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Eastern Michigan University Eastern Michigan University [email protected] [email protected] Senior Honors Theses & Projects Honors College 2018 An introduction to feminism and cross-cultural body image in the An introduction to feminism and cross-cultural body image in the United States United States Laura Darnell Follow this and additional works at: https://commons.emich.edu/honors Part of the Social Work Commons Recommended Citation Recommended Citation Darnell, Laura, "An introduction to feminism and cross-cultural body image in the United States" (2018). Senior Honors Theses & Projects. 613. https://commons.emich.edu/honors/613 This Open Access Senior Honors Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Honors College at [email protected] It has been accepted for inclusion in Senior Honors Theses & Projects by an authorized administrator of [email protected] For more information, please contact [email protected]  An introduction to feminism and cross-cultural body image in the United States An introduction to feminism and cross-cultural body image in the United States Abstract Abstract Feminism is a social movement that aims to end the oppression of women and to create opportunities for advancement of women. There are several types of feminism that have their own set of values and beliefs: liberal feminism, radical feminism, cultural feminism, and womanism. Central to these types of feminism is the call for sexism to cease and for women to have equal opportunity. Embedded within modem feminism is intersectionality, which is described as the effect of multiple oppressions that affect women. Misogyny, the hatred of women, affects the way that women feel about themselves. This is done through a process called internalized misogyny. While the value of women is set by outside forces, it is especially harsh on minority women. The way that minority women feel about their bodies can be described as a type of intersectional and internalized misogyny. In response to the value that society places on women's bodies, women have formed a movement called the "Body Positivity" movement. It is intersectional as it calls for personal worth, and establishing unique beauty- which can be applied to women of all races and cultures. This is implemented through a program called the Be Body Positive model, and through social worker's work with clients. It is important that social workers continue to work on feminist theory and women's issues with the body, as it is a social justice issue concerned with the Code of Ethics. Degree Type Degree Type Open Access Senior Honors Thesis Department Department Social Work First Advisor First Advisor Dr. Angie Mann-Williams Second Advisor Second Advisor Dr. Angie Mann-Williams Third Advisor Third Advisor Dr. Lynn Nybell Keywords Keywords Feminism, Intersectinality, Theory, History, Body-image, Body-positivity Subject Categories Subject Categories Social Work This open access senior honors thesis is available at [email protected]: https://commons.emich.edu/honors/ 613  FEMINISM AND CROSS CULTURAL BODY IMAGE IN THE UNITED STATES AN INTRODUCTION TO FEMINISM AND CROSS-CULTURAL BODY IMAGE IN THE UNITED STATES By Laura Darnell A Senior Thesis Submitted to the Eastern Michigan University Honors College in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for Graduation with Honors in Social Work Approved at Ypsilanti, Michigan, on this date /3 L7 £<!YI£ (I Dr. Angie ann-Williams (Supervising Instructor) Dr. Angi�nn-Williams (Honors Advisor)  FEMINISM AND CROSS CULTURAL BODY IMAGE IN THE UNITED STATES 2 Table of Contents Abstract. ........................................................................................................ 4 Introduction ..................................................................................................... 5 What is Feminism? ............................................................................................. 5 Waves of Feminism ............................................................................................ 6 First Wave Feminism and the Women's Suffrage Movement.. ............................... 6 Second Wave Feminism .............................................................................. 8 Third Wave Feminism .............................................................................. 10 Intersectional Feminism ..................................................................................... 12 Types of Feminism (Liberal, Radical, Cultural, and Womanist) ........................................... 13 Liberal and Radical Feminism ..................................................................... 13 Cultural Feminism and Womanism ............................................................... 15 What is Misogyny? ........................................................................................................................ 17 Intersectional Misogyny ..................................................................................... 19 A Woman's Worth .................................................................................. 19 The Male Gaze ....................................................................................... 