Venus De Willendorf Vs. Barbie free essay sample

Venus de Willendorf and Barbie are two very different representations of women and their beauty. Both are man-made and inspirational, both from two very different times. Venus by the homosapiens millions of years ago and Barbie a mere fifty years ago by a woman and mother looking for a doll her daughter could play and grow with. In looking at Venus de Willendorf and the Barbie doll, they seem to be related in a way and yet could not be any more different in appearance. In analyzing their culture and the time periods by which both were created, we learn a lot of who created them, what they stand for, how they are related and how they are different. As modern women, we put a lot into our appearances. From dying our hair, putting make-up on, use creams and serums, Botox, collagen injections, plastic surgery and so much more all to feel beautiful and attractive to those we desire and to avoid the unacceptable look by modern standards of Venus de Willendorf. We will write a custom essay sample on Venus De Willendorf Vs. Barbie or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Paleolithic times are still so unknown to us, we study Venus de Willendorf based on what we do know. Her name â€Å"Venus† is a Greek rooted name for â€Å"Love and Beauty. † Her obese body tells modern historians that she was the symbol of motherhood and stood for fertility. It is believed that Venus was what the Paleolithic saw as beautiful. A woman capable of producing children. Her missing face is also felt that her beauty what not measured by her facial features at all but her abilities to reproduce and expand their people. Venus was created by what are believed to be the first homosapians and the start of human kind. They were hunters and gatherers that survived and hunted using tools by which they created. Making stones sharp and pointed to hunt with using every part of what they killed for their own survival. The hides and skins were used for warmth, the meat is what fed them, and then bones were made into tools or houses for shelter and survival. They mated with one another to grow their villages. These homosapians saw beauty where it wasn’t defined, and their ignorance to what we know as attraction makes it all the more surreal. Currently there are two theories as to why the Paleolithic people created the Venus de Willendorf. The first and least popular idea of her creation is based upon her voluptuous body and abundance of overall body fat. Some see the fact that her people were hunters and gatherers fighting to survive, having so much body would help to keep one warm enough to survive along with providing warmth to another. The other modern belief is that Venus was a symbol fertility. The exaggerated breasts, buttocks and knowledge that she had red dye painted around her genital region suggesting menstruation, bringing attention to the beauty of women and all attributes used for reproduction and child bearing. Either way, Venus was seen as a symbol of sex, desire and beauty to the Paleolithic culture so many millions of years ago. It was also noted that the over-all size of the Venus statue as well as others that have been found over the years were small enough to fit into a modern day pant pocket, they believe the women and children carried these small statues around because they were possibly forms of religious charms or dolls for children, believed to bring fertility to them. In 1959, Ruth Handler wanted her daughter to have a doll to play with that had unlimited possibilities. For over 54 years, Handler has been successful in her efforts. Fifty-four years after her creation, Barbie is still the woman to which modern woman want to be and look like. Barbie has the perfect body, so perfect in fact that her dimensions are too impossible for a woman to hold her upper body vertical. She would be forced over because her waist would be too narrow to support the weight of her upper body. Even knowing this, modern women still feel like Barbie has the perfect body along with the wardrobe most only dream about, the sports car, dream house fully furnished and career possibilities that are endless. As the times are different than they were in 1959 modern women have to work, cook, clean, be mothers and still feel they have to uphold the appearance of Barbie to be attractive for their husbands, significant others or society in general. The busier our schedules, the worse our diets become and less time we have to work-out and get exercise on a regular basis. Modern medicine helps women to achieve the Barbie look for a very hefty price. In modern culture, we accept having plastic surgery done in order to look and feel desired. We want to be thin, beautiful, have great hair and be able to wear a teeny bikini no matter what. Our reality is a whole lot different. There are a lot of medical reasons that women gain weight and/or simply cannot lose weight, one also has to consider hectic and busy schedules not leaving enough time for one to exercise as much as she might want to and sometimes we are just so tired, we cannot get up enough energy to cook a healthy meal or get to the gym for an hour or so. No matter the reason, in the end we look and feel the way we do about ourselves for a reason. Looking in the mirror and seeing the Venus de Willendorf looking back at you is not the look any of us are going for. Being obese is seriously frowned upon not just by the medial industry but by society as a whole. There are so many women today that are getting thousands and thousands of dollars worth of plastic surgery, insisting that they are made to look like Barbie in every way, a new term has been coined; The Barbie Complex. Some women are spending their whole lives and all of their money to achieve the same look as Barbie. One questions remains in the end; why is it not acceptable today to look like Venus? Venus is obese. Yes we know that medically being obese is not a healthy way to live one’s life, but what makes it unattractive. According to men personally surveyed in an anonymous survey the answer given were as follows; â€Å"Because she is fat† â€Å"She’s fat which means she’s just lazy† â€Å"If there was less of her she might be cute. † One person even claimed, â€Å"It looks like she ate Barbie. † All of these are very real answers from modern men. Fat is simply not seen as attractive and evidently is seen as a characteristic flaw in women since being depicted as lazy because of size. It is possible that because women are terrified of falling into such an unattractive category, especially as teens and young adults many women and girls have fallen victim to eating disorders. Anorexia and Bulimia are both very good examples of what women are doing to themselves so to ensure not becoming over weight. The fear of not being thin and beautiful like Barbie and being overweight and ugly like Venus is driving them to starvation and expelling food from their body after consumption. Some girls are becoming depressed by their size that they are eating more. This clearly has an adverse effect on the issue at hand. Today if Venus were alive and real, it could be said that she certainly would not be seen the same way as it is believed that she was seem upon creation. One could go as far as to say that because of her appearance and it being considered as unacceptable as it might be today, that she would not be seen as the symbol of anything related to sex or child bearing. To think of sex one would think of a woman of Barbie’s stature and measurements in modern day society. It could be related that these two symbolized women both stood as the symbols for sex during their own time periods and within their own cultures. So while the Paleolithic people saw Venus as being the symbol of child bearing, giving life and reproduction, modern day men and women see someone of her stature and appearance disgraceful and unacceptable. Men and women in modern society want children and families, but there is an expectation to still maintain the appearance of the Barbie doll. From dying our hair, putting make-up on, use creams and serums, Botox, collagen injections, plastic surgery and so much more all to feel beautiful and attractive to those we desire and to avoid the unacceptable