America's Next Top Model (ANTM) Dive Deeper by Grace

As we have learned, our society is not fluid when it comes to gender. As a matter of fact, being male or female is the only gender norm of our society. As a result, our behavior is dictated according to those gender norms because there are no variations (i.e. we act according to what society claims is appropriate for our gender). Majority of these norms are communicated through the media, whose influence can be great enough to promote certain behaviors and attitudes in an individual. Individuals have become gendered and biased in their actions especially when they communicate with one another. These results in moral issues being integrated with the gender norms. In other word, when a person steps out of what is gender appropriate for them, it becomes a moral issue. An example of this is seen in America’s next top model episode “dive deeper”. In the episode, the models are taken to the beach to learn how to strike poses that were “sexy but not over the top”. Their teacher, Marissa Miller, Victoria Secret model shows them how to strike poses which she thought were sexy. To me, the poses were just so gendered because they were based on what she thought that men found to be sexy. According to her, men and women can look at the same picture and see completely different things because of the way society makes it. She told the models that they had to be aware of who their audience is and that if their pictures were for male audience, they should pose straight on so that the men can see the full picture, which should show all their curves. However, if the pictures were for female audience, the models should just show a little curve apparently, when a female looks at the picture of another female, they should not be paying attention to her body but a male can do that. This supports Crawford’s idea that gender is not fluid and that society dictates gender roles. Miller further taught the girls that being sexy was also being tall. Miller indicated that she was only 5ft 8in and that to make herself look taller, she poses almost standing on her toe which she calls “Barbie toes”. I tried the pose and it was very much uncomfortable and painful. Why would anyone want to go through such pain just so that they could look taller and sexy to appease the male audience? To me, the idea of the Barbie toe is another construct that society has slowly but surely appropriated for the female gender; the Barbie doll, which is appropriated for the female gender is now being used as a standard for what sexy should be for females. I guess this is to say that if you are not tall and you strike poses for your pictures without doing the Barbie toes, you are not sexy. At the end of the episode, the girls who followed miller’s specific orders about being sexy were saved from elimination. Again, this goes to show that if one follows societal norms, one would be just fine. Those are the things that our society communicates as gender norms through the media. As long as nothing is being done to change these norms, they will remain the norms for many generations to come.