20 Internalized Misogyny and Desire ................................................................. 23 The Portrayal of Women in the Media .................................................................... 24 African American Women and Body Image .............................................................. 26 Sociocultural Theory ................................................................................ 27 In Response to the Thin Ideal. ............................................................................. 28 The Body Positivity Movement. .................................................................. 29 Implementing Body Positivity- A Response Grounded in Feminism ................................. 30  FEMINISM AND CROSS CULTURAL BODY IMAGE IN THE UNITED ST A TES 3 The Body Positive Model. ......................................................................... 30 Body Positivity and Social Work Practice ................................................................ 32 The National Association of Social Workers Code of Ethics and Bodies .................... 32 Conclusion .................................................................................................... 34 References ..................................................................................................... 3 7  FEMINISM AND CROSS CULTURAL BODY IMAGE IN THE UNITED STATES 4 Abstract Feminism is a social movement that aims to end the oppression of women and to create opportunities for advancement of women. There are several types of feminism that have their own set of values and beliefs: liberal feminism, radical feminism, cultural feminism, and womanism. Central to these types of feminism is the call for sexism to cease and for women to have equal opportunity. Embedded within modem feminism is intersectionality, which is described as the effect of multiple oppressions that affect women. Misogyny, the hatred of women, affects the way that women feel about themselves. This is done through a process called internalized misogyny. While the value of women is set by outside forces, it is especially harsh on minority women. The way that minority women feel about their bodies can be described as a type of intersectional and internalized misogyny. In response to the value that society places on women's bodies, women have formed a movement called the "Body Positivity" movement. It is intersectional as it calls for personal worth, and establishing unique beauty- which can be applied to women of all races and cultures. This is implemented through a program called the Be Body Positive model, and through social worker's work with clients. It is important that social workers continue to work on feminist theory and women's issues with the body, as it is a social justice issue concerned with the Code of Ethics. Keywords: feminism, intersectionality, theo,y, history, body-image, body-positivity  FEMINISM AND CROSS CULTURAL BODY IMAGE IN THE UNITED STATES 5 Introduction Social workers promote social justice for oppressed groups through education and embracing theory and research. An important theory for social workers to embrace is Feminism. Feminism calls for an end of sexism and sexist ideation, and for the creation of equal opportunities for all genders. When taken a step further, intersectional feminism calls for feminists to also empower women from intersecting identities, such as race, religion, ability, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, citizenship, etc. Women in American culture are often exposed to an excessive amount of sexualization and misogyny in the media, and in their interactions with men. This leads to internalized misogyny of women who do not feel that they conform to a standard beauty type. For African American women, sexualization is rampant, and they face an under representation in all types of media. African American women are also at a risk of facing internalized misogyny. This is being combatted through the implication of the Body Positivity movement, an inherently intersectional feminist movement which aims to guide women empowerment and create spaces for all unique beauty. What is Feminism? Feminism is a social movement to "end sexism, sexist exploitation, and oppression," (hooks, pg. xii, 2015). Within that definition there are two words that are important to define: sexism and oppression. Oppression is a broad term that is best described when compared with the other side of the coin, privilege. Privilege is an invisible package of unearned assets that are used on a day-to-day basis, that those with privilege remain oblivious to (Macintosh, 1989). Those that are born with privileges are largely unaware of their access and use of their privilege, however, those that are born without these privileges can rarely forget that they do not have these privileges. It is a system that is often uncomfortable for those with privilege to acknowledge -------------------------------------------------------��  FEMINISM AND CROSS CULTURAL BODY IMAGE IN THE UNITED ST ATES 6 (Macintosh, 1989). However, it is necessary. In order to achieve true equality, those with privilege must identify their privilege and work to lessen it, so that there are lesser gaps between those who are privileged, and those who are oppressed. The other identification that must be made from