14 valentines day one!
Today a bit of a ramble from me....... this topic is actually we were confronting in one of my classes not to long ago, so it verly muchly came out if that
In my studio class this semester we started our first design project with a precedent study of human standards. In terms of my current thought s and preoccupations it was really quite perfect. We were assigned to do at least one visual comparison between ourselves and someone/ something we considered a standard or stereotype and then a puppet or doll of ourselves as either a representational piece or a view of the way that we se our selves in comparison to the “standard.” The results that came out of the ladies in my class were awesome. All at once my classmates showed us that they see themselves as strong capable and generally good looking women but at the same time they revealed a startling amount of insecurities. One of the most common phrases that was used (or paraphrased) during people’s presentation, my own included, was, “It’s/ I’m not perfect but I’m alright with it /I can deal with it.” Hearing this over and over gave me mixed emotions. At that same time that I was glad that none of us said that we felt the need to change ourselves outright to conform, the idea that we are all just living with or putting up with our “imperfect” bodies kinda sucked. There were multiple examples that suck in my mind, the girl who made her puppet out of junk food wrappers and soda cans, the black girl who said that she kept getting told by her family that she was too thin even though they knew that that was just her body type, and the girl whose comparisons created a Barbie-esque silhouette that she said she wish she could have if only it were physically possible, and then when asked honestly said that since starting school four years ago she had put on 60 pounds and wanted to lose 30 of those pounds this year. We discussed all of this as a class of males and females, and I was pleasantly surprised by the actions and reactions of my class, the women were painfully honest about themselves the good and bad and the men were just as candid about their views of themselves and us. It was clear that we all understand the “Hollywood body type” was unattainable without surgery or health problem now or later in life, but that didn’t stop anyone from wishing that it wasn’t. And that is my real observation I guess, its great that we’ve reached a level where we can look at ourselves in the mirrors and accept what we may see, but wouldn’t it be better if we could look and be happy with our long neck, wide shoulders, small chest, skinny arms, big hips, short legs, weird toes. I’m not there yet but maybe by the end of this year I will be.
Day One Down!
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