The Physical Self Chapter 4 PDF

THE PHYSICAL SELF CHAPTER 4 “You are imperfect, permanently and inevitably flawed. And you are beautiful.” -Amy Bloom  We will look at the work of nature and nurture, and how it greatly influences the features of our physical selves, particularly how we look, and...

THE PHYSICAL SELF CHAPTER 4 “You are imperfect, permanently and inevitably flawed. And you are beautiful.” -Amy Bloom  We will look at the work of nature and nurture, and how it greatly influences the features of our physical selves, particularly how we look, and how standards of beauty, both in local and global contexts have affected our self-acceptance.  We will also look into the different cultural standards of beauty and how it has affected our self-concept, our self-esteem and body image, and realize that beauty in all shapes and sizes is meant to be celebrated. “Why do I look like me?” GREGOR MENDEL  He is the first figured out how genes are passed from parents to offspring in plants, including human.  His experiments on pea plants showed that genes are passes intact from generation to generation and that traits are not blended.  Mendel’s discovery was that is through the genes that traits were passed from parents to offspring through several generations.  Genetics definitely has a hand on our physical appearance. Our biology dictates that our looks are as result of the genes transferred to us by our parents. From our skin tone, hair color, to our height, our physical features are an evidence that we are our parents’ children. When heredity is actually at work, we find our self being the mirrors of our parents, which was the result of their DNAs (deoxyribonucleic acid) at work in us and for some, even looking like carbon copies of them.  CULTURAL STANDARDS OF BEAUTY  Culture decides the norms of the society, its concept of what is beautiful is similarly invoked from a cultural perspective.  Different cultures have different standards of beauty.  During the 19th century in the African country of Tahiti, it was recorded that some men and women were set aside in a special place for fattening purposes.  “Fattening Rooms” are used less these days but are still relevant among well-off families.  This was also recorded in Nigeria during the ancient times when being fat was viewed as a sign of prosperity, fertility and beauty. LAKOFF AND SCHERR (1989) In their book FACE VALUE: The Politics of Beauty, explain this perfectly saying that…“beauty was not just a product of wealth, but a commodity in and of itself. In other words, it was no longer a matter of looking to wealth to find beauty, but of looking to beauty to find status. Now, beauty it could give the illusion of wealth.”  In the Philippines, the construction of local standards of beauty can be traced from our colonial influences. Skin color signifies the value of the people in society. Lighter skinned individuals are considered higher in terms social status, and therefore, in the social rank compared to those with brown or dark skin.  THE FILIPINO OBSESSION WITH BEAUTY: THE CASE OF XANDER FORD  Xander Ford, previously known as Marlou Arizala, a former member of Hash5- a teen boy band which became an online sensation not because of their attractiveness, nor talent, but because of the disgust and animosity they receive for their ‘ugly’ faces. Xander’s decision to alter his physical appearance was not without the pressure of the society to look good, if not better. He was not spared from bullying since he became an internet sensation because by our standards, he simply is unattractive.  Dr. Eric Yapjuangco, Xander’s plastic Surgeon, conducted three procedures on business woman Shiryl Saturnino, March of last year, but the latter died in the process. Reports from the Philippine National Crime Laboratory say that Ms. Saturnino died of fat embolism- a condition where there was fat in the blood vessels which entered into the lungs of the victim, making it hard for her too breathe.  Truth is, women have been evaluated based in their appearance more than men. They have been valued and devalued based on how they look. It is for this reason that many of them fall prey to even unnecessary cosmetics surgeries due to that desire of wanting to look good, if not perfect.  BODY DYSMORPHIC DISORDER (BDD)  Body Dysmorphic Disorder- is a mental disorder in which you can’t stop thinking about one or more perceived defects or flaws in your appearance- a flaw that, to others, is either minor or not observable.  Those who are suffering from BDD are so obsessed about their appearance, thus think about their flaws, real or not, incessantly and uncontrollably.  Those who are diagnosed with this disorder are very much preoccupied by a perceived physical flaw that is either absent or so trivial that only the one suffering from it sees it as a problem, being so much distressed about it, that daily routines are affected.  