bell hooks' definition of feminism is the word "sexism." Sexism is a system of male privilege and female oppression. However, it is important to understand that feminism is not anti-male, in its aim. Like with privilege and oppression, sexism is a system that is socialized and those who are not facing woman-oppression do not often recognize sexism in their surroundings. This system of sexism in a society is called a patriarchy (hooks, 2015). That being said, bell hooks, notes that the loss of power that comes within a sexist system is threatening to men. Men have benefits within a patriarchal system: access to higher pay, more chances to have their voice heard, the ability to command the respect of all. In order to maintain this power over women, men must dominate women; this is done through exploitation, oppression and sometimes violence. Most men do not want the job of being a patriarch, most men do not support violence against women. While that is true, men are afraid of what a world without the patriarchy looks like (hooks, 2015). It is comfortable to live within a system that supports your gender and allows you unearned assets. It is not comfortable to be a member of the same society that oppresses you because of the gender that you belong to. Waves of Feminism First Wave Feminism and the Women's Suffrage Movement With women's suffrage came the first wave of feminism in America. Women's suffrage is the ability to participate in politics by voting, either in municipalities, primaries, or presidential elections. Full women's suffrage allows for women participation in all elections (McCammon et. al, 2001). Wyoming, in 1869, became the first state to grant women's suffrage. By the time the  FEMINISM AND CROSS CULTURAL BODY IMAGE IN THE UNITED STATES 7 19th amendment was ratified in 1920, 15 states had granted women full suffrage, two southern states allowed women voting rights in primary elections, and 13 states gave women the right to vote for president (McCammon et. al, 2001 ). There are two theories as to why women's suffrage movements were more successful in some American areas than they were others. The two theories rest on political interest from the power-holders (white men), and the changing gender roles of women. During the 19th century, women were responsible for child rearing and domestic work, otherwise known as the private sphere of work. Men were able to work outside of the home and were represented in public spaces such as with politics and business (McCammon et. al, 200 I). With this gendered separation of private and public spheres, women's voices were limited and silenced with policies and laws that would affect them and their families. However, gender began to evolve with the tum of the century. Women were more represented in the public sphere in educational domains, working outside of the home, and began to develop professional identities. As women increasingly began to leave their homes to join the public sphere the notion of what it meant to be a woman began to change. No longer was it accepted as fact that women belonged in the home only. Instead it appeared that there was several acceptable ways to be a woman, and the rise of this new type of woman offered a gendered opportunity (McCammon et. al, 2001 ). As states and districts increasingly allowed for white women to vote in their elections, it set a type of example for other states that had not yet begun to allow for women suffrage. Elections that women had taken part in had ideal results and had proven women's competence (McCammon et. al, 2001). However, not all groups were accepting of women's increasing presence in the public sphere, as well as their rights to suffrage. Liberal ideation flourished in  FEMINISM AND CROSS CULTURAL BODY IMAGE IN THE UNITED ST ATES 8 communities that had less Irish and Italian inhabitants (McCammon et. al, 2001). During the time of women's suffrage, both Irish and Italian people were seen as less than other white immigrants from different countries, an example being English immigrants. Italian American and Irish American women faced two different types of oppression: cultural and gender oppression. Second Wave Feminism When a person is experiencing two or more types of oppression it is called intersectional oppression. lntersectional feminism, an important part of third wave feminism, was not a focus of second wave feminists. Just like the suffragettes, many of the second wave feminist theorists were white women. Some black feminist theorists began to develop the term "intersectionality ," in their work as they came to the realization that the current feminist movement was as inclusive to their needs as was necessary (Crenshaw, 1989). Second wave feminism, while flawed, was crucial to the upward mobility of all women in society. Betty Friedan authored a famous book called The Feminine Mystique, which has been credited with launching the second wave feminism movement. The Feminine Mystique, published in 1963, names women's traditional roles as housewives and mothers as "the problem with no name" (Friedan, Pg. 20, 1963.) The "problem with no name" refers to the emptiness women felt internally with their intrinsic roles as women; these roles were not inclusive of careers and personal economic stability. The goal of second wave