JAPANESE-AMERICAN WOMEN’S IDEAS OF BEAUTY IN THE 1980’S AMERICAN SOCIETY AS SEEN IN CYNTHIA KADOHATA’S OUTSIDE BEAUTY
JAPANESE-AMERICAN WOMEN’S IDEAS OF BEAUTY
IN THE 1980’S AMERICAN SOCIETY
AS SEEN IN CYNTHIA KADOHATA’S OUTSIDE BEAUTY
AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra in English Letters
By
LUCIA ARUMSIHINGTYAS
Student Number: 064214019
ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME
DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETERS
FACULTY OF LETTERS
SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
YOGYAKARTA
2010
JAPANESE-AMERICAN WOMEN’S IDEAS OF BEAUTY
IN THE 1980’S AMERICAN SOCIETY
AS SEEN IN CYNTHIA KADOHATA’S OUTSIDE BEAUTY
AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra in English Letters
By
LUCIA ARUMSIHINGTYAS
Student Number: 064214019
ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME
DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETERS
FACULTY OF LETTERS
SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
YOGYAKARTA
2010
S. S., M. Hum
S. S., M. Hum
DO THE BEST,
I WILL DO THE REST GOD
Our Greatest Glory Is Not In Never Falling,
But Rising In Every Time We Fall.- Confisius-
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
First of all, I would like to thank Jesus Christ for His blessing and guidance in every single day of my life. Without Him, I will not possibly come to this far. I also thank Saint Mary for her prayer.
I would like to show my gratefulness to Sanata Dharma University for being the best place to study, to Drs. Hirmawan Wijarnaka, M. Hum. for his time and his patience in guiding me doing this thesis, to Ni Luh Putu Rosiandani M. Hum. for the advices and suggestion, to all lecturers in English Letters for their willingness to improve my skill, and to all staff for keeping this campus a comfortable place.
With lots of love, I would thank Papa Fransiskus Sahrowardi, Mama Lucia
Titiek Murwani and my brother Dionisius Giovanni, for being incredible family
and greatest team in my life, for continuously doing their best to support me and for praying for me. I would like to give my very special thanks to my beloved “Aney”,
Felix Wendi Asto Nugroho, for all of his love, patience, kindness and support all
this time. I thank him for being by my side in every condition and for our precious relationship. No words can perfectly represent my gratefulness for having them in my life.
I would also thank my grandmother Agusta Sumiasih in heaven for her prayer and life spirit. I also thank Mbah Agustinus Mulyadi and Ibu Sri Hartini, Pak Wo and Mak Wo for being inspiring grandfathers and grandmothers. My thankfulness also goes to Bapak I. E. Suyono and Ibu Antonia Wagirah, Om Totok and family,
Om Ian and family, the big family of Mbah Supardi, my lovely Om ‘Cil and Della,
my big family and my Aney’s big family for always supporting me and praying for
I also want to thank Nenek Sella, Nenek Marce’, Nenek Elok, and Bella for our friendship and for their patience, support, help and care in every amazing day along this four years. The expression of thankfulness also goes to my “BFI” and “After 20” friends that I cannot mention one by one: “I will miss you all, guys!” and to all my friends in English Letters 2006 for our unforgettable moments. I also thank my friends in “Kost B3”, my friends in Lampung and Yogyakarta, and all relative in Yogyakarta for their support and care along this time.
Last but not least, my thankfulness also goes to all people who love me and whom I love that I cannot mention their name one by one. May God bless them.