Those who are suffering from this disorder are so self- anxious that they seek cosmetic surgeries to finally solve their body issues. Dr. Yapjuangco explains this obsession of millennials with plastic surgery, in the case of millennials saying, “They want to be more pleasing, to be more beautiful. They consider that having a beautiful face and body is always an edge in most aspects of life, especially in getting into their chosen career”  A HEALTHY BODY IMAGE AND SELF-ESTEEM IN PERIL  The quest for physical perfection has brought us to an ordeal that will not end unless we got to the bottom of the problem.  Our society has not only placed so much importance on looking beautiful, but also has done a great job in commercializing the same. Even the Americans are in trouble for wanting to be physically appealing, as seen in the statistics. Anorexia– a serious mental illness where people are of low weight due to limiting their energy intake. It can affect anyone of any age, gender, or background. As well as restricting the amount of food eaten, they may do lots of exercise to get rid of food eaten. Some people with anorexia may experience cycles of bingeing (eating large amounts of food at once) and then purging.”  Body Shaming, which is criticizing yourself or others because of some aspect of physical appearance, has resulted in the loss of self-confidence of those who have been thin-shamed or fat-shamed.  Body Image Disturbance (BID) is an important aspect of several pathologies in psychology, particularly eating disorders.  STICE AND WHITENTON (2002) They found out that body dissatisfaction is also linked with mental disorders, including depression and anxiety among adolescents. This is very much alarming since statistics have shown how much of today’s generation have fallen prey from body image disturbance. TWO COMPONENTS OF BODY IMAGE DISTURBANCE: 1) Perceptual Component- refers to how we accurately perceive our body size, also known as body size estimation. 2) Attitudinal Component- refers to how we think and feel about the size and/or shape of our body, which if not correctly processed, will result to body dissatisfaction.  THE FILTERED SELF  On Instagram, the most famous photo-sharing application known to us to date, we post our most physically appealing self, and more often that not, we use filter applications, where we can hide our imperfections, creating, and recreating a self that is better approved by our online friends.  Instagram, together with the may other photo sharing applications, give us the freedom to alter our looks, and present our physical selves, not just the way we want it, but the way our society approves it.  Today’s youngsters are sadly he victims of such since we live at a time when our self-approval depends on the likes, shares, and comments of our social media posts.  When our filtered photos look better than the unfiltered ones, and the virtual world agrees, we tent to keep everything that way. There is that possibility, however, that the more we approved of the filtered us, the more that we disregard our real, unfiltered physical selves.  CELEBRATING BEAUTY IN DIVERSITY  Cultural concepts of beauty should be celebrated. However, practices that enhance attractiveness, yet, are severely harmful to our health, should be stopped.  Sheila Jeffreys (2005) explained that it is not enough to know that there are a lot of beauty enhancement practices that are detrimental to women’s health. For her, women should stand against the cultural requirement on what they should do with their bodies.  A celebration of beauty in diversity requires, as she calls it, a culture of resistance. This is a culture that veers away from the dictates of what women in society should look like to be called beautiful.  Embracing our physical selves entails affirming each other regardless o our skin color, stature, and body mass index. There is a need to defend those who do not fall under the idyllic image of thin and beautiful.  We should never allow ourselves to be victims of this since we are supposed to celebrate the authentic us, where we do not need to hide our physical flaws and to resist the demands of deprecating image driven society.  YOU ARE WHO YOU LOOK! EMBRACING YOUR PHYSICAL SELF  In the book of Psalms in the sacred Scriptures, we are deemed as the masterpiece of the Creator of the universe, carefully, precisely, and worthily created ( Psalm, 139:14, NIV). This idea od embracing one’s value is also seen in sacred texts of other religious beliefs.  The significance of self-acceptance in necessary in embracing our physical selves. We need not to fret if the way we look does not live up to the standards set by our society.  Remember that body size, shape, skin color, and stature are never correct indicators of a healthy life.  There is nothing more important than to learn to accept and embrace who we are, with all the beauty, flaws and imperfections, because this is the only way that we can live in peace and at peace with our selves. OBE PROJECT  CREATE A 3-5 MINUTE VIDEO CAMPAIGN PROMOTING BODY POSITIVITY. INCLUDE CONCEPTS AND IDEAS DISCUSSED IN CLASS.  CRITERIA:[TOTAL: 100 POINTS]  25 POINTS – TECHNICAL SOUNDNESS (The video campaign is excellently-edited and produced)  25 POINTS – ORGANIZATION OF THOUGHTS AND CONTENT  25 POINTS – INTEGRATION OF LESSONS/CONCEPTS DISCUSSED IN CLASS  25 POINTS – OVERALL DISCOURSE (IMPACT)