feminism was to challenge the notion that women should not work outside of the home. Just like the suffragettes began to leave the "private sphere," in exchange for a voice inside of the "public sphere," second wave feminists wanted to expand their roles in the public domain. During the time of second wave feminism, what it meant to be part of the public or private sphere was noticeably different for varying demographics. Women started to get hired by General Motors in 1964; however, they only hired white women, and African  FEMINISM AND CROSS CULTURAL BODY IMAGE IN THE UNITED ST ATES 9 American women were not hirable by General Motors (Crewnshaw, 1989). In a court case that was brought against General Motors, for sex discrimination based hiring practice, the African American women found themselves being denied pursuit of the lawsuit. General Motor's claim was that they did not practice sex discrimination, as they were still hiring white women. There was no space for women's upward movement, career wise, for women who were also facing racial oppression (Crenshaw, 1989). There was no word for this practice until Kimberle Crenshaw coined the word, previously mentioned as intersectionality. lntersectional oppression is a powerful phrase and is powerfully and metaphorically described as a bird cage, by another famous feminist theorist, Marilyn Frye (1983): '"Cages. Consider a birdcage. If you look very closely at just one wire in the cage, you cannot see the other wires. If your conception of what is before you is determined by this myopic focus, you could look at that one wire, up and down the length of it, and be unable to see why a bird would not just fly around the wire any time it wanted to go somewhere. Furthermore, even if, one day at a time, you myopically inspected each wire, you still could not see why a bird would have trouble going past the wires to get anywhere. There is no physical property of any one wire, nothing that the closest scrutiny could discover, that will reveal how a bird could be inhibited or harmed by it except in the most accidental way. It is only when you step back, stop looking at the wires one by one, microscopically, and take a macroscopic view of the whole cage, that you can see why the bird does not go anywhere; and then you will see it in a moment. It will require no great subtlety of mental powers. It is perfectly obvious that the bird is surrounded by a network of systematically related barriers, no one of which would be the least hindrance  FEMINISM AND CROSS CULTURAL BODY IMAGE IN THE UNITED STATES 10 to its flight, but which, by their relations to each other, are as confining as the solid walls of a dungeon (p.2)." This quote is used repeatedly in gender and sexuality classes in college campuses in the United States. This is probably because it gives a symbol to a larger issue of multiple oppressions or what it feels like to be a person who is experiencing intersectional oppression. It can be argued that the bird is representative to a woman experiencing some sort of outward oppression, which would be something that the bird is trying to escape. The viewer of the cage, when expecting a single wire "cannot see the other wires," so as a result, cannot see how the bird is not able to get out of their cage of oppression. A woman, living inside of her own metaphorical cage may have a cage made of many wires that make up the multiple things that she is oppressed by: race, religion, ability, sexual orientation, gender expression, health, body-type, socioeconomic status, etc. These are things that are part of the woman's identity, and are not flexible or malleable, rather they are things that the woman lives with daily. Third Wave Feminism Intersectionality is a central piece to what comprises third wave feminism, or the type of feminism that is currently being practiced. The contribution of the motives of the new generation of young feminists, and the development of intersectional theory from African American feminists has helped to comprise aspects of the new third wave feminism (Mann & Huffman, 2005). Arguably, one of the largest difference between third wave feminism and second wave feminism is that there was a larger focus on expanding the scope of who would be effected by feminist ideology. The younger generation of feminists had the groundwork laid out for them from their second wave feminist "mothers," but the newer generation had also been able to  FEMINISM AND CROSS CULTURAL BODY IMAGE IN THE UNITED STATES 11 decide what they did found to be non-inclusive for all women from the second wave (Mann & Huffman, 2005). The focus of third wave Feminists includes intersectionality, media, the rejection of gender binaries, and the embrace of sex positivity. Young feminists are able to spread their ideologies through platforms that other waves did not have access to (Mann & Huffman, 2005): the internet has provided an explosion of access points for feminists through social media, online journals, biogs, etc. It is important to note the presence of feminism online, as it is an important tool to combatting misogyny and patriarchal ideals. As what it means to be a feminist evolves in our culture, it begins to become a product of the culture that we live in. Second wave feminists balk in horror at the behavior