Lucia Arumsihingtyas
TABLE OF CONTENTS TITLE PAGE ........................................................................................................ i
APPROVAL PAGE .............................................................................................. ii
ACCEPTANCE PAGE......................................................................................... iiiMOTTO PAGE ..................................................................................................... iv
DEDICATION PAGE .......................................................................................... v LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN PUBLIKASI KARYA ILMIAH UNTUK KEPENTINGAN AKADEMIS ........... vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ................................................................................. viiTABLE OF CONTENTS ..................................................................................... ix
ABSTRACT........................................................................................................... xi
ABSTRAK ............................................................................................................. xiiCHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION ........................................................................ 1 A. Background of the Study ............................................................... 1 B. Problem Formulation ...................................................................... 4 C. Objectives of the Study................................................................... 4 D. Definition of Terms......................................................................... 4
CHAPTER II: THEORETICAL REVIEW ....................................................... 6
A. Review of Related Studies ............................................................. 6 B. Review of Related Theories ............................................................ 9 1. Theory of Characterization....................................................... 9 2. Theory of Beauty...................................................................... 11 C. Review of Japanese-America’s Ideas of Beauty ............................. 15 D. Theoretical Framework................................................................... 19 CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY .................................................................... 20 A. Object of the Study.......................................................................... 20 B. Approach of the Study..................................................................... 21 C. Method of the Study........................................................................ 21 CHAPTER IV: ANALYSIS ................................................................................. 24 A. The Depiction of the Characters ..................................................... 24 1. The Depiction of Helen............................................................. 25 2. The Depiction of Marilyn ......................................................... 37 3. The Depiction of Shelby ........................................................... 42 4. The Depiction of Lakey ............................................................ 47 5. The Depiction of Maddie.......................................................... 49 B. The Japanese-American’s Ideas of Beauty Reflected in the Characters ............................................................. 51CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION............................................................................ 66 BIBLIOGRAPHY ................................................................................................. 69
APPENDIX: Summary of Cynthia Kadohata’s Outside Beauty....................... 71
ABSTRACT
LUCIA ARUMSHINGTYAS (2010). Japanese-American Women’s Ideas of
Beauty in the 1980’s American Society as Seen in Cynthia Kadohata’s Outside
Beauty. Yogyakarta: Department of English Letters, Faculty of Letters, Sanata
Dharma University.Everybody wants their life to be perfect and perfect life means happy life. Some people are happy by becoming the center of attention, therefore they need to be beautiful. Cynthia Kadohata’s Outside Beauty takes place in America, 1983, and portrays how a woman very needs her beauty in her life. Her beauty is used as a tool and a commodity to attract men. As the result, she has some ideas of beauty, and those ideas reflect the real ideas of beauty in the 1980s American society.
This study concerns the Japanese-American women’s ideas of beauty in the 1980s American society that is reflected in the characters in Outside Beauty. In this study, there are two objectives to guide the analysis. The first is to find the characteristics of Japanese-American women in Outside Beauty. The second is to find similarity of the characters’ ideas of beauty and then to find out how their idea of beauty is influenced by the 1980’s American society when it is related to the real condition at that particular time.
In order to accomplish the objectives, the library research is used since the data and theories are collected from books. The socio-cultural historical approach is applied in this study. The approach is applied because this thesis is going to analyze the attitudes and perspectives of the characters toward beauty from their characterization. It also concerns how the ideas of beauty of the Japanese-American women in the story represent women’s real perspective of beauty in the 1980s American society.
The analysis shows how the Japanese-American women in the story share similar idea of beauty, since the main character is a mother and the other four are her daughters. The daughters have been influenced by their mother in the way they see beauty. The mother believes that beauty is a tool to seduce and conquer men and a commodity to get advantages from men. Seducing, conquering men, and getting advantages from men are her goals in life. Therefore, to reach it all she should use her beauty, and she thinks that men will consider her to be beautiful if she is physically attractive and sophisticated. Those are the ideas of beauty she holds. After those ideas of Japanese-American characters are related to the true condition in 1980s American society, it is found that Japanese-American will follow Western culture since they have become the part of American society. Therefore, their ideas of beauty are influenced by Western culture.
ABSTRAK
LUCIA ARUMSHINGTYAS (2010). Japanese-American Women’s Ideas of
Beauty in the 1980’s American Society as Seen in Cynthia Kadohata’s Outside
Beauty. Yogyakarta: Jurusan Sastra Inggris, Fakultas Sastra, Universitas Sanata
Dharma.Setiap orang ingin hidup mereka menjadi sempurna dan hidup yang sempurna berarti hidup yang bahagia. Beberapa orang menjadi bahagia dengan menjadi pusat perhatian, maka mereka harus menjadi cantik. Novel Outside Beauty karya Cynthia Kadohata menceritakan Amerika pada tahun 1983 dan menceritakan betapa seorang perempuan sangat membutuhkan kecantikannya. Kecantikannya digunakan untuk menarik perhatian para pria. Sehingga, ia mempunyai beberapa ide tentang kecantikan dan ide-ide tersebut merefleksikan ide kecantikan yang sesungguhnya dari masyarakan Amerika tahun 1980an.
