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t h e u n i v e r s i t y o f t e x a s at e l pa s o
February 25, 2014
Campus Life
Photo by michaela roman / The prospector
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Media’s ‘ideal beauty’ takes a more natural turn By Helen Yip The Prospector An “ideal beauty” lives on magazine racks and television screens at all hours of the day. She is thin and built with clear skin, free of wrinkles or scars. She has perfect hair, big lips, a long neck and eyelashes. She has the right-sized bust, with a flat stomach, thin arms and long legs—but she isn’t real. Technology allows us to completely distort images to correct flaws in skin, color, size and weight, which many have said has lead to a false societal idea of beauty. But some think this retouched beauty may change as media images head into a more natural direction. Ruth McDonald, lecturer in the Women Studies Program, teaches Introduction to Women’s Studies and Gender and Pop Culture courses. McDonald said
the view of women from media such as advertising, television and movies has a pronounced presence in today’s culture: a flawless image in media. “There’s some change, but there is still a dominant paradigm of expectations of females who are in professions of acting, modeling or fashion,” McDonald said. “We are seeing some changes—there has been some push back by society.” McDonald also said there is more awareness to the false perfection seen in magazines, where photos have been retouched, but she said she would not call going natural a major trend in advertising. “Major stories in media are when an actress has a baby,” she said. “The headlines focus on how fast she can slim down again.”
American Apparel is breaking the perfection mold. The 16-year-old clothing company has been involved in changing the norms. In 2012, Jackie O’Shaughnessy, then 60-years-old, appeared in an ad on Facebook wearing nothing but her skivvies. The ad read, “Sexy Has No Expiration Date.” American Apparel also recently set up a display case in New York, featuring mannequins with pubic hair modeling lingerie. District Visual Manager Dee Myles said in an interview with the New York Observer, “It’s important to have instances spark up curiosity and conversation about what we deem beautiful and sexy.” Some in Hollywood are also pushing for a more natural approach to beauty such as Shailene Woodley, a 23-year-old actress appearing in a
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It’s important to have instances spark up curiosity and conversation about what we deem beatiful and sexy. - Dee Myles, District Visual Manager for American Apparel
‘Self-governance’ —the method of tobacco-free enforcement By Maria Esquinca and Amanda Guillen The Prospector Maintaining a tobacco-free campus may prove difficult to enforce as some students are choosing not to follow the “self-governing” method officials have proclaimed. UTEP’s Environmental Health and Safety Department enacted the tobacco ban on Feb. 20. The change in policy has been published under the UTEP Handbook of Operating Procedures under Environmental Health and Safety. The handbook contains the university’s official policies and procedures. Despite stating a clear change in policy under the handbook, “the use of tobacco products is prohibited at all times on University Property,” the enforcement of the policy is not as clear. The ban places responsibility of enforcement upon the UTEP community. The official press release for the ban stated, “much can be accomplished through respectful and polite reminders to members and guests of the University that we are a tobaccofree campus.” Senior psychology major Mike Rodriguez feels the enforcement policy is weak. “I don’t think this is my responsibility to tell people to stop smoking on campus,” he said. “Who am I to tell them not to do it? We are all adults here. You should be able to regulate your own behaviors.” According to Robert Moss, assistant vice president of the Environmental Health and Safety Department, the enforcement of the policy relies on an “honors system” and on the community to report offenders. “We’re not going to have police officers running around giving tickets,” he said. This doesn’t mean stricter forms of enforcement could not be applied after repeated offenses. “Initially people will be encouraged to comply, we hope that it won’t be too cumbersome,” Moss said. “If there are repeated offenses, that student could end up before the student dean.” Under HOOPS, disciplinary actions for UTEP staff employees could include demotion, suspension without pay or dismissal. However, according to Roger Brown, assistant vice president of Human Resources, the department in charge of disciplinary action for staff employees, the self-governance will also apply to them. If a staff member were to continue smoking on campus despite polite reminders, the employee could be reported and “human resources would have a conversation with that person,” Brown said.
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