Unit 3: The Illusionist Video Questions

Is there a tie between social disconnect and body shaming?

I believe it is possible, although I believe there is a connection between social disconnect and rude conduct in general, including body shaming.

First it must be recognized that young adults are spending more and more time interacting in a virtual environment.  Email, text messaging and social media are fast becoming top choices for social interaction.  A  research article by the sociology department at TTU states, "among internet users between twelve and eighteen,  44 percent spend more than an hour per day online." Over 50 percent of teens in a survey of 6700 teens preferred communicating over the internet over talking on the phone.  About 80 percent of teens in the study reported using email and 70% reported using text messaging to communicate.  "If children and teenagers are already using computers as a significant form of education, communication, and entertainment, it may well be that less time is being spent having face-to-face interactions with peers."

Consider for a moment what it is that we are depriving ourselves of.  It is well known that sensory experiences are important to mental health and social well being. An example of this is the study done that showed that baby monkeys thrived when given a soft comforting mother-like bottle instead of a plastic bottle. Another example is how babies thrive when interacted with and neglected babies struggle to gain weight and thrive.  In a face to face encounter we see with our eyes, hear with our ears, and touch if appropriate.  In more intimate situations we may even taste and smell the person.  Breastfed babies experience all of these sensory inputs.  In an online interaction we are limited in how much contact we can have with the other person.  There are certain types of online interaction (video chatting, for example) that might provide one or two of these inputs, but not all, and there is also a disturbing similarity between these forms of interaction and other kinds of virtual media such as video games and movies.  

I theorize that a lack of face to face interaction can lead to a loss of connection with other people and a resulting loss of ability to care. "The latest research says that it’s actually a lack of eye contact that allows us to be particularly rude to people," so says Mariana Plata of Psychology Today.  This article isn't specifically addressing body shaming, but I think we can all agree that body shaming falls under the broad heading of "being rude to people."  No?

Now consider how we interact with people in real life versus social media.  In real life we see the whole person in motion, in social media (including video) we see a flat representation of what the person might look like.  In many forms of social media we don't get to experience the whole person at once.  We get a written message; once in a while we get a flat pictorial representation; we interact with pieces of the person, never the whole being.  There is a disconnect between the types of sensory experiences we can have and, because we can't see the whole picture, it is easier for things to go wrong.  Pictures don't always reflect reality and written messages can be misunderstood.  Messages can be misinterpreted and in some cases people feel it is okay to say things online that cause real psychological damage.

Let's consider an example:  What might happen if someone posted an unflattering photo of themselves on social media?  First, the person may or may not already feel bad about how they look in the photo, so maybe they try to edit the photo to make themselves feel better, but maybe it still looks like they have very wide thighs or flabby arms.  The photo is seen by others and maybe the person doesn't get many likes or comments.  We know that getting likes or comments causes a dopamine rush. (I'd link a reference but this was something I learned in a lecture from my pathophysiology class here on campus.) .  It's bad to not get enough dopamine, but its also bad to continually get dopamine because the body builds up a tolerance and addiction and we need more of it to remain satisfied. How do you think it might affect how you feel if you are used to receiving likes and comments on your photos and then one photo gets very little attention?  Now imagine how you'd feel if you got a negative comment?  Examples include: someone asks if you're pregnant and you're not or says you look tired but the circles under your eyes are hereditary and you get plenty of sleep.  Now you feel like maybe you should be working out a little more or maybe you should wear a bit more makeup to cover up those circles so that you won't get those embarrassing and irritating comments.  

References:

• https://www.researchgate.net/publication/233324097_The_impact_of_Internet_communications_on_social_interaction
• https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-gen-y-psy/201802/is-social-media-making-us-ruder

Every society has its own standards and definition for what is beautiful.  Why shouldn't I have my own standard for beauty.  What do I think makes a person beautiful?

• Smiles.  I don't care what the person looks like.  I don't care if the person is missing teeth and has wrinkles.  A smile from any person will light up my heart.  To me, a happy person is a beautiful person.
• Energy.  I'm always attracted (in more ways than strictly sexual ones) to any person who demonstrates an energetic personality.  I knew one guy years ago who was like this.  He smiled a lot, he speed-walked everywhere he went, and he acted excited about everything.  His personality was electric but he had an easy-going way about him.  He had white hair but, to this day, I can't even venture to guess how old he was, because his personality and attitude belied age.  
• Confidence.  There's something extremely attractive about any person who is confident.  Fear is unattractive. 
• Ambition.  This goes hand in hand with confidence.  A person who is ambitious; who is active both mentally and physically, that's very attractive.
• Honesty.  When people think of the word honesty, it's often associated with "not being lied to" or fidelity.  To me, these things are important, but I am talking about honesty about yourself in  day to day social situations.  A person who can be completely real; be completely honest about who they are or how they feel - that is attractive.

Lately, girls are getting exposed to sexual concepts at an earlier age than ever before.  (i.e. Lipstick, bikinis, sexy dancing, etc.)  Does this correlate to an increase in pedophilia and child molestation? 

Unfortunately, there's not a lot of research out there on this.  Mostly because there's no way to accurately know statistics on child abuse.  That doesn't mean there isn't postulation on the subject.