Studi ini merujuk pada ide-ide kecantikan dari para perempuan Jepang- Amerika di lingkungan masyarakat Amerika tahun 1980an yang direfleksikan oleh karakter-karakter Outside Beauty. Pada studi ini, terdapat dua pertanyaan untuk memandu analisis. Yang pertama adalah untuk mengetahui karakteristik dari para perempuan Jepang-Amerika di novel Outside Beauty. Yang kedua adalah untuk mengetahui kesamaan ide-ide kecantikan dari para karakter dan kemudian untuk mengetahui cara ide kecantikan mereka dipengaruhi oleh masyarakan Amerika tahun 1980an saat dihubungkan dengan kondisi sesungguhnya di tahun tersebut.
Agar dapat menyelesaikan permasalahan tersebut, penulis menggunakan metode kepustakaan karena data-data dan teori-teori dikumpulkan dari banyak buku. Pendekatan sosio-kultural historikal diterapkan dalam studi ini. Pendekatan ini diterapkan karena skripsi ini akan menganalisa atitud dan perspektif para karakter terhadap kecantikan dari karakterisasi mereka. Hal ini juga merujuk pada cara ide-ide kecantikan dari para perempuan Jepang-Amerika dalam cerita ini mewakili perspektif kecantikan sesungguhnya dari para perempuan di masyarakat Amerika tahun1980an.
Analisis menunjukkan cara perempuan Jepang-Amerika dalam cerita berbagi ide kecantikan yang sama, karena karakter utamanya adalah si ibu dan empat lainnya adalah anak-anak perempuannya. Anak-anak perempuannya telah dipengaruhi olehnya dalam cara mereka memandang kecantikan. Si ibu percaya bahwa kecantikan adalah alat untuk merayu dan menaklukan pria, dan mendapat keuntungan dari pria. Merayu, menaklukan pria, dan mendapatkan keuntungan dari pria merupakan tujuan hidupnya. Oleh karenanya, untuk meraih semua itu ia harus menggunakan kecantikannya, dan ia pikir pria akan menganggapnya cantik jika ia menarik secara fisik dan “gaul”. Hal-hal tersebut adalah ide-ide kecantikan yang ia yakini. Setelah ide-ide kecantikan dari tokoh-tokoh Jepang-Amerika dihubungkan dengan keadaan sebenarnya di masyarakat Amerika tahun 1980, ditemukan bahwa orang Jepang-Amerika akan mengikuti kultur barat karena mereka telah menjadi bagian dari masyarakat Amerika. Maka, ide-ide kecantikan mereka dipengaruhi oleh kultur Barat.
CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION A. Background of the Study Everybody wants everything in his or her life to be good. Everything should
be perfect and the perfect life is a happy life. Some people are happy through the success of their career, some are happy with their religiosity, some are happy dedicating their life for helping others and some of them are happy through becoming the center of attention. People in the last category are usually focusing their life in the perfection of manner and appearance that are included in a pack of perfect beauty.
Beauty seems to take important part in everyday life and for some people beauty is very significant to support their life, for example to the artist or movie stars.
It is stated by Dr. Nancy Etcoff as in “The Real Truth About Beauty” commissioned by Dove.
Beauty is visual; in fact, it is the same visual - the eye popping features and stunning proportions of a few hands picked beauty icons. No wonder many people turned away from beauty. In the 1980’s and 1990’s beauty fell out of academic discourse. Some people waved it away, denying its reality or power (www.drkcv.org/Books/kcv9chap_5.pdf, 2004). The value of beauty is different in every society and personal view. It is said by Naomi Wolf, as cited in Body Image, that the judgment of women being beautiful is usually built in the way they view their body image. The image of their body is determined by male interest and usually based on the cultural prejudice. Therefore, she supports the image of women body that allows individual women freedom for adornment, expressed sexuality, and time spent grooming their bodies which confront to male-determined ideal (1999: 190-191).
To judge how and what beauty is, it is started by knowing what the beauty’s standards or criteria are. The standards can be drawn by the research and studies.
Mostly, beauty has standards that is based on human’s body, related to whiteness, propagated by the mass media, westernized, following the up-to-date fashion, and feminized. The beauty’s standards that is commonly used is based on American’s culture. Those statements will be proven later in Chapter II.
The statement of Brooks and Warren as cited by Lusia Ajeng Ikiningtyas in her Undergraduate Thesis says that “The reflection of the human life and the conflict that human has as a part of the society can be seen in the literature. Literature shares ideas, feelings, and even criticism in what happen in life, yet, the character and characterization in a work of literature is also influenced by the real life. Literature gives a picture of life from the author’s point of view” (Ikiningtyas, 2007: 1).
