Plus-sized model and author Tess Holliday, who is the redhead with tattoos pictured above on the right, created a viral social media campaign that promoted loving all body types. She created the hashtag #effyourbeautystandards to call out the unfair and oppressive beauty ideals in today’s culture. Now companies like Isle of Paradise (see above), Aerie, Dove, and others have focused on selling their products by selling an idea of being body positive and loving one’s body. If you’re interested, you can read more about Tess Holliday here (Links to an external site.).
Our Eff Your Beauty Standards Mega Post is one of your last major assessments in this class. The historical thinking skill of Change Over Time will be demonstrated as you compare/contrast a historical beauty standard to one today. The goal of the project is the mastery of this historical thinking skill while learning about body image and beauty ideas in history.
This is an INDIVIDUAL assignment that is a post in the Discussion Forum. Reply to this thread when you are ready to submit your final (and to-be-graded) work. Only the first submission is graded. Pre-write your post in a Word/Google doc and then put it in the forum when you’re ready. You MUST use citations where needed; simply cutting-and-pasting facts from online or other people’s interpretations is not submitting your own work.
FYI – You MUST embed two (2) images in your discussion post. You can usually just cut-and-paste them from the Internet, like you would into a Word doc. If you don’t know how to do this, there is a useful link below. If that doesn’t work for you or you’re still confused, you will have to contact the free 24/7 Canvas student help line at 1-844-600-4951.
Tech Help Here: https://lakeland.instructure.com/courses/1186804/pages/how-to-embed-an-image-in-a-discussion-post?module_item_id=13207174Links to an external site.
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For the Eff Your Beauty Standards Project (200 points possible), follow these instructions:
1. Watch this 2-minute long video on body positivity – What Lizzo Has Said About Body Positivity (Links to an external site.)
2. Choose a beauty standard you want to research online (or in your textbook, if applicable). Your goal is to explain how that beauty standard has changed over time in the UNITED STATES by comparing/contrasting a previous decade (2000s and earlier) and TODAY. Previous topics have included make-up, eyebrow shapes, dieting, the “ideal” body size, swimwear, hairstyles, bras, corsets, body modification (i.e. piercings, tattoos, permanent make-up, plastic surgery, etc), and more. For example, you may want to compare/contrast the ideal eyebrow shape in the 1970s and today. You’re comparing two decades, not making a timeline of changes from a lot of decades.
3. Your post must include:
* two primary source images (photographs/sketches/paintings/magazine covers/ads) – one from the past and one from today (a before/after of your beauty standard)
* a minimum of 25 sentences comparing/contrasting the beauty standard (i.e. “It used to be XYZ, but now it’s ABC.”) Give evidence and examples. Who wore it like that? What was the style called? What did it look like? Why? Be detailed.
* think intersectionally (i.e. Did this beauty standard impact women of different races differently? How did advertising at the time show the “ideal,” such as having lighter skin? Could women of all ability levels do what this beauty standard demanded?)
* make sure your post is descriptive, informative, detail-oriented, and compares/contrasts both eras equally while also talking about historical details and context (i.e. If thin eyebrows were in, was there a trend during that time or a celebrity that had them? Why was it like that in the past? What else was happening in the world at that time in history that might have influenced that trend?
Remember an A or B means you went at least 10+ sentences over the minimum and you did it with quality, detailed work.
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