The Body as Commodity - Essay Example

Sociology – The Body as Commodity Turn on a television anywhere recently and you are likely to find some sort of makeover show included in the available listings. These shows offer a quick fix to life by providing an improved exterior façade to participants’ homes, bodies, fashion sense, faces, lifestyles, you name it. These ‘reality’ shows claim to be merely for the entertainment yet remain very focused on the outward image. One of the primary tools of the reality shows is found in plastic surgery, as people watch participants mold their bodies into the ‘ideal’ image thus defined. This ‘ideal’ image is usually defined as someone of a mid-20ish age, slender, with specific measurements and a certain good-looking charm. This limited view of the ideal automatically eliminates anyone who might have been born with a larger bone structure or other ‘defect’ that defies the reshaping of the scalpel from the ranks of the socially acceptable. Through the reality shows, though, those lucky few who are able to fit the ideal in any way, to attain the ‘body beautiful’, much is made of their subsequent happiness and success as a result of their ‘improved’ appearance. ASPS president Rod Rohrich pointed to the various individuals taking part in plastic surgery reality television indicating that many of them have unrealistic and unhealthy expectations for the results (Gustafson, 2005). It is perceived through these types of presentations that the only way to find happiness and fulfillment is through the construction of the ‘body beautiful’, causing an extreme focus on the outward appearance many times to the detriment of the inner being. Their bodies have become commodities necessary not only for their own happiness and future success, but also for the entertainment value involved in fixing them up and the industries designed around providing the necessary services to do the fixing. From our earliest history, it has been through our outward appearances that we project who and what we are to other people. Studies have continuously shown that people dress a certain way and acquire certain things to try to evince an attitude of belonging to a particular subset of individuals who embody their ideals (Gilman, 1999). With these outward appearances in hand, we can walk up to the ‘in crowd’ and proclaim ourselves a member. “Indeed Smith (1990) believes that women view their bodies as ‘objects of work’ requiring attention and upkeep in order to operate well and promote the desired effect” (Gillen, 2001). Yet being a part of this crowd does not necessarily guarantee happiness as is evidenced by the lives of those people who help to set the standards, the movie stars themselves. Actresses such as Jamie Lee Curtis, long admired as the epitome of the dynamite female figure, suggests taking such measures as plastic surgery and liposuction are little more than a waste of money. “I’ve done it all. None of it works … I looked worse” (Jones, 2002). Despite the perception by many that this actress could be used as the definition of the ideal body beautiful, Curtis says she still suffered from significant self-esteem issues and must still face the onset of age. “Research in the UK suggests that the wealthier we are, the more likely we are to dislike our body. Experts think there’s more pressure on the wealthy to achieve the thin ideal because they have the money to do so and are more exposed to media images” (Rebecca, 2006). Reflecting the concept that the body as a commodity nevertheless remain among the top hopes and dreams of women for themselves and their daughters, reality shows provide an excellent look into the concept of the body as commodity as it is perceived by the average individual. The makeover shows perpetuate and reflect the concept held by the consumer public that happiness and fulfillment can only be achieved through similar outward transformations. Because the these shows work to emphasize the idea that they are for entertainment purposes only, they can be easily overlooked as vacant, shallow embodiments of a new development in materialism. However, these trends are not necessarily the empty, superficial manifestations they originally appear to be as the ideas contained within them become translated into the realities of the individuals living within the viewing public. “Recently, televised ‘makeovers’ – in which a member of the public is plucked from obscurity and transformed, by virtue of clever hair, make-up and style consultants, into a glamorous creature – have become popular. Makeovers have now become almost ubiquitous, with a rash of television programmes portraying the results of makeovers not only on a person’s appearance, but also on their homes, gardens and even their cooking skills. Documentaries that follow the progress of raw recruits into shining professionals also reflect the concept of change and metamorphosis inherent in makeovers” (Gillen, 2001). Playing to the modern culture’s Cinderella dream for a better future and our insecurities regarding who and what we are in relation to the rest of society, these programs are a perfect mirror of the concept that possession of a body beautiful has the ability to transform the lives of any member of society with little to no regard for deeper, weightier matters such as issues of self-esteem, talent, ability, intelligence or any one of numerous human possibilities