This week we looked at images of some of the body art/ body images and discussed the image displayed and perhaps the reasons behind sometimes drastic changes. We hoped by the end of the session we could see how we judge people on appearances.We questioned the pros and cons of judging people acknowledging that whilst at times it is inappropriate to judge people on solely their appearance, there are situations where this is important i.e in a job interview.That although people look a certain way i.e a woman with hundreds of piercings or tattoos may look “scary”, once we talk to people our perceptions of the individual may change.We discussed who we thought looked healthy and all girls agreed that the catwalk model looked very unhealthy and unattractive. An initial response was that plastic surgery was for fashion and media purposes. However when discussing this, the women started to also acknowledge plastic surgery as a medical need i.e. breast reconstruction after breast cancer surgery.

We also discussed sensitive issues including female circumcision exploring how we feel about these practices being shocking in western cultures yet acceptable in the cultures which practice these.