Beauty is Skin Deep

Note: This lesson has been adapted with permission from the original created by GLSEN [1] for its program, No Name-Calling Week [2].

Overview
Students reflect on the ways in which they have experienced or participated in bias based on physical size and appearance, and the ways in which expectations about body image and appearance in our society affect us. They learn about media literacy and examine media images for "attractiveness messages" that consciously and unconsciously impact our attitudes and behavior toward others. Students conclude the lesson by exploring ways to get beyond appearance as a dominant force in their social lives.

Objectives

• To increase students’ awareness about the ways in which conscious and unconscious expectations regarding body size and appearance impact us in negative ways


• To develop students’ media literacy skills and encourage them to think critically about "attractiveness messages" in the media


• To challenge students to identify specific actions they can take to move beyond appearance as a dominant force in their social lives

Materials

• Media images (from magazines, the Internet, television, movies, or music)
• Chart paper
• Markers or pens
• Copies of Messages from the Media [3]
• Copies of Media Investigation: Physical Appearance and Attractiveness (PDF) [4]
• Copies of Turn Beauty Inside Out Day Winning Essays [5]

PROCEDURE
1. Post the following questions on the board or read them aloud. Ask students to silently reflect on them:

• Have you ever been on the receiving end of a cruel comment about your physical size or appearance?


• Have others let you know, in some way, that you’re not attractive enough?


• Do you find clothes shopping unpleasant because of fears about how others will judge you?


• Have you ever skipped an activity to avoid comments about your appearance?


• Do you think often about dieting because of comments about your weight?


• Have you considered changing aspects of your appearance to look better to others?


• Have you ever made cruel comments to others about their appearance?

Point out that, unfortunately, most of us would answer yes to at least one of the questions above. Judgments about physical size and appearance are personal and extremely hurtful, yet all too common. Ask students why they think it is that we are so quick to form opinions about others based on their appearance and without getting to know them. Challenge students to articulate how we get our ideas about what others are "supposed" to look like in our society.

2. If it has not already come up, point out to students that one way in which we get our ideas about body image and attractiveness is through the media. Movies, magazines, Web sites, television, and even video games often communicate unrealistic ideas about body image, and put pressure on us -- even if we aren’t aware of it -- to look a certain way.

3. Distribute Messages from the Media [3], or use an overhead projector to display it at the front of the room. Ask students to respond to these statistics and to comment on the extent to which they think they are affected by "attractiveness messages" they receive on a daily basis. Tell students that one way to resist some of the media’s false messages about appearance -- and their effect on our self-esteem and behavior toward others-- is to become media literate. This means thinking about the values behind media images, raising critical questions about them, and being aware of who created them and for what purpose.

4. Tell students that they will be practicing media literacy by selecting up to three media representations to study. This investigation can be assigned as homework or done in class if the media representations are collected in advance. Students can select magazines, Web sites, TV shows or commercials, movies or music videos that are popular with their peers. Give each student a copy of the chart, Media Investigation: Physical Appearance and Attractiveness (PDF) [4], which they can use to take notes as they research. For each item that they study, have students write and discuss their answers to one or more of the following questions:

• Who created the magazine (or show, video, movie, etc.) and for what purpose?


• How many and what type of "attractiveness messages" were communicated? (These can be verbal, types of people or characters, gestures or expressions, types of clothing, etc.)


• Do these messages reflect real life and real people in your community?


• What are the values or beliefs behind these messages? Do you agree with them?


• What techniques are being used to get you to buy into the messages?


• How might these messages affect your own or others’ attitudes about physical appearance?


• What important images or messages have been left out?

5. Suggest to students that expressions like "beauty is only skin deep" and "don’t judge a book by its cover" seem to be empty clichés in our culture today. Ask them if they agree and whether or not they believe that most people reflect such values in their behavior toward others. Challenge students to think about concrete ways that they can change the culture in their own class or school around this issue. Ask what they can do to get beyond appearance as a dominant force in the way they relate to one another. List their ideas on a sheet of chart paper and create a follow-up plan to put one or more of these ideas into action.

EXTENSION ACTIVITY
Tell students that girls around the country are putting this way of thinking to action each year on Turn Beauty Inside Out Day, which encourages people to submit essays about girls in their lives who are beautiful inside and out. The handout, Turn Beauty Inside Out Day Winning Essays [5], includes some of the entries, which you can share with your students. Ask students to write an essay about someone "beautiful" in their lives (emphasize that it doesn’t have to be a girl). This can be assigned as homework or completed as an in-class writing activity. When students have completed their essays, ask for a few volunteers to share their pieces with the class and to receive feedback from their peers.