Making a fashion statement ?

As a young teenage fashion concious girl I know body image is ‘everything’, as long as I feel good walking out the door in the morning, other aspects such as eating breakfast really doesn’t matter. Im a victim of the tanning ideology !

I take a 1st wave feminists point of view. Girls tan for the attention of men which draws themselves into a patriarchal life.If girls are tanning for their own self confidence i agree with the process, i believe if girls are modifying themselves it should be for the right reasons, reasons such as feeling confident, happy and better about themselves.Reasons that involve louring men i feel are disturbing.I always say be independent and be happy with who you are not who attract. Feminists state women modify themselves to gain male attention, i feel this shouldn't be the case however i also know it is.We are bombarded daily with images of the "perfect" woman. Reality is, what is the perfect women?  Truth is, there is no definition,there never will be.

We alter our appearances to feel better, but to convey a message. A message of who we are and where in the beauty world we belong. So the next step for us as a gender and as an individual depends on what we decide to see when we next look in the mirror.

I asked some of my friends who I know use tanning products from sunless tans to UV ray sun beds. To the question of why they tan, responses all involve reasons of insecurities they have of their bodies and body image. Along with the reason of wanting to impress boys or their boyfriends. A comment such as “my boyfriend prefers when I’m not too pale”. This statement took a little while to understand for me. I argued her point asking why she is willing to change or modify her skin just because someone she looks up to says it’s the right thing to.However, when I think about it; individuals alter their natural ways daily due to influences from those they look up to. I found, a small bottle of self tan can make all the difference to the confidence these girls feel, so why not? Postmodernists declare ‘Freedom from the limits of our bodies but new possibilities for control.’

Tanned skin is today's modern symbol of affluence. Years ago, pale skin signified wealth, as wealthy people would not get dark skin from working out in the fields like poor people. Nowadays, tanned skin means you can afford vacations to tropical climates, and pale skin supposedly means you slave a way in a factory or office cubicle. So, tanned skin is the new rich symbol. However the small minority of middle and high class women see tanning as a ‘cheap’ thing to do. Coming from different backgrounds means different beliefs and norms. What is deviance to some is an everyday casual thing. High class and some middle class citizens see tanning procedures as deviant behavior. Deviance is an action that doesn’t break laws but isn’t seen as acceptable or ideal behavior. Whereas for the majority of working and middle classes there is anything wrong with the procedures of tanning and in fact see it all as a positive of having the ability and money to do these things, from visiting hot climates sunbathing all day to popping to Tesco to buy a bottle of fake bake.

That argument allows no room for choice, difference or resistance. Butler prefers ‘those historical and anthropological positions that understand gender as a relation among socially constituted subjects in specific contexts’ In other words, rather than being a fixed attribute in a person, gender should be seen as a fluid variable which shifts and changes in different contexts and at different times. Gender is a performance; it’s what you do at particular times, rather than a universal, which you are. This is supported by gothman and his description of life as being a stage, we are given roles and we play that role. Butler doesn’t believe women are still oppressed to the extent they were in the past, she believes women can now construct their own individual identities.

Today women have the ability to express their freedoms in many different ways from body modification to job opportunities. Body image is important, no matter who you are. Beauty on the inside isn’t the only thing that counts. The media shows everyone and both genders in different ways, both positive and negative. Really, what does this matter? We know who we are and who we wish to be.

Representation in the fictional world signifies social existence; absence means symbolic annihilation.” In other words this definition states the product of stereotyping women. Women in society have always been stereotyped as a weaker and insecure gender of the two. Females are represented far less than males on TV. Gaye Tuchman (1978, a feminist) states females have roles; they are mostly shown as being negative roles. Tuchman divides the product of symbolic annihilation into three parts. Omission, the nonexistent women, that of the women that is never represented.Trivialisation, the unimportant gender and Condemnation the immoral face.

I disagree and so do many women? We in the media’s eye are seen as many different things.3^rd wave feminists state there is no one women, there are many. Women have the ability and freedom to be who they wish; opportunities for women have increased immensely. However most don’t fully reject the stereotypes, the stereotype of being body conscious especially. We all like the idea of being more independent, having freedom and doing what we wish. However both men and women are still under the beauty ideology, body image is everything. It expresses who we are and it allows others to judge. Feminists state this is a product of the patriarchy in the home. We are given a role in society and in the home and we live life practicing that role. Judith butler also a feminist, however notes that feminists rejected the idea that biology is destiny, but then developed an account of patriarchal culture which assumed that masculine and feminine genders would inevitably be built, by culture, upon ‘male and ‘female’ bodies, making the same destiny just as inescapable.

What does everyone think?

Why do you believe people use tanning products ?

Personally opinions on the concept of tanning and why these people believe people tan.