The Imperfect Woman

Kathryn McGrotty

Nowadays it is a crime for women to be anything other than perfect, yet nothing short of being computer-modified is perfect by the media's standards. Images of women are composed, constructed and contorted to make them seem flawless, but can you really be perfect in real life?

A few weeks ago, I read an article about a woman who was criticised for being too “skinny”, her response was how she has always been naturally slim and eats healthily but has never needed or followed a diet to keep her slender figure.

I find it ironic; the media constructs images of women to make them thin, but when a woman is like that in reality she is abused and condemned for “being unhealthy” and “promoting dieting and eating disorders to young women”.

Unfortunately, if a woman is overweight they are presented as being lazy and unattractive.

There is no way for us to succeed in meeting the criteria.

Magazines, television, video games and even children’s media engross themselves in images of the “perfect woman” and this utter obsession with this portrayal of women, and men, is having a lasting effect on younger generations, who will soon grow up living a body-obsessed life.

81% of 10 year olds are afraid of getting fat.

53% of 13 year old girls are unhappy with their bodies, and this number increases to 78% as they reach 17.

These statistics are outrageous and things must change.

Why should we allow the media to construct the lives of women today? The “perfect woman”, apparently, has to be skinny, tall, tanned, toned, curvy, petite and elegant, all at the same time. In reality, this must make everyone imperfect, because no one can match up to the form that the media request.

The definition of perfect is: ‘having all the required or desirable elements, qualities, or characteristics; as good as it is possible to be’

But who really decides what these ‘elements, qualities’ and ‘characteristics’ should be? The media has plucked imaginary ones out of thin air in order to create a standard for women to live up to in the 21st century, but personally I think it’s time for a change and time for a new rule-book of standards for woman.

Number one: being, not computer-modified, but simply yourself.

A New Media Image

Olive Jackson

            Trawling through images of women in adverts, from Gucci to Aldi, across the covers of Vogue and Cosmo, you can't help but question, "Who the hell comes up with this stuff?!"

Cosmo advertising a woman's body
              as the focus of their front page...

            The idea of a woman bending in a confusingly contorted position, wearing nothing but a thong, purely for the purpose of advertising this new fragrance or that new shampoo, is truly out of my grasp.

            Yet this seems to be the norm wherever you look - the objectification of women within the media has become commonplace, and, despite all the advances in women's rights elsewhere, we seem to be slipping in this essential area.

            As a feminist, a woman and an optimist for change, I see this as another area where women can and will strive for change.

            Women, as much as men, have equal rights to power, dominance and their own dignity. 

...whereas it's completely acceptable for a man
to be shown in a shirt and geeky bow-tie

            However this is not seen in the media, where women are seen for their bodies, whilst men are seen for their skills and intelligence. This, in turn, is having a poor effect on the younger generation, meaning girls are focussing on appearance over intelligence and skills.

            I'm not saying men aren't also subject to this prevalent objectification - the images of overly muscular bodybuilders are also rampant.

            My point is that the presentation of body, weight and shape is affecting the population, and not for the better. 

Even in 8-10 year-old girls, 80% admit to have dieted; a shocking amount at such a young age.

 But what can we actually do about this media barrage of the "perfect" look? Sit back as models get thinner, buffer, and more unrealistic?

  We, as a society and a population, must make a change. We must show the companies, the advertisers, the media barons, that: We. Do. Not. Agree.

  We need realistic standards for both us and the younger generations, and the freedom to look, wear and weigh what we want.

   We need change, and we need it now.

Gender Inequality in the Olympic Games

Olympic Games

Annie Thomas

The Olympic Games held in London in 2012 was heart-warming to many. People were engaged in events they had never heard of before, and patriotism was at its peak. The motto to ‘inspire a generation’ encapsulated the happiness and aspiration for success of future sport in Britain and, ideally, internationally.

To a large extent it gave women’s sport a platform. Athletes such as Jessica Ennis-Hill, Rebecca Adlington and Jade Jones became household names, figureheads for the games, and inspirations to many women. Nicola Adams became the first female Olympic champion in boxing history; a landmark achievement in the fight for equality, despite the while it took for them to deem women capable of taking part in such a discipline. 

Victoria Pendleton became the most successful female Olympic athlete, with 2 gold medals and a silver medal, leading the way for women in an effort to inspire a new generation of female sporting champions.

However, the Olympics still failed to perform in regards to providing a truly fair and equal summer games. 

It fell at the first hurdle, when it was found that only 5% of the contracting workforce for the Olympic Park, and an even more shocking 3% of those employed for the Athlete’s Village, were women. This amounts to an already determined attitude towards the effectiveness of women before the games had even begun.

Another startling finding was when Saudi Women raised the issue that their country would only be bringing an all-male team to the Olympics. Further investigation led me to discover that in Saudi Arabia girls are banned from participating in sport in state schools, and strict rules and regulations have to be followed in order for them to exercise in a gym.

Sheikh Abdullah al-Maneea, who represents the official Supreme Council of Religious Scholars in Saudi Arabia, produced a declaration that the excessive “movement and jumping” involved in sports such as basketball and football could cause girls to lose their virginity, as they could tear their hymen.

Neither are females allowed to attend sporting events held in stadiums as spectators, and they are publicly slammed if they become professional participants for going “against their natural role”. Although this was not a direct action of the Olympic Committee in Britain, there was a lack of action. Could an agenda have been put in place?

First-hand viewing and additional research has, in fact, enabled me to discover the true injustices of some of the sporting events held in an Olympic games. 

Cycling, for instance; the road race held in and around the city of London was an event that many geared-up spectators came out to see, yet the lengths of the courses were vastly different for male and female cyclists - giving a very different experience for the separate races. With the men’s race being set over 250km, the women’s race over 140.3km looked pitiful in comparison.

Former Olympic champion Nicola Cooke summated this excellently, stating, “There is no doubt that there are important physical differences between men and women… That, of course, is why we separate men and women for the purposes of competition. But the short answer is: there’s no good reason that women don’t have the events that men do.”

This along with diving, which allows men to take six dives, but limits women to five, is one that I personally cannot physically comprehend, to even begin to understand. I suppose they must believe female athletes, after taking their fifth dive, suddenly lose the ability to function, let alone take another dive!

And tennis is another one, with women only able to play in three sets despite men playing five. 

I could go on; gymnastics, swimming, athletics, are all examples of sports that contain unequal rules and events, and it’s upsetting to think that budgeting and “organisational difficulties” are excuses being used to stop women from having the same opportunities and experiences as men.
Whatever the incomprehensible reasoning behind it, I don’t believe they’ll change it in a hurry when there are traditions to maintain.