of young women in today's world (Glazer, 2006). Examples include a culture that encourages and promotes mainstream pornography, Girls Gone Wild videos, and clothing that is promiscuous in nature (Glazer, 2006). When compared to the stereotypical feminist image of a second wave feminist, the differences can be very striking. Second wave feminists tended to reject sexualizing their bodies and instead were known to bum their bras and quit shaving their legs. However, the argument for proudly showing off their female bodies is valid. Modem feminists argue that showing off their bodies in revealing clothing is the equivalent to the bra-burning feminists of the 1960's (Glazer, 2006). The increasingly important role femininity and sex has taken up in third wave feminism has been coined '"raunch culture," by the young women who take pride in showing off feminine figures (Glazer, 2006). There is a large focus on young women, of all shapes and sizes, to make themselves more desirable or more attractive. It is not a secret that in Western culture, white bodies and thinner body types are seen as more "beautiful" or more "ideal" (Thompson & Stice, 2001 ). What space  FEMINISM AND CROSS CULTURAL BODY IMAGE IN THE UNITED STATES 12 does this leave for young women who are not part of the narrow margin of what the "ideal" and "desirable" young woman looks like? Young feminists want to explore different definitions of beauty and want to empower each other, instead of repress features that are non-Eurocentric. An intersectional feminist, part of what defines modem feminism, looks at ways that minority women are oppressed. Intersectional Feminism The application of intersectional feminism falls under the conflict perspective of social work. Conflict perspective acknowledges oppression and inequality in social structures, whether the settings are economic, political, cultural, or other places of undistributed power. In conflict perspective, power is unequally divided and some social groups, or one social group, is dominant over the minority social group, or groups (Hutchison, 2011). The root of the struggle, or conflict, gives one group a sense of privilege. The privileged group is the group that is the majority in most cases. However, the privileged group would not have privileges, if it was not at the expense of the oppressed group. In other words, "social order is based on the manipulation and control of nondominant groups by dominant groups," (Hutchison, 2011). Intersectional feminism operates under the understanding that the conflict between power groups exists. Simone de Beauvoir, a classic feminist theorist, wrote about the idea of the "other." "Othering" when compared to the "self. says that the "self," or more privileged group, is dominant while the "other," or the more oppressed group is submissive ( de Beauvoir, 195 3 ). Simone de Beauvoir had intentions for this idea to be applied to women versus men; however, it can be applied in cases of race, religion, sexual orientation, age, transgenderism, ability, and etc. In the case of the research for this paper, it can be easily applied to body image in terms of race. The ideal body image in Western culture is thin and white, therefore, the "self' in this scenario  FEMINISM AND CROSS CULTURAL BODY IMAGE IN THE UNITED STATES 13 would be thin and white women. The "other" would be African American women of a fuller figure. The "self' of a thin white woman is privileged in a sense that she sees other woman like her represented as beautiful in the media, and the African American woman with a fuller shape rarely sees herself represented in mainstream media. When discussing intersectional feminism, it is helpful to come back to the above passage by Marilyn Frye where she discusses the birdcage. Instead of holding a woman in a standard birdcage, an intersectional feminist examines how it would feel to live life inside of a birdcage with many more wires, and hardly any light getting in. The new wires would represent things that pertain to racial oppression, religious oppression, sexual orientation oppression, or any other type of oppression, on top of the oppression of women. In other words, oppression does not exist on its own. Women do not exist in a world where their identities exist on their own, their identities cross over and form the human being that is facing biases and discrimination (Crenshaw, 1989). The world of a thin white woman, with an "ideal" body type, is far different than the world of a African American lesbian woman who does not conform to an "ideal" body type. However, both of these women experience a type of gender oppression. Types of Feminism: Liberal, Radical, Cultural, and Womanist Feminism Liberal Feminism and Radical Feminism Liberal feminism can classically be thought of what is "mainstream" feminism. The first liberal feminists were considered the suffragettes. The liberal feminist goal was to bring women into mainstream, or public sphere, as discussed briefly before (Echols, 1989). The objectives of liberal feminism were to embrace both arguments of "sameness" and "difference," an example of this occurring during the women's suffrage movement. Suffragettes, the first liberal feminists, argued that they were deserving of equal rights to men because they were on the same level as