Objectification of Womyn in the Sandman
It is obvious from reading the Sandman that the character of Nathaniel is a misogynistic, by our standards these days in any case. He is obsessed with womyn as images which is clear from his endless ruminations on the beauty of both Olympia and Clara. This infatuation with the image is so strong that Nathaniel actually falls for Olympia so easily despite an "uncanny feeling" he gets from her eyes (the loss of sight being his biggest fear).
However it is not this obsession with beauty that disturbs me. It is an attitude that is prevalent today not just 200 years ago and I am the first to admit that physical attraction is of vital importance when falling for someone romantically. No, what disturbs me most about the descriptions from the Sandman is there emphasis on 'perfection'. Clara is described as being exactly symmetrical while Olympia's face is described as seraphic. Since Olympia is also an automaton she will have been constructed with a concept of 'perfect'. But a 'perfect' image is uncanny. It is unnerving and unnatural and I believe is a large reason on why many people find dolls disturbing. Dolls tend to be perfectly symmetrical.
For me a large part of beauty lies in slight imperfections. A slightly crooked tooth, a mole in an odd place and even differently coloured eyes. It is these quirks that we all have that make us individuals (in terms of physical appearance in any case) and play a large part of attraction. Perfection is not possible and not natural, it's not real and it disturbs us. However thanks to the modern media the idea of the 'perfect' is becoming a constructed faux reality. People are led to believe that they should strive for this ideal rather than see the beauty that lies in every person. Olympia, can be used today, to symbolise just how distorted our own ideas of womyn have become. Not just how males view females but how womyn percieve themselves. A video I linked in one of my earlier blog posts showed the amount of digital and physical editing done to make a model appear 'perfect'. When you consider this is it any wonder that eating disorders are on the rise and fad diets are becoming much more popular. This is despite the fact that the uncanny nature of these 'perfect' models goes against our base instincts in so many ways.
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