that exist below the skin’s surface. This pull on the general public to view the body as a commodity is evidenced in the words of the reality show creators themselves. Weintraub (2004) quotes Extreme Makeover creator Nely Galan regarding the reasons she started her reality show. “You know, women are always saying, ‘Oh, if I had a personal trainer and chef like Oprah, or liposuction like actresses do …’ Well, we’re going to give them that.” Some of these shows, Extreme Makeover and Fox’s The Swan included, provide complete personal makeovers that include liposuction, plastic surgery and a host of other services. One person who participated in Extreme Makeover and was extremely happy with her results, said “she had been unhappy with her extremely broad, flat nose and very full lips. But, as an African-American, […] the last thing she wanted was to ‘come out looking white’” (Weintraub, 2001), a fear that illustrates the tremendous degree to which people feel these shows can change them and the level of purchasing power that can be had. Regardless of other features of the show, the entire focus remains based upon “getting you that new bod, the one that will make all your friends and family at last see you as being ‘hot’ (Gibbons, 2004). Doctoral candidate Angela Dancey (Weintraub, 2001) points out that these shows work to deny they are about the appearance by including talk of psychotherapeutic and inspirational tales of rebirth, “but what you’re seeing and what they’re saying are very different.” By the emphasis placed upon outer beauty in these shows, going so far as to include major surgery in multiple points of the body to attain it, the ‘ordinary person’ feels tremendous pressure to meet these same criteria. Even when not focused or based upon surgical alteration, the message is not that one should find a means of expressing oneself, but rather that one should do everything possible to conform to the norm. Shows like What Not to Wear and Ten Years Younger, while not extreme enough to include any kind of surgery, nevertheless, tend to focus not so much on the individual expressing themselves as teaching them how to express the accepted societal roles they have defined. There is a clear and consistent message that the average viewer sitting at home is never ‘good enough’ to present themselves to the society they feel they should be a part of. In order to be happy, they must become a member of this beautiful body club that guarantees acceptance and success. If they don’t meet the standards, they must work hard to earn the money necessary to purchase the ‘correct’ look, regardless of the pricetag, monertarily or metaphorically speaking. Yet even actresses such as Jamie Lee Curtis, herself the textbook ideal of the body beautiful, have admitted that possessing the ‘right’ look has not brought them happiness. To the contrary, many of these individuals have indicated that they never felt they had the ‘perfect’ body and they have often experienced a great deal of personal suffering, including addiction, as a result of their perceptions. Because the modern day ideals have established impossible standards of beauty and lifestyle, these reality shows have evolved as a pseudo means of evening up the odds to the general public in terms of overall perception. At the same time, they establish standards too high for even the most perfect to achieve and cause severe damage to the individual throughout societies various levels as they struggle to subject their own personalities to the social norm. While those who have participated in the Extreme Makeover experience realize their lives haven’t increased any additional worth as a result of their cosmetic changes – “I would never say that my worth is more now than it was then, but I’m much more confident. I’m very happy with the choice I made. There’s no way anyone’s going to steal my joy” (Weintraub, 2004) – it is argued that this experience of a significant change in the way something is done, in the way society might view an individual’s home, skills, etc., can lead to an experience of rebirth and rejuvenation into a world that was previously considered immutable in nature. Weintraub (2004) quotes Dancey as saying “As a culture and as a country, we’re really invested in this idea of the conversion, and we want it to be overnight. And the idea of a physical makeover gets linked to the idea of a spiritual makeover. It’s almost like being born again, in the religious sense.” The physical changes might not have actually changed anything else about a person’s life, but the perception that change has occurred is enough to spur viewers and participants alike into believing that outward change can bring about fundamental, life-lifting transformation. There is some evidence that the individual who perceives themselves to have attained the elusive beautiful body has an increased sense of confidence that improves their happiness and potential for success. For many people, being able to classify themselves as being in, or at least being mistaken for being a part of, the ‘in crowd’ is all they need to feel the confidence necessary to make the changes that lead to a better life. In that sense, this idea that outward appearance, the body beautiful, can lead to a Cinderella story of magical rebirth and new life provides a constant hope for the average individual. With confidence that you match the ‘norms’ or upper limits