4 modes

Mode 1: Dove Beauty Commercial
From my project two project, I learned that young girls are strongly affected by pop culture and mass media. Our perception of beauty is somewhat misconstrued. In my opinion, the overall argument and purpose of the dove commercial is to show that our perception of beauty is different than it should be. We have this idea of what beautiful is from what the media decides it to be (in magazines, television, ads). How do we know what beautiful is? Dove has a Campaign for Real Beauty, in which they state

At Dove, we want to help free ourselves and the next generation from beauty stereotypes. It’s this message that’s at the heart of our Campaign for Real Beauty and Self-Esteem Fund, and it’s why we continue to create thought-provoking ads, confidence-building programs and messages that embrace all definitions of beauty.

I think it’s wonderful that Dove wants to reach out to young girls like this, and clearly relates to my paper. I would think that the audience for this presentation is mostly girls from teenagers to women in their 30s. When it comes to ethos, Dove wanted to show that it is morally wrong to make young girls think that to be beautiful, they need to look like movie stars. For pathos, the emotional appeal in this ad is the fact that our perception of beauty is so misconstrued. It’s sad that when most people first see that ad, they probably don’t think at first that the ad was photo-shopped. For logos, you can see throughout the commercial that most ads are probably photo-shopped. The girls in the ads always have perfect skin, beautiful eyes, and perfect hair. It’s obvious after watching the ad that other ads are probably worked on if the women look flawless. This presentation is a good representation of my paper’s topic, and can therefore be used to effectively teach others about the effect of the media on young girls.

Mode 2: Picture- Norman Rockwell’s The Girl at the Mirror
http://www.imagekind.com/artists/Norman_Rockwell/Rockwell_Girl_at_the_Mirror.jpg

This picture clearly shows how our idea of beauty has been shaped by movies and movie stars. When movies came out, they created an ideal of beauty, even though those movie stars are in perfect light, ect. By comparison, average people don’t look that good. In this picture, a girl has a magazine on her lap showing a beautiful woman and is looking into a mirror looking sad. You can tell that she wishes she looked like the woman in the magazine. The painting has a way of grabbing the reader’s attention, especially females. Most women can relate to this illustration because they can remember the time in their life when they were starting to become women in a demanding world of make-up and unattained beauty. The pathos appeal here is that all women can sympathize with this little girl. We all feel the effects of this ideal of beauty that comes from the media, and the pressure to be “beautiful.” For logos, the picture shows that it is not logical to think that it’s important to be looked upon as beautiful and like a movie star. I don’t see an ethos appeal in the picture as much as pathos and logos, but I can see how Norman Rockwell was trying to incorporate a young girl’s morals in the picture. Adolescent girls have an innocence about them that is lost as they get older.

Mode 3: Song- Marilyn Monroe’s Vogue.
Vogue was the first song by American song-writer Madonna off her CD Breathless. In the video, she looks like Marilyn Monroe, who was arguably the most beautiful woman of her time.

When all else fails and you long to be
Something better than you are today
I know a place where you can get away
It's called a dance floor, and here's what it's for

This part of the song is the basis of my paper, in that as humans our instinct is to think about the flaws in us and not our beautiful characteristics. A natural tendency is to wish you were someone else, had a better job, had prettier eyes, and were better at sports ect… It is hard for us to accept the fact that we are not perfect and never will be.

The next set of lyrics is the following:
Beauty's where you find it
Not just where you bump and grind it
Soul is in the musical
That's where I feel so beautiful
Magical, life's a ball
So get up on the dance floor
Our eyes can tell that something is beautiful because of the instinct God gave us. The media, however, misconstrues what we know to be beautiful and it causes our perceptions to change. In the next part of the song, she says
Greta Garbo, and Monroe
Deitrich and DiMaggio
Marlon Brando, Jimmy Dean
On the cover of a magazine

Grace Kelly; Harlow, Jean
Picture of a beauty queen
Gene Kelly, Fred Astaire
Ginger Rodgers, dance on air

They had style, they had grace
Rita Hayworth gave good face
Lauren, Katherine, Lana too
Bette Davis, we love you

Ladies with an attitude
Fellows that were in the mood
Don't just stand there, let's get to it
Strike a pose, there's nothing to it

As the years go on, our “ideal beauty” keeps changing. It went from pale skin in the late 1800s and early 1900s to corsets, one pieces to bikinis, Marilyn Monroe to Angelina Jolie. The pathos in this song appeals to women of all ages. Having this song that shows it’s okay to be who you are come from one of the most powerful music women in our day say these things is a good encouragement to women. I would say that the ethos in this song is that once again it’s okay to be yourself and that everyone is beautiful in their own way. I don’t see a lot of logos in this song.

Mode 4: Book- The Body Project by Joan Jacobs Brumberg
This book shows why girls today are in crisis. “The Body Project chronicles how growing up in a female body has changed over the past century and why that experience is more difficult today than ever before. Girls are maturing much earlier, and unfortunately there is not much support left for “good girls” today. (Brumberg) Brumberg describes what young girls gained and lost as American women let go of the corset look and ideal of virginity for the world of dieting and sexual freedom. I used this book for my paper because it really shows how our idea of beauty has changed over the years, and how girls view themselves. The pathos in this book is that any girl that reads it can identify with it. Today, we are so consumed in how we look, unlike in the old days. The book also shows how morals in society have changed throughout the years.