Sunday, April 30, 2006
Here are some pictures of my pages. I mostly did pages about societal perceptions of the ideal woman and femininity in the past and present. I covered themes like body image and how women were told men perceived them historically.
 | The first page that I did displays an ad for dish soap from the late 30s. The ad talks about how having soft hands from using Palmolive will improve your marriage. The ad makes a statement about the role of women in relationships and society in the 1930s. |
This page has an advertisement for a Lysol douche. The ad talks about how not douching with Lysol ruined this woman's marriage. I also included some info on the bottom right of the page explaining that today most health care professionals advise against douching because of the health complications it can cause. The irony is that in the ad which ran in the early 40s said that doctors recommend douching with Lysol! The ad makes mention of Lysol's germicidic qualities -- which reflects the long held historic perception that women's bodies are filthy and need to be 'cleansed' like a dirty tub or sink in order to be appealing to a man. |  |
 | This spread came from various clippings from a teen girls book about beauty and an ad for a girdle. The clippings talk about pressing issues like how to put on make up, the importance of having a full length mirror, and suggest that it is ideal that if you put your hands on your waist that yout fingers touch in the front and back. The book that the clippings came from is all about how to be the ideal young woman -- the book mainly focuses on acheiving this by being slim and attractive and properly dressed and made up. I love that the girdle company advertisement is for a company called "Realform" as if a woman squishing into a girdle will achieve her "real" form. |
This spread is about the old standard of beauty (plump women). One one half is a cover from an old girlie mag with a glamorous looking woman who is heavy by today's standards. On the right (hard to see because there's vellum there but it flips open) is a clip of an advertisement for weight gain tablets. The ad shows the heavier girl getting the guy and the skinny girl left in the dust. |  |
 | This spread is about the riot grrl movement. There are pics from Bikini Kill and Bratmoble albums and a pic of Sleater Kinney. There's a description on the right of what the movement is about and some feminist/queercore Sleater Kinney lyrics on the left above their pic. |
This spread is about our modern day fixation with very skinny women. There are some skeleton models on the right and a quote about the ideal Hollywood woman. On the right is a collage of diet drugs and a super skinny bikini clad model emerging from it. |  |
