Lovely descriptive response to the experience of ingesting Sexton's poems

This is the kind of associative, close reading that I hope poetry can let us all express. Enjoy!

Women's Body Image Based More On Others' Opinions Than Their Own Weight

Women's Body Image Based More On Others' Opinions Than Their Own Weight

yet another black swan article

...this one regarding recent doubt about how much of Natalie Portman's dancing was actually her own performance.

http://www.salon.com/entertainment/movies/feature/2011/03/28/natalie_portman_sarah_lane_black_swan/index.html

The piece asks, appropriately, "why do we care?" I think this is especially fascinating in conjunction with some of the other theories that we have posted and discussed- part of what makes Black Swan "appealing" is the tremendous suffering that Natalie Portman very publicly went through. Why is it assumed that/do we lose respect for her in proportion with presumed pain?

P.S. Love the ballet dancer quoted in this article, basically saying she still respects her because either way she lost "a lot of weight." Yep, there's healthy praise.

Youtube links featuring Naomi Klein and the Beauty Myth

Because of today's technology-fail in class, I am posting here, for those interested, the links I wanted to show in class:
1) Interview addressing  how Naomi Wolf looks and presents herself (5 minutes):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kjKx_p5KwEk&feature=related

I am specifically interested in her rebuttal that her book doesn’t argue that looks don’t matter, it argues that women shouldn’t be coerced. I am skeptical about how much agency one has in resisting this "pressure", given the high social costs (ie: becoming an "Iron Maiden" if one resists).

2)  Naomi Wolf's appearance on The Ali G Show (3 minutes):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dyLSstqMvH8&feature=related

How does this "mockumentary" satire illustrate the problems with her argument and her position as a feminist?

3) Lastly, the clip from her DVD The Beauty Myth

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UJh8GEU2qik
(especially 15 seconds in and around minute 2). Is her message getting to those who need to hear and engage with it?

Aimee Mullins and her 12 Pairs of Legs

This is random, yet inspiring. This is about a woman who wears her many prosthetic legs as she models for countless cover shoots - and redefines what is a disability, and what is beautiful.

http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/aimee_mullins_prosthetic_aesthetics.html

Bias on looks exist regardless

"'It's about becoming what I want to become. Not what some surgical committee thinks I should.'" -p93

Shay implies that she cannot be herself if her looks are determined by someone else but aren't her looks already determined by some greater force? At first glance it seems she is being noble in denying the surgery but, in fact, she is part of a bigotry towards the pretties, just as they harbor bias against the uglies. Is it possible for there to exist a state where looks are not a category of judgment?

The Number Phi - The Perfect Body Ratio

Hi Everyone,

Dr. Gillespie was mentioning the "Golden Ratio" in class - I looked it up, and it is called Phi and can be found in art, nature, architecture, etc. This ratio is constantly found in the human body, and applies to the "ideal human form" - I posted a link to a YouTube video that introduces the number, how it is derived mathematically (it's actually quite simple) and also shows just how frequent it is found in our own body - it pretty much creates our body! - all the way down to DNA! I think it's really cool, and may apply to the beauty standard discussed in "Fair Enough" :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PNQk_GJuZQo