of the current culture, the theory goes, you too will be able to conquer the world and become the next greatest success story. “Confidence is also about feeling comfortable in what you are wearing and the concept of comfort is multifaceted. For example, there is an explicit recognition that feeling comfortable allows women to feel confident and thus to project themselves to their audiences” (Gillen, 2001). A pleasing outward appearance that falls into line with what society has deemed as beautiful – i.e. Sandra Bullock as she appears at the end of Miss Congeniality – helps us to feel this confidence and therefore this comfort level that provides us with the inner strength to face the challenges of everyday life. “As Jane commented, feeling confident and feeling comfortable stems from ‘conforming, wearing whats right’, though clearly wearing what is right is quite tightly controlled by external factors” (Gillen, 2001). However, like Bullock’s character in Miss Congeniality 2, the sequel to the previously mentioned movie, conforming to the norm often leads to personal damage in the subjection of the self and the resulting disorders that stem from this. In the sense of building confidence, using the commodity of the body to bring about change for the better in the personal lives of the individuals involved has some degree of merit, but remains focused on unhealthy spending and only temporary shifts in perception as the ravages of time and lifestyle will always outweigh any cosmetic changes that can be made. Without changing the underlying perception that only through a beautiful body can one attain the levels of success and acceptance desired, failing looks and impossible standards will continue to plague the psyche and prevent the individual from focusing on developing more important and more lasting aspects of their personality. Despite the benefits experienced by those who are able to gain the body beautiful, there remain many negative effects experienced both by those who have it and those who can never attain it. The impossible standards set by the movie industry creates the illusion that most of us must look like Gwyneth Paltrow or Tom Cruise in order to be considered attractive. This internal drive to constantly redefine ourselves based upon how society sets its values and how we measure up to them removes the focus from what is positive about ourselves and shifts it to what is wrong with the way we look. This desire to meet the impossible dream for some or to maintain the impossible dream for others, has a tendency to encourage young people, girls especially, to seek such physically enhancing procedures as plastic surgery even before their bodies have finished growing and psychological issues for those who cannot attain the defined body beautiful or who are increasing in age beyond the borders of the defined set. In today’s beauty culture, plastic surgery is the most common surgery performed in hospitals, commonly believed to be the response to this constant societal pressure for people of all ages to become the ‘ideal’ person. This is especially seen in the rising numbers of teenagers seeking surgery, as it can be potentially harmful to the individual’s psychological nature and physical health, and is perpetuated by the role models and peers as well as their parents and elders. As these types of surgeries become more socially acceptable, more young ladies are turning to cosmetic surgery to enhance their bodies while still attending high school. A recent BBC News report indicates as many as 40 percent of teenage girls in the UK desire some sort of plastic surgery (“Forty Percent”, 2005). They are working to construct the ideal form without giving their bodies a chance to finish growing. Many adolescents (and the parents that allow them to seek these types of surgery) don’t seem to realize that plastic surgery is still a form of surgery that can have significant physical and physiological risks, especially when performed on bodies that have not yet completed their growth cycle. Because it is a real surgery, involving real risks to health and welfare, doctors are concerned regarding the expected outcomes and the long-term message being sent to younger girls regarding the procedure. Depending upon the reasons and expectations one might have going in for surgery, the results, no matter how successful, can cause long-term psychological and physiological damage, belying the concept that having a beautiful body will automatically bring happiness. The idea of the psychological maturity of the individual seeking commodity-based plastic surgery such as this is an important factor to consider in determining whether or not the teenager or older individual might have realistic expectations for what plastic surgery can do for them. In a Scotland study questioning 2,000 girls with an average age of 14, “four out of ten said they would consider plastic surgery to make themselves slimmer” (Gustafson, 2005). The reason for this was given as pressure from celebrities and comments from boys, who presumably also get their concept of the ideal female from the same source. According to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS), teenagers seek plastic surgery as the only way in which they feel they can be acceptable to their peers (“Briefing Papers”, 2006). While surgery may be successful in making them slimmer, it will not give them a one-way