For my final project I wanted to talk about body image of women in media and relate it to mental health. Mental health has always been something very important to me because I have had people in my life who are schizophrenic, depressed, have taken their own lives, or have anxiety which would make you think mental health is a big topic of discussion in my life but it is actually the opposite. Mental health is a feared topic that people try to avoid talking about because it is difficult to bring up and to be in such a vulnerable state, that is why I wanted to bring the conversation to the people in my life, specifically the women and I hope that this motivates others to have this difficult conversation too.
During the course when we were discussing body image of women in media and the male gaze I would think about the mental toll these would take on women; the idea of always thinking about what others see when they look at you and trying to always be ‘perfect’ is draining. These thoughts can really damage someones self esteem and confidence, especially teens and young adults who are trying to figure out where they ‘fit in’ or ‘belong’ in this world.
For my project I wanted to talk to some important women in my life, who wouldn't necessarily have this conversation normally. I wanted to compare the different feelings and outlooks towards women, media and mental health from the past to now; I talked with two generations of women in my family, my aunts and my female cousins. We talked about the different types of media throughout the generations, what women are seen in media, and what the conversation around mental health is. An important topic for us to talk about was anxiety because my aunt and my sister both have it and I wanted to hear their experiences with it. To capture everything that was talked about with my family I made a zine, since this topic is very difficult for people to talk and read about I wanted it to be an easy read; this zine is the start of the conversations that need to be more common, so I hope people take these questions or some things that my family said and use it to start a conversation with their own families.
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.
-Gender and women's mental health. (2013, June 24). Retrieved from https://www.who.int/mental_health/prevention/genderwomen/en/
-Hooks, B. (2004). Understanding Patriarchy. In The Will to Change: Men, Masculinity, and Love.
-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.
-Malleret, T. (2016, November 8). Epidemic of Mental Health Problems for Young Women: Is Social Media to Blame? Retrieved from https://globalwellnessinstitute.org/global-wellness-institute-blog/2016/11/08/2016-11-8-epidemic-of-mental-health-problems-for-young-women-is-social-media-to-blame/
-Women's Mental Health Facts. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://weareagenda.org/womens-mental-health-key-facts/
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