Pedagoger: Nina Setterberg och Teresa Romano
Snuggle with Pam
Imperfection
Work sheet
A. Did you know?
The French artist ORLAN (real name Mireille Suzanne Francette Porte) has
dedicated several years of her life to undergoing plastic surgery in the name of
art.
The art project is called “the Reincarnation of Sainte-Orlan” and started out in the
1990’s.
During this long-term project, Orlan has put herself under the knife, filming her
surgeries, often broadcasting them live, in order to transform her face into a face
with the beauty ideals of male artists throughout history.
Once all the surgery is complete, Orlan will have the chin of Botticelli’s Venus,
the lips of François Boucher’s Europa, the eyes of Diana from a 16th century
French painting and the forehead of Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa.
Orlan chose the beauty ideals listed above on account of the stories told around
the women and not based on their beauty alone.
What do you think of the result?
before
after
B. Discuss
Before you discuss Imperfection in class prepare by
writing down your answers to the questions on a piece of paper.
Use the pictures for inspiration! Hand in anonymously to your
teacher. The discussion will be based on your thoughts and those
of your peers.
1.What examples of body modification do you think would be interesting to discuss in
class?
2. There are many examples of body modification among women. What examples
are there among men?
3. Who dictates what is an imperfection or what is not?
4. Who decides what is beautiful and what is not?
5. What parts of the body do you think most people worry about?
6. What is a “perfect” body to you?
7. Why are so many people interested in physical perfection?
8. Is it ok to go under the knife?
9. What different opinions are there about what is beautiful and what isn’t?
10 In which situations do you feel the most beautiful?
11. What bodily complex do you think is the most common?
C. Attitudes
Beauty ideals in the world
Long Neck
The Kayan Lahwi tribe, also known as Padaung, is a Tibeto-Burman minority group
who live today in Burma and around the Thai-Burmese border in Northern
Thailand. Many Kayans fled to Thailand in the 80’s and 90’s because of conflicts
with the military regime in Burma. Today, people of the Kayan tribes in Thailand
are a tourist attraction because of their spectacular looks. Women of the Kayan
Lahwi tribe wear brass rings around their necks. This is why they are sometimes
referred to as Long Neck Karen. There are different explanations to why they wear
neck rings, one of them being that it is a beauty ideal within their tribe to have a
long, slender neck. The brass coils are put on little by little from early childhood
and are usually kept on for life. Many young women of the Kayan Lahwi have
stopped using neck rings because they feel exploited as tourist attractions and
because they feel restricted by their tradition. Others choose to keep them on since
they do not want to turn their backs on a long tradition. A common myth about
these women is that if they take off their neck rings they would suffocate since the
neck would not stay upright, but that is not true.
http://www.ethnikka.org/2011/02/kayan-lahwi-of-burma.html
Lotus Feet
Foot binding in order to shape the foot into resembling the petal of the lotus flower
was practised in China for centuries before being banned in 1912. Most women
stopped binding their feet at that time, but a few continued. Today there are very
few women left with lotus feet. In 2007, a 97-year old woman named Zhang, was
interviewed for Reuters as one of very few survivors. This is what she told the
journalist:
"I remember the pain very well. It hurt so much that I freed my feet at night in
secret and rubbed them. When my parents found out, they spanked me and told
me not to do it again. Afterwards, they stitched the bandage together so I could not
unwind it any more."
For Zhang, foot binding has been very painful as she had to break the arch of her
foot to bring toes and heels close to each other. Foot binding made her crippled
and she could not work in the fields or go for long walks.
Here you can see an X-ray photo of lotus feet:
http://www.hsl.virginia.edu/historical/reflections/winter2008/images/foot_xray.jpg
Lip Plates
The use of wooden or clay lip plates is widely spread in communities in Africa,
South America and in northern Canada. They are, most often, worn by women but
there are examples of men wearing them as well. There are different reasons why
lip plates are worn, one of them being to mark a person’s journey from young age
to adulthood. This is called Rite of Passage. In Ethiopia, in the Mursi and Suri
communities, there is a tradition to cut a girl’s lower lip before she marries in order
to fit in a lip plate. The hole in the lip is held open by a plug until it heals and the
skin is stretched gradually by inserting larger and larger plugs. Nowadays, some
Mursi and Suri girls choose not to wear a lip plate. One of the reasons for leaving
their traditions behind is that Suris and Mursis feel that they are being exploited as
tourist attractions.
Are you curious to learn more about the Suri people? Watch this clip:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/learningzone/clips/the-suri-tribe-wearing-a-lipplate/10412.html
D. Express yourself with Old Nick
Welcome to Old Nick’s language school. When it comes to
talking about imperfections, it’s good to know the correct
lingo, otherwise it’s easy to get confused. Here you will
learn different words and expressions I’m sure you didn’t
know beforehand.
