"Queer Studies"

I found this collection of articles particularly fascinating, especially the first two "Beauty Mandates" by Myers, Taub, Morris and Rothblum and "Resistance and Reinsciption" by Auerbach and Bradley, as both these two articles had a more specific focus on Lesbian women and their relationship with body image and body ideals.

In the first article, research is presented to us stating that young girls despite what sexual orientation they embrace as adults, are all socialized and condition the same way as children, which is to be very aware of their bodies, and very critical of their outer beauty as they are being told that it is their outer beauty that determines there worth as people. And with this research the assertion is made that despite whether a woman is gay or straight these values and ideals are SO culturally ingrained within women, that they are hard to shake off.

The article ponders whether Lesbian women who come out of the closet are actually freed and liberated from the chains of beauty ideals.

Through a series of interviews, we see that while some women did in fact feel empowered to come out as lesbians and abadon traditional "feminine" ways of dressing, even for lesbians and within the Lesbian community, there are a strict set of norms and standards that lesbians have to abide by.

I would even argue that it is twice as hard for gay women (or men) because they feel the pressure from two cultures, gay culture and straight culture. It is as if if they fit into one, they are accused by the other as not embracing their homosexuality, and if they fit into the homosexual culture, there are still norms and standards to abide by, SO they are still conforming and succumbing, they are not really "free."

On page 18, research is cited by Brand, Rothum and Solomon that I found particularly interesting as they make a link and association between attracting men and thinness. "...heterosexual women and gay men-both groups of people concerned with attracting men-reported lower body weights and more weight preoccupation that heterosexual men and lesbians-groups not concerned with attracting men." (Beauty Mandates, p. 18-19)

The pressure to be thin then, may not be gendered, but could it in fact be linked to your sexual preference? And I wonder, does it go back to very traditional stereotypical roles of partners in which the dominant one, typically the male, is bigger and the submissive one, (typically the women) is small? Thus, in finding a partner, gay men and women, since they are seeking men, and men are the dominant members of our society, we feel we have to be smaller... more invisible.. literally take up less space and room?

Also on page 21, something is brought up that I would like to question. They are making assertions about the history of lesbianism and how women were dressing in the 20's all the way though the 90's. They make a statement on page 21 about how younger lesbians felt it was harder to fit in while older lesbians said that it was easier and linked this with an explanation to the decades in which the two generations were living. I argue however, that this is an age issue. I believe that with the more life experience you have, the older you become, the more self aware and self confident you are, thus I link these young girls insecurities with their age, not with the generation and time in which they are living. I can not imagine being a Lesbian was easier in the 50's than it is now, and thus link this comfort level with age and self confidence.

Also on page 20, I think it is important to discuss the standards lesbians set within their own Lesbian communities about the acceptable ways to dress and appear. The "Butch/femme" code seemed to cause misfits and unacceptable for women even within Lesbian communities. They even had a term "kiki" (unfavorable) for women they could not identify as butch or femme, indicating that just as in straight culture, people do not accept and are wary of that which they can not immediately label and understand, and that goes for both straight and gay culture.

Another problem within the lebsian community, is for more feminine lesbians, or a popular term now is lipstick Lesbian, they are made fun of and ostracize by more butch lesbians who say they are trying to come off as straight. It is as though the butch lesbians who undeniably get called "dyke" more often and are treated more poorly because their sexual orientation is more obvious, are angered by the feminine lesbians who avoid the suffering they do by appearing more feminine. "Femmes are not accepted because they're treated as if they are trying to pass as straight. Femme lesbians may become invisible in Lesbian culture." (Mandates, p. 23)

In the second article through a series of ten interviews of Lesbian or bisexual women of carrying age and color, I found it fascinating to read the different ways in which coming out helped empower and heal women. The one woman who talks about her huge breasts that she felt she needed to hide with ugly bras, and then celebrated when her girlfriend took her shopping for lacy bras was of particular heartwarming interest to me. I felt as though sometimes as a straight feminist, I look at a lacy bra and think really what is the point of this article, a bra should just be a bra, a garmet used to support and hold your breasts in place, however, i realized for this Lesbian who had been told by society, sports teams and her mother that her breasts were something to be ashamed of and hidden, this lacy girly feminine article of clothing was liberating and a fantastic symbol of loving your body and rejecting body images, demands and ideals.

These articles, especially with the honesty of the women who describe their insecurities and how coming out helped them deal with body image only showed me how personal body image is for every woman, and how every woman will choose to deal with her personal insecurity or issue in its own way. Just as it is impossible for their to be one beauty standard demanded of us by mainstream pop-culture, it is impossible for their to be only one "non-standard". Each women is going to have to embrace her body and the way she chooses to celebrate it on her own terms.