I read a very interesting article written by Bhuvanesh Awasthi (University of Glasgow).  The article attempts to make a tenuous connection between a person's attire and the level of objectification experienced.  "Widespread beliefs that women are sex objects are shared by both men and women at a basic cognitive level. When women sexualize their appearance, they are at a far greater risk than men. A focus on appearance, instead of personality, increased the objectifying gaze toward women, as demonstrated by increased eye movements toward their chests and waists compared to their faces."  This is one argument.

I have a different perspective.  I hypothesize that victimization has little to do with the victim and everything to do with the mindset of the perpetrator.  This is obviously only a theory because I don't have studies to support my claim.  I have only my own personal experience.  I grew up in a highly conservative religious social circle.  Although my parents were very protective and I was unmolested, I had several childhood friends who endured abuse at the hands of "god-fearing" men. The perpetrators included a step-father (with early teen stepdaughter), biological grandfather (two pre-teen females) and biological father (5 pre-teen females). Most of these girls wore long skirts and revealed very little of their bodies, as it was expected in this religious group.  At most, some exposed arms, hands and feet.  Some were not even allowed to wear short-sleeved shirts.  The man who molested his five biological daughters was reported to the authorities.  When arrested he claimed that it wasn't his fault because, "they tempted to me by letting me see their feet."

I wonder if some of these religious men didn't get to enjoy seeing beautiful women, since they expected their wives to dress in flour-sacks (so to speak).  I wonder if this self-imposed "self-denial" lead to deviant behavior.  Some of them believed it was bad to have sex at any time other than for the purpose of reproduction.  I can see how abstaining from sex for long periods of time could cause a man to become sex-crazed.  I'm not certain this would lead a man to prefer children.  From this experience though, I have developed the opinion that a sexual predator doesn't have to see a person's body to choose to go there in thought.

Reference: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5344900/

Does body-shaming advertising strategies work on everyone?

I would like to point out that body-shaming advertising strategies don't work on everyone.  These shameful techniques target people who are already vulnerable.  For example, a weight loss advertisement targets the obese population and is likely to have greater impact on obese people or those who perceive themselves as obese when not, than on an audience who doesn't perceive themselves as obese.  

I have personal experience with this.  In the past I've purchased various make-up items with the hope these products would enhance my appearance.  Over the years, I've stopped using most of those products because I came to realize they do not enhance, in fact they often detract, from my looks.  I have seen some people wearing makeup who put on so much and applied it so poorly that it made them look awful.  I've also seen some who applied a bit tastefully and it didn't look bad.  I still use a bit now and then.  I'll wear a bit of cover up, or a dark black mascara because I like the way I look when I wear it.  

I don't dislike the way I look without makeup.  It feels like accessorizing.  It isn't essential but it is fun to do once in a while to feel a bit "more than."  

Obviously advertising works or people wouldn't utilize it.  I personally don't feel shame about my body or my looks so I can't say for sure that body-shaming strategies affect everyone.  That depends on how strictly one feels about it.  How much product must one buy before one has succumbed to body shaming?  Or maybe buying product is not connected to how one feels about the self.  Maybe there are many reasons for why a person might choose to buy a product.  Maybe the person does hate how they look, or maybe the person likes how they look and is bored of looking the same.  

I think it is important, when considering this topic, not to generalize or pretend we understand everyone's motives for behavior.

What was my take away from this film?

Watching the Illusionist left me feeling a bit discouraged.  I'm not sure what the answer is to the societal issue of unrealistic advertising. I can see the truth in a lot of what was shared in the film.  Most of it doesn't impact me in a negative way.  Generally speaking, I make my own way.  I'm not one to wear a lot of make up or buy into gimmicks about weight-loss, etc.  However, if I were to "buy-in" as it were, to a societally advertised standard, it would be something like leg shaving.  I don't care one way or the other, but my husband prefers when I shave.  It doesn't impact my happiness in a big way because I'm not harming my body or feeling bad about myself.

I'm more concerned when these unrealistic advertisements seriously impact a person's health or happiness.  The movie discouraged me because I can see that some of the more detrimental trends are deep rooted in our society and are standards that we learn from childhood, maybe even our parent's childhoods. For example, young boys often encounter pornography before ever encountering a real woman.  So when a woman finally comes along, there's often a warped set of expectations she's faced with.  There is a lot of pressure to perform. She's expected to be confident in bed, know what she's doing, be eager to do anything and act like she enjoys it all.  I know a gorgeous girl who got dumped after her first time because the guy was disappointed in her performance.  He'd been pressuring her to "give it up" for a couple years. 

The example of pornography is one that especially bothers me because it affects a person's chances at connecting and forming lasting relationships.  I have the power in hand to ignore the billboards that advertise make up or weight loss supplements.  I can firmly believe that I don't need those things to be a beautiful, valuable member of society.  It would be a bit harder to ignore a loved one who has unrealistic standards of beauty and sexuality.  

I'm discouraged about it because I feel it is related to what is in our minds, more than what is on our billboards.  It would be very difficult to change one without the other, and changing people's minds ( as a collective) is not easily done.