For This New Brief...

I am looking into different aspects in which women are pressured by society, forced into situations that might not be in their best interests. So I researched areas that I felt were areas that I myself have been pressured by society's views so that I would have a good frame of reference.

SKINNY/PRETTY
There is a pressure on women to skinny with toned stomachs and perfect skin so I thought of ways that I could create a piece based on this.

Ways women try to conceal themselves to look how they are told they must.
Photoshop
Make up
Plastic surgery
eating disorders/unhealthy fad diets
How are these things advertised to make us feel pressured?

This all leads to self confidence issues/self-loathing and depression.

Importance of make up to me - NEED it daily.
- go without make up for a month - take notes of comments received - "are you ill?"
- emphasise the excess it is used to nowadays - and evolution of beauty?

Photoshop
examples of famous people photoshopped - recreate untouched versions of these with average women
overexaggerate the photoshop - MASSIVE lips, TINY waist. ect.

How my body confidence brought on depression - what I struggled with personally

• attempted eating disorders - not eating, anorexia, throwing up after eating, bulemia - create a piece emphasising all the food I never ate - installation, painting? 
• Convey how low my self esteem is - how? - use my thoughts of myself - typography
• my reactions to images of women in media - video diary?
• How I've contemplated plastic surgery - what would I want out of that? - my thoughts on surgery - documentary/photos reactions - my conveyor belt of women waiting for surgery.         

WIFE

How young women feel pressure to get married - From parents, grandparents, relatives, random older folk.
eg. Boyfriend's mum asked 2 months into relationship when he would be proposing - she suggested Christmas - from last year
Auntie always asks me if he's the one
Mum wanting reassurances that I really love him before she accepts him
Asked by other boyfriend's friends if I see it going anywhere.

I'M 21!! - too young?
How do I show these questions?
 Squished by all of the speech bubbles - emphasising pressure

What influences me to feel like I should be getting engaged soon is stories like my mum's

engaged by 21, married 22, had me at 23.

My opinions on marriage - what I think happends in a marriage

• kids
• homeowning
• pets

depict what I think my own married life will be like. - create future family photos
Idealistic family vs worst case scenarios - use magazine photos/generic wedding photos - stick on mine and my boyfriends faces - generate what our babies would look like - crazy stalker-esque

reasons why I would get married - love, pregnancy - will I even get married?

CONSUMERISM

What we as women are told we need in our lives to be happy/fulfilled
- make up, beauty supplies, clothing, hair supplies, expensive spa treatments, nails done, hair done, shoes... etc.

Leads to debt, overdraft - "least my make up is on fleek"

• Create a log of all the money I spend on these things - are they even useful/used?
• Value all of the stuff I own - recreate my room with all the tags on things
• Real value vs My value - my value things more expensive less i use it - emphasise that it is a waste. 

Focus on advertisements and wording to show how they pressure you - why do I need it?
How does it make me feel? - why does it make me feel bad?

Make my versions of these adverts - how these items are really used - not happy skinny beautiful models real life situations real women - video work/ posters/ billboards - A0 or bigger?

I have decided against the consumerism concept as I believe it is not as open as I would like it to be so I am choosing between the pressures of trying to be skinny and pretty and about becoming a wife/getting married.