Visual Analysis of a Photo

Recently, there was a photo essay competition known as Girl Culture. One photographer took multiple pictures, which they believed to represent “girl culture.” As I was scrolling through all of these pictures, there was one specific picture that caught my eye. In the picture, the focus is directed to two young girls who appear to be about twelve or thirteen years old. The first girl is wearing a leotard and has her hair tied back. There are two arms that hold a measuring tape around her breasts and she is looking down observing the herself being measured. Her face shows distress and a little bit of worry. The other girl standing next to her is wearing a bra and underwear with her hair tied back as well. She has a hand placed on her hip and the other is holding a sheet of paper that has numbers scribbled all over it. Her focus is on the other girl being measured, her expression is very observant and it is clear that she is used to this process.

            My first observation was that the girls were being measured which then directed me to notice that they weren’t stick straight or very skinny. After I noticed all of these things, I read the caption, which states, “Danielle gets measured as Michelle waits for the final weigh-in on their last day of weight-loss camp, Catskills, New York.” This caption allowed all of the pieces of information about the picture floating around my head fit together like a puzzle piece.

This picture is showing the struggles young girls have with weight and body image in the U.S. In society today, the general “desired” look in a female is one who has a stick straight body while also having faultless curves, being large breasts and a large butt. These expectations are very unrealistic and almost impossible to achieve. Yet, this idea of the “perfect woman” still occupies almost every girls mind can in turn control the way they act. This has become a large issue due to many girls having issues with obesity, eating disorders, and body image due to these expectations. In the photo, the photographer is showing a specific example of how this desire to be “beautiful” can be taken to an extreme. Because the expectations are so high for the physical aspects of a woman’s body, young girls are attending “weight loss camps” to try and achieve these goals.

It is very sad to see young girls unhappy with their bodies because of the way society depicts the perfect woman. It is easy to compare yourself to others today because we have magazines where photo shoots are edited to an extreme amount. Most movie stars or singers have great bodies, which portray a flawless hourglass shape. There are even Carl’s Jr. commercials, which show the idea of an unrealistic woman’s body figure. Not everyone can have those types of figures but almost every woman wants to look like this. This ambition is due to the fact that people in society truly believe that specific body type is what is appealing and pleasing to others and people of the opposite sex. This photograph’s purpose was to show that everyone has a different body type and that the idea of the perfect woman today is very unrealistic which in turn is negatively affecting young women today.

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