ticket straight to the top of the popularity ladder. In addition, such things as hip width may be necessary for the body’s proper balance or ‘uncorrectable’ in terms of fitting into the ideal. By turning the body, and the procedures offered to ‘fix it’, into a commodity, such issues as health risks, future growth and individual form are discarded by the wayside as trivial while long blonde hair, perfect measurements and an aquiline nose become matters of extreme importance. These misperceptions can have serious psychological ramifications in a variety of areas for the individuals involved as well as those teens who are not able, through lack of funds or availability of sensible parents, to achieve such perfection. However, the problem does not exist solely in the minds of the teenagers. In most cases, these ideals of the perfect body are originally pointed out by the mothers, who are constantly in pursuit of the teenage waist or the wrinkle free complexion regardless of age. They continue to seek slimming surgeries, face-lifts and body enhancements as a way of chasing that elusive fountain of youth as long as possible, buying into the concept that only young, slim and beautiful is acceptable in the modern day (Rubin, 2006). The woman who looks the youngest, wears the smallest dress size and is able to attract the youngest man is the winner at the table. The concept that youthful appearance automatically means youthful feelings, youthful energy and youthful desirability is wide-spread and helps to drive the body as commodity concept. This fixation on the perfect form for the older crowd as a way of standing out against their contemporaries as a well-preserved individual translates to the younger generation as a requirement to achieving personal success and recognition. “The reinforcement of moms depressed about her weight because they don’t look like magazine models, makes it even more likely for the daughters to be unhappy with their bodies” (Gustafson, 2005). The tendency for older women to seek surgery after surgery also illustrates the fact that regardless of the level of perfection achieved, women remain unsatisfied and unhappy with the way they appear. Meanwhile, costs for medical care continue to rise and millions of dollars are spent needlessly. Reinforced by the ideas and activities of their parents, surrounded by role models that have little more than looks in their favor and still leading fabulous fairytale lives as depicted on television and having these concepts reinforced by the skillful manipulations seen in reality shows, teenagers have little option but to believe that the ideal form, carefully constructed in the plastic surgeon’s chair, is the only way to acceptance and happiness in today’s world. However, this belief could lead them to take part in surgeries that may be harmful to their physical health and will prove psychologically limiting regardless of whether surgery is performed or not. The idea that beauty may buy one happiness is a popular myth perpetuated through such practices, but proof that it is a lie can be found everywhere. As women continue to spend more and more in pursuit of an image they will never achieve and even the most beautiful women admit to being miserable in their personal lives, it becomes more and more clear that the true path to happiness must lie in the development of the self. In the end, it is society as a whole that determines what the ideal human form should look like, and therefore it is the responsibility of the adults to determine whether physical measurements should define the quality of the individual or if attention should be redirected to more realistic and less superficial attributes. It is the responsibility of society at large to put an end to the concept of the body beautiful as a major commodity in our culture and to focus attention on more lasting goals and pursuits. References “Briefing Papers: Plastic Surgery for Teenagers.” (2006). American Society for Plastic Surgeons. Retrieved 29 January 2007 from “Forty Percent of Teens Want Plastic Surgery.” (5 January, 2005). BBC News. Received 29 January 2007 from Gibbons, Sheila. (22 December 2004). “TV Makeover Shows are Prime Time Madness.” Women’s News. Retrieved 29 January 2007 from < http://www.womensenews.org/article.cfm/dyn/aid/2116/context/archive> Gillen, Kate. (2001). “Choosing an Image: Exploring Women’s Image Through the Personal Shopper.” Through the Wardrobe. Eds. Ali Guy, Maura Benim & Eileen Green. London: Berg, pp. 71-93. Gilman, Sander L. (1999). Making the Body Beautiful: A Cultural History of Aesthetic Surgery. Princeton University Press. Gustafson, Rod. (18 January, 2005). “Parenting and the Media.” Parents Television Council Publications. Retrieved 29 January 2007 from . Jones, Chris. (23 August, 2002). “Jamie Lee Curtis: The Body Beautiful?” BBC News. Retrieved 29 January 2007 from Rebecca. (2006). “Body Beautiful.” British Council Russia. British Council. Retrieved 29 January 2007 from < http://www.britishcouncil.org/russia-trenduk-december-2006-body-beautiful.htm> Rubin, Rita. (19 December 2006). “Breast Implants Catching on with Soccer Moms.” Tampa Bays 10 News. Retrieved 29 January 2007 from Weintraub, Joanne. (21 March 2004). “Makeover Shows Selling Fairy Tales.” Journal Sentinal TV Critic. Live TV & Radio. Retrieved 29 January 2007 from < http://www.jsonline.com/enter/tvradio/mar04/215820.asp> Read More