The first thing I did when I began my extensive research was first look at other documentaries surrounding my topic. I found a lot of bully documentaries like Bully (2011) and Bullied to Silence (2012). These full-length documentaries have an informational and morbid overall tone to them. These documentaries are different from our concept because we don’t want to focus on bullying, but why friends hurt other friends. We also want an upbeat atmosphere to our short. So then I went in and looked at documentaries closer to my niche of interest. One recent documentary that stuck out to me was Unslut (2016), and this doc. Heavily focuses on the rape culture and how young girls are represented in the education system. So, many documentaries surrounding this topic of women shamming and verbal abuse heavily focus on online interactions and the heavily talked about rape culture on campuses and cities. This topic can be viewed in a very dark manner or a playful manner. So, as I continued my research I had movies like Heathers (1988) and Mean Girls (2004) playing in the background as playful/ dark humor inspiration.
After looking at recent documentaries, I then went the old fashion route and went to the library to get some books. Two books that caught my eye were “I am Not a Slut: Slut-Shaming in the Age of the Internet” by Leora Tanenbaum and “Beauty: The Twentieth Century” published by Universe. “Beauty” was one that was really interesting to me because the book was broken up into decades and went into detail the norm of beauty at the time. For example, The 1970’s chapter had a big photo of Farah Fawcett and it talked about how hair was the symbol of the period. The 1990’s chapter talked about how lengthy and “wirey” girls fit into the grunge movement that popular during that time. These conventional views of what beauty is and what does or does not fit into that specific category of beauty are the foundation of women shaming. If you do not fit into societies or media’s view of beauty, you are immediately ridiculed and talked about.
After looking at other films and books that surrounded our concept, I wanted to find research that was close to our topic and I could get some ideas flowing in my mind (if that makes sense). I want to heavily focus on modern women shaming, but it was important to first look into the past conventions of beauty and how women shaming evolved. But I feel in order to do real extensive research with my topic I need to focus on contemporary forms of media like You Tube channels, social media, blogs, and gossip magazines. So then I went to You Tube and started watching women from all ages vent about women shaming and friends talking shit. And boy, was that entertaining. Through the griping and complaining, I was actually able to get some good insight on the current issues that surround women shaming. And, ironically, a lot of videos I found were men talking about women shaming other women. Different videos touched on different sectors of women shaming from slut shaming and bitch shaming based on a woman’s appearance, to shaming a woman simply for having an authoritative position and a big career. It was interesting to see that the women who get shamed on excessively are women who are trying to make an independent lifestyle while wanting to feel beautiful in their own skin.
One video I watched was this guy holding gossip magazines being super confused on the titles on the magazines and the way they are targeted towards women. After I watched the video, I ran to the store to pick up the latest issue of Cosmo and Women’s Health. Before even opening the magazines I saw eye catchers like “How to get Sexy Abs and a Tight Butt” and “The Ultimate Guide to a Hot Bod.” All in all, basically everything on the cover of both magazines had to do with a woman’s outer appearance. This constant pressure from the media encourages women shaming other women for their appearance and fashion choices. Now, I know the media isn’t the only one throwing wood into the fire, but they are sure encouraging this certain standard of beauty.
No comments:
Post a Comment