Defining Women

It finally worked. Here are the quotes that are supposed to be read in conjunction with the pictures. I wish this would have worked in class.

“For women…bras, panties, bathing suits, and other stereotypical gear are visual reminders of commercial, idealized feminine images that our real and diverse female bodies can’t possibly fit. Without these visual references, each individual woman’s body demands to be accepted on its own terms. We stop being comparatives. We begin to be unique.”
-Gloria Steinem
“Curve: The loveliest distance between two points.”
-Mae West
“One is not born a woman, one becomes one.”
-Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex
“I see my body as an instrument, rather than an ornament.”
-Alanis Morissette
“The basic Female body comes with the following accessories: garter belt, panti-girdle, crinoline, camisole, bustle, brassiere, stomacher, chemise, virgin zone, spike heels, nose ring, veil, kid gloves, fishnet stockings, fichu, bandeau, Merry Widow, weepers, chokers, barrettes, bangles, beads, lorgnette, feather boa, basic black, compact, Lycra stretch one-piece with modesty panel, designer peignoir, flannel nightie, lace teddy, bed, head.”
-Margaret Atwood
“Taught from infancy that beauty is woman’s scepter, the mind shapes itself to the body, and roaming round its gilt cage, only seeks to adorn its prison.”
-Mary Wollstonecraft
“The emotional, sexual, and psychological stereotyping of females begins when the doctor says ‘It’s a girl.’”
-Shirley Chisholm