Cynthia Kadohata illustrates the story in Outside Beauty as the reflection of the women social condition in America at that time and the characters in the story convey some of those standards of beauty.
However, “the American people” here means not only the white people but also all of the people that live and are born in United States of America. It is included Asian people who live and are born in America. The Asian is also included the Japanese people, so the Japanese people living and being born in USA are Japanese- American. This statement is clearly said by Kitano, as explained in the Definition of Term, that Japanese-American is “Japanese who have made places for themselves in
The Japanese-American people are also showing the influence of American beauty from its lifestyle, as it’s quoted by Chiou-Ling Yeh in Pure Beauty: Judging
Race in Japanese American Beauty Pageants .
Rebecca Chiyoko King-O'Riain's Pure Beauty has added to the growing scholarship in Asian American studies that pays attention to beauty pageants as an important site, where ethnic culture and nationalism could be articulated.1 King-O'Riain makes an important contribution to the field by using Japanese American beauty pageants as an example to address the anxiety over the definition of race and ethnicity, and especially over Japanese American out-marriage.2 Arguing against the recent move toward "postethnic" or "postrace" studies, King contends that the increasing presence of mixed-race persons intensifies "race work that aims to prop up racial concepts using culture, gender, and community networks as scaffolding." (http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?index=25&did=1590990341&SrchMode=1 &sid=6&Fmt=3&VInst=PROD&VType=PQD&RQT=309&VName=PQD& TS=1259551215&clientId=78722).
In Cynthia Kadohata’s Outside Beauty, the Japanese-American characters are in a small family consisting of a single fighter mother and her four daughters and they show ideas of beauty in their own way. However, they believe in similar ideas of beauty. Those ideas of beauty reflect the real ideas of beauty of Japanese- American women in the 1980s American society. The way Japanese-American characters in this novel hold their ideas of beauty interested the writer and stimulated the desire to undertake a research on the idea of beauty.
Outside Beauty also inspires people to see the meaning of beauty deeper by
the perspective of each character. The writer thinks that Outside Beauty is suitable as the study of the topic because the story is about the difference between inner beauty and physical appearance, how the characters struggle for their beliefs and how in the end they have similar essential thought.
B. Problem Formulation 1.
How are Japanese-American women depicted through the characters of Outside
Beauty ? 2.
How is the idea of beauty of 1980’s American society reflected by the characters in the novel?
C. Objectives of the Study
This study aims to figure out the characteristics of Japanese-American women in Outside Beauty. After figuring out the characteristics of each character, this study will try to see the similarity of the characters’ idea of beauty. Later, it will be useful to find out how their idea of beauty is influenced by the 1980’s American society when it is related to the real condition at that particular time.
D. Definition of Terms
The title of the study is Japanese-American Women’s Ideas of Beauty In the
1980’s American Society as Seen in Cynthia Kadohata’s Outside Beauty. In order to
avoid misunderstanding in judging the discussion of this study, the writer gives the definition of terms that are used in the examination of Cynthia Kadohata’s Outside . The definition will be about the term “Japanese-American” and “Beauty”.
Beauty
In Japanese American: The evolution of a Subculture, Kitano said that Japanese-American is “Japanese who have made places for themselves in the American society” (1976: 11). Therefore, Japanese-Americans are the Japanese people who live in America and become the citizen of America. Japanese-American
In Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, beauty is described as a combination of qualities that give pleasure to the senses (esp. to the eye or ear) or to the mind (Hornby, 1995: 92). In the introduction of Beauty In Faith, Science, And
, Robert Brungs says that “In humans, it seems, the body is essential for
Technology the experience of beauty in ways that are not so apparent for truth and goodness.
Beauty demands an awareness of pleasure – bodily pleasure” (1994: ii). In this study, beauty that is going to be discussed is beauty in human appearance. Generally, beauty is the pleasure that is produced by some good qualities in the human appearance.
CHAPTER II THEORETICAL REVIEW A. Review of Related Studies The story of Outside Beauty depicts love among sisters and also toward their
mother as a single-fighter. The mother, Helen Kimura, is very busy on earning bread and butter by seducing men but the girls understand Helen’s business with the men and they hold their sisterhood as the primary thing in the world. Cindy Dobrez on states it as “The four Chicago sisters have primarily raised
The Booklis Vol. 104 themselves and are incredibly close” (2008: 67).
