For my final project I wanted to do something that I feel passionately about which is mental health. I have always felt that mental health is the most important aspect in someones life yet it is a topic that is just now starting to become a common conversation, before it was something that no one talked about. There has always been mental health issues but I feel like now more than ever it is increasing at alarming rates and in my opinion I believe media plays a major role in that increase. Media has created so much more pressure on people, especially young girls to be skinny, flawless, successful, and independent but not too confident, powerful and outspoken because then you're just ‘attention seeking’. All of this pressure that women and girls are experiencing is very damaging and needs to be talked about.
For this project I am going to interview some important women in my life from two different generations, one group will be my mom and aunts and the other group will be my friends and cousins around my age. I am going to get their opinion and own experiences with mental health and body image problems. This is a topic that is not discussed in my family or friend groups, I feel like we never get deep and serious about our feelings we always just joke around and make light of serious situations, so specifically for my family and friends I think it will be interesting to get them to open up. I know there are many other families and friend groups just like mine and maybe this will help other groups to try and open up and be honest about their feelings, which is probably one of the hardest things to do, well at least in my opinion. I am going to make a zine with each persons experiences and stories, hopefully people will be able to read it and relate to some of the things they are reading because in my opinion I have always thought it is comforting to know you are not alone and being able to relate to someone justifies your feelings that you might not have been able to put into words that you were feeling.
My goal with this project is to make something that is very important but often a looked over topic of discussion. The more the uncomfortable topics are talked about the more comfortable we make talking about them. These are feelings that people usually keep to themselves because a lot of people (including me) might not want to put a burden onto others.
Sources:
Denmark F, Paludi MA. Psychology of Women: Handbook of Issues and Theories. Chapter 14. Westport, Conn: Praeger; 2008.
Fredrickson BL, Roberts T-A. Objectification Theory: Toward Understanding Womens Lived Experiences and Mental Health Risks. Psychology of Women Quarterly. 1997;21(2):173-206. doi:10.1111/j.1471-6402.1997.tb00108.x.
Kawachi I. Social Ties and Mental Health. Journal of Urban Health: Bulletin of the New York Academy of Medicine. 2001;78(3):458-467. doi:10.1093/jurban/78.3.458.
I really appreciate this topic idea because as you said, although the topic of mental health is talked about more in recent years, it is still something that people feel uncomfortable sharing and asking about. One thing in particular that I often wonder about is whether people from older generations experienced the same quantity and levels of mental health that I feel people experience today, or if perhaps there has been an increase in pressure from the media and other sources that has increased such levels. I also wonder if such dark humor that is common today that especially young people take part in (Like "Can't wait to die" jokes) were a thing for older generations, and if not, what are their reactions of it. Those are just some of my ideas of particular things you maybe could ask about. I'm excited to see how this turns out!
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