My collage addresses what I feel is one of the biggest personal problems of today; low self esteem caused by the idealistic views of body image. I chose this topic because I have seen and have felt the pain that these ideals have inflicted.
Today there is most definitely a set image of beauty. No matter where you turn you are constantly seeing or being told that “this look” and “that body” is what you need to be beautiful. For a long time I have watched girls struggle. Some of those beautiful people I know feel that they do not meet our societies standards of beauty, and wish that they looked more like the girls on the cover of Seventeen. I am sad to say that I have also caught myself in these oppressing states. As I have gotten older I have realized, and most gratefully been awakened to the fact that beauty is in everyone.
In my collage I have pictures of many types of women, all beautiful and ll different. I have pictures of women through the ages and women of all different nationalities. I chose a self-portrait of Frida Kahlo as the centerpiece for my collage. To me her portrait symbolizes the struggle we endure within ourselves. The struggle of facing ourselves and accepting who we are.
I believe that until you truly realize that no one is perfect and that beauty comes in all shapes and sizes, can you take off your mask and be free to be who you are. “The fairest of all creatures did she seem” we are all beautiful so don’t let modern America oppress you.