Outside Beauty also tells the reader about the power of sisterhood. The girls
in this story are still underage, but they show their bravery through traveling to the other state without their parents. Moreover, this travel moment is the moment of kidnapping their own youngest sister, but they do it because they love her. This theme is stated by Cindy Dobrez, also on The Booklis Vol. 104. She said that “Kadohata, author of the Newbery Medal-winner Kira Kira (2004), never fully develops the theme of beauty that's implied by the title, but Shelby's venture to Arkansas, where she has some first experiences with outdoor living, is endearing, as are the relationships among the closely connected sisters” (2008: 67).
Jennifer M Brabander on her comment in The Horn Book Magazine delivers her own point of view toward Outside Beauty. It is said that “When she is critically injured in a car crash, the girls are sent off around the country to live with their fathers; how they survive the split and how Shelby learns about love is ultimately She states that Outside Beauty conveys meaning of the bond of sisterhood. The part pointing it directly is when the sisters have to live separated with their respective fathers. They struggle to keep in touch each other and to be together again.
Deborah Stevenson in Bulletin of the Center for Children's Book notifies that
Outside Beauty tells about family life. She argues the theme of this novel is about the
true life of common people. It is about people’s experience in their life. Besides, she also states that Outside Beauty is an original idea from the author. She confirms that it is unusual to raise a theme about family and through minimalist characters and modest characteristics. Stevenson says that “This is a story of considerable originality, and what could be an overwrought problem ends up instead being a combination poker-faced and understated character and family study” (2008: 487).
Furthermore, Stevenson also comments about the mother’s controversial attitude in the story. Helen Kimura, the mother, is told to be a widow who likes to seduce men. She makes relationship with a man, then breaks up, and chases other man. To avoid her ex-boyfriend’s madness, she runs away and goes to far place for some time. She gets money from her children’s fathers, for the sake of their children as she is reasoning.
The book gives the girls’ mother her full magnetic due and sympathizes with the decline of her powers even as her emphasis on man-trapping is subtly questioned; she’s also tacitly given credit for having produced a stellar crop of kids and for having found several pretty decent guys for their fathers (Stevenson, 2008: 487). In her writing, Stevenson also gives comment that “The various configurations of girls and dads are by turns comedic and touching, with Shelby’s geeky dad quietly heroic in his dawning awareness of the importance of the sisterly contains the relationship between fathers and daughters, too, whether it runs well or not. In this story, father’s main character is Shelby’s father. He shows his care toward the relationship among Shelby and her sisters. is the only book of Cynthia Kadohata that illustrates the
Outside Beauty
meaning of beauty. Such as in Kira-Kira, Kadohata portrays the family life of Katie, the main character on the story, in 1950’s, the time of the issues of racism, class differences, and death. It is cleared by the comment of Carol J. Fuhler in Book Links: “In the 1950s in rural Georgia, a close relationship carries Katie's Japanese American family through racial prejudice, horrendous working conditions in a poultry processing plant, and the loss of older sister Lynn to lymphoma.” (2009: 45)
Moreover, Hsiu-chuan Lee’s preface on his writing about his interview with Cynthia Kadohata provides clear evidence of the distinctive theme of Outside
Beauty . Kadohata’s earlier novels such as The Floating World, In the Heart of the
, and The Glass Mountains are aimed to be read by adult and they
Valley of Love
contain East cultural issue. None of them talk about the meaning of beauty. The
Floating World talks about modern life of Japanese American people. In the Heart of
the Valley of Love talks about history of Japanese immigration. The Glass Mountains
talks about the issue of intercultural and inter-species connection.
Early reviews and studies on Kadohata have focused on the unique style and content that she brings to Asian American literature: 1. The semi- autobiographical The Floating World has been noted for its "unconventional" Japanese American characters (such as Obâsan, an Issei married three times and still falling in love at the age of 76), a "hypnotic, sparse prose style" and "cinematic narrative structure"; 2. Kadohata's second novel, In the Heart of the Valley of Love, on the other hand, is set in 2052, with little direct reference to Japanese American immigrant history; 3. Kadohata's third novel, The Glass Mountains takes her readers to a fictitious planet-Artekka-of
The idea of beauty as the main discussion is pictured in Outside Beauty, otherwise Shelby and her sisters show similar perspective of ideal beauty like her mother, they just show it in their own way. It makes this thesis study different with others. For example, Mr. Powers in his thesis paper in http://www.angelfire.com/nc3/mrpowers/new_page_16.htm discussing The Bluest
Eye ’s idea of beauty. It is stated “the African American community as a society
ensnared by its internalization of a "blue-eyed, yellow-haired, pink-skinned" beauty ideal. Women of color are judged according to white standards of beauty and therefore they are always considered ugly.”
