Reference no: EM133290415
Assignment:
Essay
Answer any ONE (1) of the following questions using assigned readings, documentaries, & lecture materials. Support your opinions with academic evidence from course materials.
Topic 1. When we say something is normal it implies a category that "cannot be challenged or changed. It is assumed to be inevitable." Instead, we know that concepts of normality must be unpacked to explore a more complex discourse. Whether classifying homosexuality as a crime/disease by sexologists, the diagnosis of Nymphomania, or reading into the shape of physical features, use lecture materials and assigned readings like Drescher's "Depathologizing Homosexuality" and Liebelt's, "Reshaping Turkish Breasts and Noses" to answer how Society plays an important role in shaping our ideas of "normal" versus "abnormal", especially in terms of sexuality or self-expression.
Topic 2. Happiness for many is now defined in terms of the power people have to transform themselves. The belief that a surgeon can cure unhappiness is an important justification for aesthetic surgery. Using lecture materials, Liebelt's, "Reshaping Turkish Breasts and Noses" and Davis's "A Dubious Equality" as well as documentaries "Western Eyes" and "America the Beautiful," explain how the Inferiority Complex, the theory of "Passing", and the Beauty Myth intersect. How do "nips & tucks" have the potential to "democratize" beauty? Be sure to define all terms.
Topic 3. How can we explain modern society's preoccupation with slenderness, now over a century old? Why is it of particular concern to girls? How do consumerism and body size relate to one another? How have ideal body shapes changed over time? What are some background causes of anorexia? Using lecture materials like "Supersize Me," "America the Beautiful," Liebelt's, "Reshaping Turkish Breasts and Noses" and Bordo's article "Not Just a White Girl's Thing," answer the questions above. Be sure to consider the phenomena of fasting girls and the classification of anorexia nervosa as a disease.