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Women's bodies have been represented as objects of beauty in various cultures and in different historical epochs.

The first thing that has to be talked about here are beauty contests. First of all, the most famous beauty contests in the world are women's beauty contests. In these contests, women do nothing but show off their bodies to the audience. They dress scantily so that they do not cover the object of attention: the body. Some people have argued that beauty contests degrade women, because they make their bodies objects of beauty, but it seems that beauty contests, as of now, are here to stay.There are big interests who are making a lot of money from these women parading themselves , and they are not just about to give up their source of income.

In Swaziland, every year there is something called the Reed Dance. Up to 100,000 unmarried young women take part in this ceremony,where the young women carry reeds to the Queen's residence. The ceremony was originally meant for the girls to pay tribute to the Queen, but has been used frequently by the King of Swaziland, who marries every year, to choose another wife from the parading young women. This is another example of how women's bodies have been used as objects.

Another forum where women's bodies are represented as objects of beauty is in magazines. Commenting about how female athletes are depicted in magazines, one writer said,

"The womens bodies are photographed in certain ways to facilitate the male gaze and emphasize female sexuality. Similar to the pictures of Flo-Jo, the lines of the womens legs, hips, butt, waist, and arms are over-emphasized. They are placed in unnatural poses, such as bent over or completely layed out, both standard porn techniques, to create these lines. Notice the similarity between the Playboy spread of Cindy Crawford and the TYR swimwear ad. Also the clothes these women are pictured in helps facilitate the male gaze. Almost all of the ads I looked at had the woman in a sports bra and lycra shorts or in a swimsuit for maximum exposure and desirability."

An array of magazines at the bookstores shows women with very revealing clothes, with very low necklines to show a little bit of the breasts, short lengths or skirts or dresses with slits to reveal the legs and thighs. All this is done to entertain men.

Despite the advent of human rights of women, when it comes to the use of the female body as an object of beauty, women seems to be reluctant to change. Models are being paid millions to reveal their bodies, and the as of now the cause of women's rights is trumped by financial issues when it comes to the use of the female body as an object of beauty.

Learn more about this author, Thokozile Gurganious.
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