After looking at the reviews above, it might be said that the study of this thesis has different concern with another studies. The others can talk about sisterhood, family, sister’s bond, mother’s attitude, and black beauty as beauty from different perspective. Other books by Cynthia Kadohata have also different perspective. Some talks about Japanese and American culture, others talk about racism, prejudice, and class differences, and the other talks about future. This thesis studies the beauty by the perspective of Japanese American women.
B. Review of Related Theories 1. Theory of Characterization
One most important composition in the story is character. Characters take very significant role in the story. They can show the meaning, message, plot, etc through their characterization. Characters also guide the reader on the story flow. Moreover, characters attract the reader to reading further. According to M. J. Murphy
for Overseas Student , there are nine ways to describe characteristics through the
characterization. (1974: 233-234) a.
Personal description.
The author describes the character by giving a person’s appearance. The author can describe a person’s appearance and clothes such as his build, his skin-color, his hair or his face.
b.
Character as seen by another.
The author describes the character trough the eye and opinions of another. They will give explanations, comments or opinion about what character is like. Their opinions can help the reader to understand a character.
c.
Speech The author can give the reader insight into of one of the persons in the book through what the character says. Whenever a person is speaking, he is giving the reader some clue to his character.
d.
Past life.
The author describes the character by giving a clue to event in a person’s past life. This can be done by direct comment by the author, though the person’s thought, through the conversation or through the medium of another person.
e.
Conversation of others The author can give clues to a person’s character through the conversations of other people and the things they say about him. People talk about other people and the things say often give the reader a clue to the character o the person spoken about. f.
Reactions.
The author can also give us a clue to a person’s character by showing how that person reacts to various situations and events.
g.
Direct comment.
The author can be describe or comment on a person’s character directly.
h.
Thoughts.
The author can give direct knowledge of what a person is thinking about. In this respect, he is able to do what we cannot do in the real life. He can tell the reader what different people are thinking. In the novel we accept this. This reader then is in privileged position; he has, as it were, a secret listening device plugged in to the inmost thoughts of a person in a novel. i.
Mannerism.
The author can describe a person’s mannerism, habits or idiosyncrasies which may also tell us something about his character.
2. Theory of Beauty
There are many understandings about beauty and being beautiful. According Nancy Baker in The Beauty Trap as cited by Louise Wood her article “Perceptions Of Female Beauty In The 20th Century”, beauty is more concerned with intangible personal qualities. She says “A truly beautiful woman makes the best of her physical assets but, more importantly, she also radiates a personal quality which is attractive” (http://barneygrant.tripod.com/p-erceptions.htm). According to the white, beauty is about being physically attractive which is shown by woman’s body and attractive gesture.
In the introduction of Beauty In Faith, Science, And Technology, Robert Brungs says that “In humans, it seems, the body is essential for the experience of beauty in ways that are not so apparent for truth and goodness. Beauty demands an awareness of pleasure – bodily pleasure” (1994: ii). It means beauty is expressed through human’s body and the body should have some qualities or standards to be judged as beautiful because it is related to the pleasure. It is not about beauty in inanimate things, such as paintings and art works. Consequently in this study, the judgment of being beautiful is seen from the human physical quality.
In Body Image, Sarah Grogan says that in 1980s and 1990s, the trend of slimness became the standard of beautiful body. It is proved by the physical appearance of the models. They became slimmer and thinner since 1920s, and this trend became very famous in 1990s (1999: 15). Therefore, the beauty is seen from the physical appearance of human body.
Some feminist critics propose the standard of beauty spoken by their writings. Their writings are commonly created to see how the society and culture in a point of time influence the women perspective toward beauty. Barbara Trepagnier in her article “The Politics of White and Black Bodies” says “Beauty, propagated in the US culture by the media, with its assumption of whiteness, implies that black is not beautiful.” (1994:202). It implies women are considered as beautiful when they have white standard and the white standard becomes familiar with the help of the mass media. Mass media spreads up the issue of whiteness because it introduces the standard of beauty brought by the advertisings that says beautiful is based on their quality of being “white”.
