Claire Utzinger

The media can be detrimental to how we think about our bodies. What our society has deemed as the most beautiful body—thin, fit, and light skinned—is reflected in celebrity culture, in advertisements for beauty products, and even in how we talk about ourselves to each other. Unrealistic ideas about beauty can be harmful and lead to serious issues like eating disorders and depression. My project “Please Use Retrospection,” both reflects and challenges these damaging ideas. It is my hope that giving viewers a better understanding of the importance of “media literacy” can encourage a conversation about promoting body positivity in our culture.

The word literacy implies the process of reading with the intent of understanding and making connections to the wider world. Media literacy involves the ability to read into and understand that the media influences each one of us, and our culture on a daily basis. After understanding that the media is constantly affecting how we think about ourselves and others through television, social media platforms, print media, and advertisements, we can separate what society has deemed as beauty from the idea that we are all beautiful. However, this can be a challenge. The National Eating Disorders Association reports that “one in every 3.8 television commercials conveys an ‘attractiveness message’” which, to their knowledge or not, tells viewers that extreme thinness is desirable. The typical American teen sees more than 5,260 attractiveness messages every year, (mirror-mirror.org). An average 20-year-old American woman is 5’4” and weighs around 170 pounds. This is societally considered overweight (Marcin). The media from the United States has an extensive reach, so I hope that it is understood how I, a 5’9” 189-pound American female, might have developed insecurities about my body.

For this project, I want viewers to see how the media is constantly affecting me personally, especially when it comes to my body. Each collage depicts a piece of a self-portrait, whether it be my face, body, or hands. I painted these while looking into a mirror. This was important in getting to understand my curves and skin in an intimate, truthful way. Although I felt exposed at first, becoming so comfortable with myself has allowed me to look past my previous worries that I am not beautiful because I am not small. Surrounding the images of me are phrases that I found in magazines like “How do you fix me?” and “Break down time old hierarchies.” Although at first glance some words may seem to have a negative connotation, they symbolize my struggle to develop better ways of thinking about my body and a greater understanding of how my previous way of thinking was influenced. Even knowing that it would be healthier to not succumb to the negative effects of the media, this knowledge is still not enough. I find myself falling into the same trap from which I am trying to free myself. Every piece of paper in my collages are torn from a cosmetology or fashion book. This act of tearing and rearranging the words around my image is my attempt to physically break apart the theoretical messages that affect me every day relating to my body.

Each mixed media piece in my project shows the relationship between the messages that are spread about beauty, and how I am personally affected by it. As I have integrated myself into each piece, I hope that showing my own struggles will inspire others to find ways to defy the stereotypes that society has placed on us when it comes to beauty. I hope that people who view my art will actively work to disprove society’s beauty standard simply by having the knowledge that they are constantly influenced. If I can encourage more people to be agents of change who can make us all feel confident about our natural bodies, I will consider this project a success.