I came across this image earlier in the week – before I knew this assignment. My initial thoughts went something along these lines: “Ugh. Look at how huge her thighs are!! No way that’s a woman!! Why would she DO that?! Ew.” [Or something to that extent...]

I hardly even noticed the ‘Averag- Joe-of-a-Guy’ on the left. He is white. Brown, shiny hair. & Skinny. With jeans. TOTALLY, averagely, UN-NOTICABLE. [So, it was a no-brainer which photo I would choose for this post…]

Just as Dyer made the point that “white culture” has established itself as the norm in our society, so much so that it has become “invisible” ---------------- This photo makes me realize how BODY SHAPE and SIZE has done the same thing for us. Women.

SHE-MAN ---- Welp, she tried to play up her norms with the WISPY BLONDE hair, shiny eye MAKEUP, and SKIMPY PINK BIKINI ------- [all things that SHOULD help her meld into our white, normal society] ---- but her SIZE --------- makes her foreign. Not acceptable. Even gross. [By our cultural REPRESENTATIONS.]

I feel that society today --- WE TOTALLY RESPECT HEALTH AND STRENGTH. Health craze after health craze supports this. But this photo – it shows that there is a certain point where ‘health and strenth’ no longer are acceptable. There is a definite line placed. & once someone crosses it – [especially a woman who SHOULD be a size 2, 4, or maybe 6] -- well it becomes humerous. The butt of jokes. Completely & totally Mock-able. Fat or muscle.... Not okay.

The normal, invisible man here – he stands off, out of her way. Smiling – cuz he knows she has overstepped the definitive norm-- and politics/society/culture doesnt like this or really care. She is not even praised on a stage as a hard worker, perhaps like her male counter-part would be-- she is in some random living room. Yikes.

He fits. Becomes invisible. She stands out. Not even a woman any longer.