Manipülatif Beden Odağında İdeal Kadın Bedeninin Eleştirisine Yönelik Sanatsal İfadeler

Abstract

The study, which examines the potential or actual challenges individuals face due to the imposition and manipulation of the ideal body perception directed at women, approaches the topic from an artistic perspective. It focuses on the processes through which the female body has been idealized throughout history and its reflections in today’s consumer culture. The female body is not merely considered a biological structure but also as an object laden with social identity and cultural meanings. Historically associated with concepts such as fertility, sin, and beauty, the female body has been confined to the notion of an ideal body, particularly through the influence of the capitalist system and its media and fashion industries. Today, this ideal is imposed on women through social media and advertising, leading to body dissatisfaction, eating disorders, and psychological and social pressures. In the first section of this artistic report, the evolving perceptions of the female body throughout history are examined within social, cultural, and artistic frameworks. It analyzes the discourses around the female body in the fields of fashion, media, and healthcare and their effects on individuals. Alongside the historical and societal norms regarding the female body, contemporary artists’ critiques of patriarchal ideals of beauty and the ideal body are also reviewed. In the second section of the report, examples from various artists’ works are presented, exploring how the female body is employed as a medium of expression in different artistic practices to oppose the pressures of an idealized beauty and body imposed by consumer society. The third section delves into the individual reflections of the ideal female body perception from an artistic perspective. It highlights the psychological and physical pressures exerted on women today through the ideal body image promoted by social media, fashion, and consumer culture. The artistic works in this section aim to reveal, from the perspective of ceramic art, the impact of the idealized beauty perception on individuals, seeking to raise awareness through art.