Project Proposal (updated)

Kristina Japay

Diana Negron

We were inspired by a series of buzzfeed videos to do a project about American beauty ideals in the 21st century. These videos illustrated not only the ideal body image, but all the models in the video who showcased body image for the most recent decades were all Caucasian, which showed the idea that white skin was the symbol for beauty. Male spectators found the pale, thin women to be the most enticing and the most beautiful as showcased by many of the paintings done centuries ago.

"Mary Countess Howe” by Thomas Gainsborough, 1760.

"The Woman Bathing" Mary Cassatt, 1890

We wanted to find out if in 2015, the glorification of paler skin and lighter eyes are still considered the most beautiful to people across the board. We researched on beauty ideals, and found a particularly interesting article about the ongoing trend for both women and men to bleach their skins. In many parts of the world, specifically in third world countries, a fairer skin tone signified a higher class. To this day, pale skin is still seen as being "privileged." In this specific Huffington Article, the editor focuses on the use of photoshop as a tool for slimming the body in pictures since having a thin physique is widely desired. Photoshop provides all people the ability to change the way they look on pictures, and to prove this, she uses this picture editing tool on much of the art done in the past.

Titian, "Danaë with Eros," 1544 reimagined by Lauren Wade

 We took this idea to the most diverse campus in the nation, Rutgers University- Newark, and its neighboring school New Jersey Institute of Technology where we interviewed 16 random students of different ethnic backgrounds on campus in order to study how important these European beauty ideals stand in this new generation of college students.

project plan: 

1. took headshots of 13 Rutgers and NJIT students of different cultures and backgrounds and asked them questions regarding the way they view themselves, their insecurities, and their potential significant others

2. Print headshots out and hang them on posterboard

3. Go to public settings (NYC, NJIT campus, Rutgers campus) and ask random people to write on an index card what they physically think is attractive, what their ideal man/woman would look like (skin color, hair type, body type, ethnicity, height, etc)

4. show them the headshots of the students and ask them to arrange these students according to who they find most attractive and who they find least attractive, compares them to what they wrote on their index card

Objective: raise awareness about beauty ideals for all people due to the expectations in the past that have destroyed and scrutinized those who do not fit into the societal standards of their time

Type of medium: video

Aims of our video: individuals shouldn't feel the need to conform to societal boundaries and rules;
instead of confronting the people we interviewed, we instead discussed how they might have conformed to the American beauty standards many people had before and still hold today. 

women: makeup is essential to women, and they should watch their weight, removal of hair

men: removal of hair, masculinity, aggressiveness, fitness, height, jaw

Diana is studying Management information systems and Finance and would like to go to law school eventually. She would like to work in the economics department of the U.N. This would allow her an interesting perspective and allow her to be more cultured. 

Kristina is studying accounting and she is interested in learning about beauty ideals and the way it affects the behavior in all men and women; she wants to make an impact on the way people see themselves and help them build more confidence.

Additional Resources:
scholarly articles

 http://www.clubofamsterdam.com/contentarticles/52%20Beauty/dove_white_paper_final.pdf

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tneKwarw1Yk