CHALLENGING OBJECTIFICATION THROUGH ALTERNATIVE BEAUTY CONCEPTS IN THE FILM I FEEL PRETTY (2018)
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.22219/celtic.v10i1.27028Abstract
Beauty ideals that primarily focus on physical attributes play the role of a cultural milieu in which women are vulnerable to objectification. Such a cultural force gives rise to the importance of investigations on literature, such as films, as a cultural product as well as a cultural shaper in which women are portrayed and represented through their narrative, characters, and more. This study is a qualitative descriptive study on the film I Feel Pretty that applies the feminist theory of objectification. It aims to explore the portrayal of Renee Bennett, the main character, in dealing with objectifying beauty ideals and how such phenomena are challenged in the film. The results found that Renee Bennett experiences objectification by others, self-objectification, and objectifying others under the context of appearance-focused beauty concepts. However, the film challenges such objectifying beauty concepts by introducing alternatives that focus on internal qualities or non-physical attributes, such as self-confidence, intelligence, and health. Thus, the film is a critique towards the existing beauty ideals that glamorize the physique, and it encourages a shift of focus from external to internal qualities that support women’s mobility and well-being.
Downloads
References
Appu, A. V., & Lukose, M. V. (2022). Objectified Body Consciousness and Social Interaction Anxiety: Self Confidence as a Moderator. Indian Journal of Health Studies, 4, 07-21. https://doi.org/ 10.56490/ijhs.2022.4101
Alleva, J. M., Martijn, C., Van Breukelen, G. J., Jansen, A., & Karos, K. (2015). Expand your horizon: A programme that improves body image and reduces self-objectification by training women to focus on body functionality. Body Image, 15, 81–89. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bodyim.2015.07.001
Al-Mutawa, N., Schuilenberg, S.-J., Justine, R., & Kulsoom Taher, S. (2019). Modesty, objectification, and disordered eating patterns: A comparative study between veiled and unveiled muslim women residing in Kuwait. Medical Principles and Practice, 28(1), 41–47. https://doi.org/10.1159/000495567
Baby, B. M., Eldho, D., & Balakrishnan, K. (2021). Growing body dissatisfaction among woman: A study of the movie “i feel pretty.” Journal of Xi’an Shiyou University, Natural Science Edition, 17(6). https://www.xisdxjxsu.asia/V17I6-23.pdf
Chaerani, A. R., & Junaidi, J. (2019). Does diet start tomorrow? A discourse analysis of self-deprecating humor against diet culture in Diet Starts Tomorrow. Celtic : A Journal of Culture, English Language Teaching, Literature and Linguistics, 6(2), Article 2. https://doi.org/10.22219/celtic.v6i2.9940
Creswell, J. W., & Creswell, J. D. (2017). Chapter 1: The selection of a research approach. In Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods Approaches (pp. 40–61). SAGE Publications, Inc.
Deshmukh, A. S., & Mane, M. N. (2016). Never free is woman’s life: A study of objectification of women in Poile Sengupta’s ‘Mangalam.’ The South Asian Academic Research Chronicle, 3(13).
Ervina, V. (2019). Kekerasan simbolik terhadap perempuan dalam film i feel pretty [Universitas Bakrie]. http://repository.bakrie.ac.id/id/eprint/3053
Fardouly, J., Diedrichs, P., Vartanian, L., & Halliwell, E. (2015). The mediating role of appearance comparisons in the relationship between media usage and self-objectification in young women. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 39, 447–457. https://doi.org/10.1177/0361684315581841
Farlina, N. (2016). Representasi kekerasan simbolik terhadap perempuan Betawi dalam novel kronik Betawi karya Ratih Kumala. DIALEKTIKA: Jurnal Bahasa, Sastra Dan Pendidikan Bahasa Dan Sastra Indonesia, 3(1). https://doi.org/10.15408/dialektika.v3i1.4181
Fortuna, L. D. (2022). Analisis resepsi khalayak terhadap makna body positivity dalam film I Feel Pretty (Studi resepsi pada mahasiswi Universitas Muhammadiyah Malang) [Universitas Muhammadiyah Malang]. http://eprints.umm.ac.id/id/eprint/86792
Fredrickson, B. L., & Roberts, T.-A. (1997). Objectification theory: Toward understanding women’s lived experiences and mental health risks. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 21(2), 173–206. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1471-6402.1997.tb00108.x
Gayathri, A. R., Balachandran, D., & Muraleedharan, K. S. (2018). Objectification of african american women in the bluest eye. International Journal of Pure and Applied Mathematics, 119(12), 10.
Ginting, S., Sunarto, S., & Rahmiaji, L. R. (2022). Representasi standardisasi kecantikan wanita dalam film “i feel pretty (2018).” Interaksi Online, 10(2), 91–101.
