous when posed, but one must wonder what the rationality is behind this discrimination. For both men and women, this idea of beauty, and the prejudice associated with it, has seeped into the very core of who we are. Many women will not even leave the house without “disguising” themselves, and most men look at “done-up” women as if it has become a learned reflex. It is imbedded in every aspect of society- this idea of beauty.

References:

Parrillo, Vincent N. Understanding Race and Ethnic Relations. 3rd ed. Boston: Pearson/Allyn and Bacon, 2008. Print.

Life in a Dark World: A response to the novel The Tattoo, by Chris McKinney (Chapter 3)

Chapter three of “The Tattoo” delves into an extremely dark and sinister portion of the novel. The main character, Ken, has moved across the island to Honolulu to begin a new life. After first trying to attend college courses, he finds himself restless- “Suddenly, I found my life very boring and tedious…I began to long for something real, something threatening, something that made me feel alive again (pg. 99).” It doesn’t take him long to find the trouble that he is apparently seeking. He finds himself caught up in the underworld of Honolulu- bars and strip clubs, drugs, and many illegal activities become the norm. Given Ken’s built-up anger, past, and outlook on life, he finds himself adapting to this new sub-culture with ease. However, things begin to change as he falls in love with Claudia, daughter of Mama-San who is owner of the strip club that now employs him. Claudia is a different race than Ken; half Caucasian and half Korean. She is in school and pretty much keeps herself separated from the dark underworld of her mother. Their love affair complicates things for Ken, ultimately leading a pregnant Claudia and terrified Ken’s unofficial exile from the city.

The dominant themes of crime and racism continue to seep from every page of the novel. In addition to these, there are concepts regarding dominant-minority relations that become quite prevalent, such as those of avoidance, deviance, and even a deeper insight into the in-group and out-group perceptions of Ken and the other characters. To explain these concepts, we must first examine the idea of ethnic-group identity, especially in Ken, who emulates this phenomenon. “Ethnic-group identity exists when individuals choose to emphasize cultural or national ties as the basis of their primary social interactions and sense of self (Parrillo, pg. 122).” This statement seems to describe much of Ken’s personality and behavior. He feels that his sense of self is based on the fact that he is Japanese and living in Hawaii. Almost as if this creates who he has to be. Parrillo further goes on to explain that, within this thinking, there are actually two self identities; the one that is a part of society as a whole as well as the identity of one within their own group (pg. 122). This idea bears a striking resemblance to the end of the chapter when Claudia and Ken are discussing moving to the mainland: “There was no way I was going to the fucking mainland…..a world full of people I can’t relate to….How many haole asses would I have to kick before I got any respect up there?” “Here, I’m somebody; here, I’m respected. Up there, I’m just a Jap….they’ll make me invisible… (pg. 149-150).” He feels as if he would have a completely different identity on the mainland- where he would be the out-group, rather than the in-group.

After looking at Ken’s ethnic-group identity, we can better understand the ideas of avoidance and deviance, and how they relate to his character. Ken’s idea of the mainland and his unwillingness to travel there (for fear of being a minority who has no place and cannot relate) is his personal avoidance of assimilation and cross-cultural relations. Although he may not be demonstrating avoidance in the traditional sense of being in a minority community among the majority of the mainland, it is avoidance nonetheless.

Deviance and crime are almost describing words for Ken in many parts of his life. Although sometimes it may seem as though his behavior is due to ignorance and poor judgment, there are clear indicators that some of his actions are fueled by things such as hatred for the majority and anger over his personal situation. On top of this, he has learned that who he is “supposed” to be as someone who is mean and tough, as this is the only way he will get respect (an issue of not only minorities, but also masculinity). This conditioning fuels his deviant behavior, leading to the cycle of fulfilling a negative stereotype.

As far as personally relating to this novel, in many ways it is difficult. Ken and the other characters in the story lead a life much different than my own. That being said, the one thing that I think most people can understand, either personally or through someone they know, has to do with this idea of a sub-culture. Ken lives in a world within a world. In other words, this lifestyle of drugs and hookers and crime is known to exist by those around him, yet many of them are never really exposed to it. The same is true for many people addicted to drugs or who have spent time in prison. I have both family and friends that have experienced both, which has exposed me to some of this dark world that so many people are oblivious to. When you see someone who is hooked on drugs, their life is only in dealing with drug dealers and others on drugs, often spending large amounts of time on getting them, even if it takes committing a crime. This, in turn, exposes them to things that are not typically seen by the “normal” population on a regular basis. The same is true for someone who is in prison (which can be seen with Cal and Ken in the novel). Although people know that prisons exist, few know what life is really like in the prison world. It is a complete sub-culture within society. These may be two more extreme examples of a sub-culture in society; however, there are many types. It goes hand in hand with in-groups and out-groups. The world as it is to one is completely different to another.

The concepts and themes throughout “The Tattoo” are only part of the story’s intrigue. It is a novel that is interesting and exciting, leaving you curious what will happen next. I am anticipating the final chapter as these character’s lives unfold. It is truly a great read.


Works Cited
McKinney, Chris. The Tattoo. Honolulu: Mutual, 1999. Print.
Parrillo, Vincent N. Understanding Race and Ethnic Relations. Boston: Pearson/Allyn and Bacon, 2008. Print.