An obvious topic to explore in relation to this idea is that of advertising and the mass media. However, this is a very broad topic and I will need to narrow my ideas down to specific issues within the media.
I feel that dealing with the issue of the "ideal" female image is becoming a bit cliche, as everyone is already very aware of the pressures and expectations places upon girls to be thin and flawless. Images of girls harming themselves through eating disorders and such are becoming all too common and somewhat hopeless as the shock value has worn off through repetition.
I'd like to somehow take this idea further and perhaps explore the subject in ways that aren't so common as to draw attention, not so much to the damage females are doing to themselves for the sake of beauty, but rather to the shallowness of society in general and the way many of us pretend to know better, while in our minds we are just as bad.
An idea could be to draw a connection to the brutality of raw animal nature and basic needs (eg, food, water, shelter, mating). An animal making a gruesome kill for the sake of hunger, could be likened to a girl throwing up for the sake of beauty in order to attract a mate.
Until I've developed a solid idea for my final project I intend to work with creating less thoughtful images that simply toy with the idea of media image, such as photo manipulating an image of myself that conforms to mass media standards (reducing weight, airbrushing skin, etc)