Holland, E., & Haslam, N. (2013). Worth the weight: The objectification of overweight versus thin targets. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 37, 462–468. https://doi.org/10.1177/0361684312474800
Kaur, M. S. (2019). Exploration of male gaze, voyeurism and sexual objectification of woman in kamala by vijay tendulkar and lights out by manjulapadmanabhan. Literature and Literary Theory, 8(2), 106–116.
Kellie, D.J., Blake, K.R., & Brooks, R.C. (2019). What drives female objectification? An investigation of appearance-based interpersonal perceptions and the objectification of women. PLoS ONE, 14. https://doi.org/ 10.1371/journal.pone.0221388
Kohn, A., & Silverstein, M. (Directors). (2018). I feel pretty. STX Entertainment.
Loughnan, S., Baldissarri, C., Spaccatini, F., & Elder, L. (2017). Internalizing objectification: Objectified individuals see themselves as less warm, competent, moral, and human. British Journal of Social Psychology, 56(2), 217-232. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjso.12188
Lusianti, A. (2021). Analyzing the Flouted Maxims Done by the Main Character in I Feel Pretty Movie [Universitas Jember]. http://repository.unej.ac.id/xmlui/handle/123456789/107997
Mae, J. (2020). Penggambaran tubuh perempuan dalam film i feel pretty [Universitas Pelita Harapan]. http://repository.uph.edu/id/eprint/6096
Maharani, P. (2020). The analysis of educational value in “i feel pretty” movie by abby kohn and marc silverstein [Universitas Muhammadiyah Palembang]. http://repository.um-palembang.ac.id/id/eprint/11083/
May, M. (2020). I feel pretty and unseen: A rhetorical analysis of weight bias in film reviews. Virginias Collegiate Honors Council 2020 Conference. https://digitalcommons.odu.edu/vchc-conference/2020/flashtalks/8/
Monks, H., Costello, L., Dare, J., & Boyd, E. R. (2020). “We’re continually comparing ourselves to something”: Navigating body image, media, and social media ideals at the nexus of appearance, health, and wellness. Sex Roles. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-020-01162-w
Morris, K. L., Goldenberg, J., & Boyd, P. (2018). Women as animals, women as objects: Evidence for two forms of objectification. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 44(9), 1302–1314. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167218765739
Munawar, I. (2021). An analysis of moral message on kohn’s i feel pretty movie [Universitas Pasundan]. http://repository.unpas.ac.id/id/eprint/53307
Novitasari, N. F., & Hia, N. I. A. (2021). Cyberbullying in movie cyberbully: An analysis from the pyschological perspective. Celtic : A Journal of Culture, English Language Teaching, Literature and Linguistics, 8(1), Article 1. https://doi.org/10.22219/celtic.v8i1.16393
O’Hara, S. E., Cox, A. E., & Amorose, A. J. (2014). Emphasizing appearance versus health outcomes in exercise: The influence of the instructor and participants’ reasons for exercise. Body Image, 11(2), 109–118. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bodyim.2013.12.004
Papadaki, E. (2019). Feminist perspectives on objectification. In The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/sum2018/entries/feminism-objectification/
Permatasari, F. X. N. N. E. P. I. (2015). Objectification of women as seen through anastasia steel in fifty shades of grey by E.L James. Sanata Dharma University. http://repository.usd.ac.id/id/eprint/3805
Petrie, D. W., & Boggs, J. M. (2018). The art of watching films (9th ed.). McGraw-Hill Education.
Prażmo, E.M. (2022). In dialogue with non-humans or how women are silenced in incels’ discourse. Language and Dialogue. https://doi.org/ 10.1075/ld.00119.pra
Setyaningrum, R. W. (2020). Ihab Hassan postmodernism’s indeterminacy and irony: Laura Brown’s inner conflict in The Hours. Celtic : A Journal of Culture, English Language Teaching, Literature and Linguistics, 7(2), Article 2. https://doi.org/10.22219/celtic.v7i2.14116
Smelik, A. (2016). Feminist film theory. In A. Wong, M. Wickramasinghe, R. Hoogland, & N. A. Naples (Eds.), The Wiley Blackwell Encyclopedia of Gender and Sexuality Studies (pp. 1–5). John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118663219.wbegss148
Thangavelu, A. P. (2020). Film as a reflection of society: Reception of social drama in Tamil cinema. In Handbook of Research on Social and Cultural Dynamics in Indian Cinema (pp. 185–196). IGI Global.
Wolf, N. (2013). The beauty myth: How images of beauty are used against women. Random House.
Zahara, D. M. (2023a). Coping with objectification: Female English literature students’ physical identity development as emerging adults. IJELR: International Journal of Education, Language, and Religion, 5(1), 32–50. https://doi.org/10.35308/ijelr.v5i1.6058
Zahara, D. M. (2023b). The objectification of the covered: Understanding Muslim female students’ passivity in physical activities. Muslim Education Review, 2(1), 5–26. https://doi.org/10.56529/mer.v2i1.160
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2023 Difa Mahya Zahara, Nina Farlina
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
- Authors retain copyright to publish without restrictions and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work.