The quality of being white is following the lifestyle of White people, who are Western people. Following the lifestyle can be done by following the trend spread up by the mass media. It means the quality of being beautiful is presented by masss media. That statement is strengthened by Wendy Chopkins’s argument as cited by Sarah Grogan in Body Image that “women are oppressed by a “global culture machine” (made up of the advertising industry, communication media, and the cosmetic industry) which promotes a narrow, Westernized ideal of beauty to women all over the world” (1994:54). It indicates the massive influence of western culture toward the women in the entire world. Because Western culture is the trendsetter of the world, the cosmetic and fashion are followed by the most people in the world.
The women’s standard of beauty comes from the ideal that is built by the Western culture.
According to Gordon as cited in Body Image, the advertising is one successful marketing way. When the western culture trend is advertised, it will appear as the world trend and the standard of people’s lifestyle.
It is often argued that the thin ideal is the outcome of successful marketing by the fashion industry, which has become the standard of cultural beauty in the industrialized affluent societies of the twentieth century (1994:14). As the fashion, cosmetic and lifestyle move forward, the standard of beauty is often changed along with them. In the 1930s and 1940s, women were considered beautiful if they followed the standard of the western culture at that time, which was having shaped body and formerly, in 1920s, having slim body. It is said that in 1920s the idealization of slimness is the recent phenomenon that made women began binding their breast with foundation garments to flatten their breast, used starvation shapelier figure, breast became fashionable, along with the clothes that emphasized them. In 1950s this trend continued, when the fashion and the Hollywood film industry promoted large breast (along with tiny waist and slim legs) (Grogan, 1999:14-15).
Sandra Bart, as cited by Sarah Grogan in Body Image, proposes a surprising idea of beauty that is feminized. Grogan says that according to Bart, women will feel better about themselves if they produce an image of feminine beauty that celebrates diversity.
She suggests a revolutionary aesthetic of the body, which allows an expansion of ideas of beauty and allows body display and play in self- ornamentation. She promotes the release of our capacity to apprehend the beautiful from the narrow limits with which it is currently confined, to produce an aesthetic for the female body controlled by women. She proposes that women should produce a model of feminine beauty that celebrates diversity (Grogan, 1999:56). Bart argues women should take control of their own aesthetic beauty and not be limited by the “cultural beauty” or “men-based beauty standard”. Women should not be trapped in a situation where men decide whether they are beautiful or not by the fashion industry’s criteria (cultural beauty) or by men’s criteria (men-based beauty standard). Women should consider that they can be beautiful in their own way.
From the data and explanation of some critics above, it comes to the decision that the standards of beauty are: first, based on human’s body; second, related to whiteness; third, propagated by the mass media; fourth, westernized; fifth, following the up-to-date fashion; sixth, feminized. Beauty is examined from the people’s body appearance that comes from the ideal of being white. Being white is following the lifestyle of Western people. The lifestyle is mostly presented in mass media and mass media spreads up Western trend that is up-to-date. However, the examination can be based on the way women present their own beauty.
Therefore, the definition of beauty that is going to use in this study is the pleasure influenced by the appearance of human body and mostly propagated by the mass media based on Western trend.
C. Review of Japanese-American’s Ideas of Beauty
From the standards of beauty in the previous part, the writer wants to give some review and quotation as the proof of the 1980s American society’s ideas of beauty. However, since the standards going to discuss in this thesis are only the first, fourth, and fifth, the writer will also give some proofs as needed for those standards.
The story takes place in America around 1980’s. At that time, Japanese economic condition and population increased significantly. Therefore, many Japanese people came to America. At the first time the Japanese people migrated to America in 1890s, they still brought Japanese culture and belief (Kitano, 1976:8).
According to Dr. Soetsu Yanagi in his book The Mystery Of Beauty as cited by Bill Merrill in his website, it is said that the concept of beauty for Japanese people refers to the tea ceremony. The tea ceremony symbolizes the quality of being quiet, calm, and peaceful. It is the concept of beauty which they have believed for the past several
th
centuries in Japan (http://www.potters.org /subject103148.htm). However, in the 20 century America, the concept of beauty was physical attractiveness and this concept was spread up by the mass media that exaggerated the models who are physically attractive by using makeup and having skinny body (http://barneygrant.tripod.com/
Since 1970’s, America experienced overpopulation because in the last decade, there was a “baby boom”, the hikes of baby birth. The “baby boom” became one of the causes of the music development and the up-to-date music at that time reflected the spirit of eighties.