Words for pimple:
zit
blackhead
acne
blemish
whitehead
backne (acne on the back)
chestne (acne on the chest)
_____________________________________________
Words for different kinds of surgery:
boob job (plastic surgery on the breasts, usually to enlarge them)
nose job (plastic surgery on the nose, common among Hollywood stars)
hooter neuter (breast reduction surgery)
bod mods (any kind of surgery, short for body modifications)
liposuction (plastic surgery to reduce fat)
___________________________________________________________________
Other useful words and phrases:
tittoo (a tattoo located on the breast, drawing the attention to the “tits”)
bra job (when you stuff your bra instead of using cosmetic surgery in order to get
larger breasts)
legitti-titties (real breasts that have not undergone any surgery)
___________________________________________________________________
E. Crossword
F. Who are you?
What would you do? Choose the best answer to the question
below.
A friend tells you that she wants to get a breast implant. What do you say
to her?
a) Oh, I have actually thought about that too. Your breasts are so
strange, they look like a couple of bananas! You know what I think?
You should put in an extra one too!
b) Are you sure about that? To me you are just perfect the way you
are. What made you want to do that?
c) Are you crazy? Accept yourself instead of trying to change!
You are:
a) An extra banana? How silly is that? You are not only being mean,
you are also burdening your friend with more anxieties and
nonsense ideals. Stop it!
b) This is what your friend needs to hear right now. You are taking
your friend’s problem seriously by listening to her and asking her
questions. You make her feel well by giving her compliments and
at the same time you open up for her to tell you what the problem
is by asking her where she got the idea from. She will probably
feel comfortable talking to you and come to you for advice in the
future too.
c) You have a point but remember that accepting oneself is not
always that easy. By simply telling your friend what she should do
you are not being very supporting. If you answer her like this she
may just withdraw. What she probably needs right now is someone
who listens and tries to understand.
G. Lyrics
Look at the lyrics below. What is this song about really? How can you
tell? Are there any key phrases? Were there words or phrases you didn’t
know since before? Can you find metaphors or similes in it?
“Born this way” by Lady Gaga
It doesn't matter if you love him or capital H-I-M.
Just put your paws up, 'cause you were born this way, baby
My mama told me when I was young “We are all born superstars”.
She rolled my hair and put my lipstick on in the glass of her boudoir
“There's nothin' wrong with lovin' who you are” she said, “'cause He made you
perfect, babe.
So hold your head up, girl and you, you'll go far. Listen to me when I say:
I'm beautiful in my way, 'cause God makes no mistakes.
I'm on the right track, baby, I was born this way.
Don't hide yourself in regret. Just love yourself and you're set.
I'm on the right track, baby, I was born this way, born this way.
Ooh, there ain't no other way, baby, I was born this way. Baby, I was born this way.
Ooh, there ain't no other way, baby, I was born this way.
I'm on the right track, baby, I was born this way.”
Don't be a drag, just be a queen. Don't be a drag, just be a queen. Don't be a drag,
just be a queen.
Give yourself prudence and love your friends.
Subway kid, rejoice of truth in the religion of the insecure.
I must be myself, respect my youth.
A different lover is not a sin, believe capital H-I-M.
I love my life, I love this record and Mi amore vole fe, yah.
I'm beautiful in my way, 'cause God makes no mistakes.
I'm on the right track, baby, I was born this way.
Don't hide yourself in regret, just love yourself and you're set.
I'm on the right track, baby, I was born this way.
Ooh, there ain't no other way, baby, I was born this way. Baby, I was born this way.
Ooh, there ain't no other way, baby, I was born this way.
I'm on the right track, baby, I was born this way.
Don't be drag, just be a queen.
Whether you're broke or evergreen, you're black, white, beige, Chola descent, you're
Lebanese, you're orient.
Whether life's disabilities, left you outcast, bullied or teased: rejoice and love yourself
today, 'cause baby, you were born this way!
No matter gay, straight or bi, lesbian, transgendered life, I'm on the right track, baby, I
was born to survive.
No matter black, white or beige, Chola or orient made, I'm on the right track, baby, I
was born to be brave.
I'm beautiful in my way, 'cause God makes no mistakes.
I'm on the right track, baby, I was born this way.
Don't hide yourself in regret, just love yourself and you're set.
I'm on the right track, baby, I was born this way, yeah
Ooh, there ain't no other way, baby, I was born this way.
Baby, I was born this way.
Ooh, there ain't no other way, baby, I was born this way.
I'm on the right track, baby, I was born this way.
I was born this way, hey.
I was born this way, hey.
I'm on the right track, baby, I was born this way, hey.
I was born this way, hey.
I was born this way, hey.
I'm on the right track, baby, I was born this way, hey.
H. Key to Crossword