During the late 1970’s and early 1980’s, rock music began to lose its vitality and appeal, a development which was product of the aging of the “baby boom” generation. Nonetheless, the musical tradition and cultural style of rock-and-roll survived. After 1978, the important new rock music was “New Wave”, a mode which embodied the rock tradition of reputation and rhythm but also stressed- and even exaggerated to the point of absurdity- youth, violence, rebellion, and sexuality (Link, 1983:254-255). The baby-birth case that explodes in the previous era changes the music style into New-Wave-Rock music. In reality, this kind of music reveal the characteristics of eighties era, which are about youth, violence, rebellion, and sexuality. These characteristics are the up-to-date style of eighties people.
In “A Trip Down Memory Lane”, Lane states that makeup trend in 1980s was about thick makeup and some famous artists followed the makeup trend to be the 1980s icon stars. Following the makeup trend is one way to be sophisticated.
Makeup of the 80's era can be summed up using the B's: Big, Bold, Bright. The 1980s was a time in my life that I would rather forget. The Three B's are: Big : Eighties makeup was exaggerated and big.
Bold : Color trends were bold. Blue, green, mauve, fuchsia, and orange were among the bold color palette of the 1980s. Bright : The pallets used in the early eighties were bright, especially for night time makeup (http://www.makeup-artist-world.com/ makeup_80s.htm).
In this era, women emancipation was significantly developed. Women was no longer become the victim of marriage because of patriarchal system. This statement is strengthened by Maurice Boyd and Donald Worchester in American Civilization: An Introduction to the Social Sciences.
The traditional wife-mother role still predominates, even though it is no longer the only one expected of women. Today, they must be both companions and confidants of their husbands, attractive and charming, not merely household drudges (Boyd, 1963: 57).
Sarah Grogan in Body Image says “In affluent Western societies, slenderness is generally associates with happiness, success, youthfulness, and social acceptability” (1999: 6). It means that according to Western culture, slim body is preferable for the society. Moreover, it is stated that the ideal body for women is slim and being fat has negative social consequences and is associated with negative characteristics (Grogan, 1999: 6).
Another image built by Western culture is that slender body shape is associated with youth. Western societies value youthful appearance in women. When men are judged to be physically attractive when they show the sign of ageing, women are ashamed of having the sign of ageing. It is because the sign of ageing is linked in public mind as becoming less attractive (Grogan, 1999: 128).
One way to make your body attractive is doing exercises. Grogan says in Snyder and Kivlin’s study, the result shows that many women is involved in sporting activities since 1980s and developed significantly in 1990s (1999: 47). It is said by Furnham and Greaves, as stated in Body Image, that women like to do exercise for weight control, altering body shape, attractiveness, and health (1999: 45). Women do some exercise such as keep-fit, yoga, dancing, swimming and jogging (1999: 44). Doing exercises makes slim body, and slim body shows attractive physical appearance.
In a 1970s cross-cultural research studied by Iwawaki and Lerner as stated in body types. The Japanese students give negative stereotypes toward slim body whereas American students give the opposite judgment. It is concluded that Japanese culture disagreed with the slenderness idealization, but American culture idealized slenderness and had prejudice against overweight (Grogan, 1999: 20).
Grogan also says that few researches have considered the body trend is non- Western culture and their work indicates cultural differences influence body preference of thinness and plumpness. In some cultures, thinness is considered as a sign of malnutrition, poverty and infectious disease whereas increased weight is considered as an indication of health, wealth, and prosperity. However, some works also study the change of body preferences when people move from one cultural context to another. It is proven by a 1983 study, Asian women emigrated from Kenya to America had absorbed the British cultural prejudice against overweight rather than Asian women living in Kenya (1999:19).
Stated in Body Image, April Fallon and Paul Rozin in 1985 did a research of a group of 248 men and 227 women to draw their current figure, their ideal figure, the figure that they felt would be attractive to the opposite sex and the figure that they were mostly attracted to. It was found that both men and women made mistake in guessing the figure that would be attractive to the opposite sex. Therefore the research came to conclusion that men’s perception serve to keep them satisfied with their bodies, whereas women’s serve to keep them satisfied (Grogan, 1999:144).