Application of Cognitive Theories in “Real Women Have Curves”

Application of Cognitive Theories in “Real Women Have Curves”

Jean Piaget is one of the highly regarded theorists due to his study on the cognitive theories that have been used by psychologies from ancient times as well as modern times. Piaget criticizes the various metaphysical development views in the history of children’s psychology and proposes that the psychological development of children is a mental development concept that continually produces quantitative and qualitative changes in the interaction between internal and external factors (Vonèche, 1990). He puts forward the four elements of children’s psychological development and summarizes the stage theory of psychological development for the first time. At the same time, it divides the four stages of psychological development and reveals the general laws of perceptual movement, pre-operation, concrete operation, and formal operation. Therefore, Piaget has greatly enriched and deepened the study of children’s psychology and has become an essential milestone in the history of developmental psychology.

It is necessary to note that adolescents develop rapidly and thus undergo quick physiological and psychological changes (Lakdawalla et al., 2007). The physiological characteristics of adolescence are abrupt, and a series of physiological phenomena such as morphology, shape, and endocrine will undergo a rapid and vast change. Physiological changes are the material basis of psychological transformations. With the physiological modifications and the various influences of the external environment, the adolescent period is a transitional period in which the individual’s psychology is rapidly maturing and not yet fully mature. Adolescence is one of the most important stages that one needs to learn about if they want to study human growth and development.

Cognitive theories are good ways to learn about adolescence. Individuals entering puberty have begun to pay attention to and evaluate their inner world, and personality quality as their understanding of the outside world continues to increase, and their life experiences continue to accumulate. However, during this time, they did not form a stable image of themselves, so their self-awareness was not stable enough, and they usually could not make an objective evaluation of themselves, and the problem was too subjective. In the face of setbacks, they are often frustrated, inferior, depressed, and even self-defeating (Friedmann et al., 2016). The key to this period is to help young people build a correct understanding of various aspects of their lives and guide them to rational decision making. Cognitive theories provide an understanding of children and adolescents and, therefore, suitable in analyzing its application in the movie “Real Women Have Curves.” The main character is Ana, a teenager aiming to fulfill her dreams in life, which is going to college. However, family duties and economic situation are obstacles to her goal. Ana’s mother persuades her to work in the textile industry owned by her family, and Ana’s sister is the manager.

Ana agrees to work at the textile factory during the summer holidays but continues to write an acceptance essay to Columbia University. At the same time, she has found a new relationship with her boyfriend Jimmy and spends some time with him after she sneaks from the house.  Ana’s mother insists that Ana should not go to college, but Ana considers herself a grown, confident woman who can make rational decisions. She applies for college and gets the support of her from her sister and father to become a successful person. Ana’s development has been highlighted by Piaget in stage four of the cognitive theory, which is the formal operation.

The formal operational stage begins almost at 12 years of age and lasts into adulthood. At this stage, adolescents become more skilled and gain the ability of abstract as they engage in deductive reasoning (Vonèche, 1990).  Ana’s abstract thought in the movie is that she wants to go to college despite her family’s financial situation and the lack of her mother’s support. Perhaps, she had expected that her mother would be the first person to encourage her to pursue her dream. However, this was not the reality, and she ended up being disappointed. One can see that Ana always appear sad and consumed in her thoughts. Her look is that of an angry person who has a longing desire to fulfill and thus likely to be prone to anger. Dennis et al., (2019), also confirms that psychopathology is more prevalent during adolescence as a different set of brain regions relate to irritability among adolescents. Therefore, teenagers are likely to experience anger from several factors that influence their lives.

Ana also tries to maintain her relationship with Jimmy, and she seems happy with him since he assured her of his love for her. Her relationship with Jimmy is different from the one she has with her mother. Ana continually argues with her mother about specific issues concerning a woman. She believes that being a woman is not about her weight, sexuality, and being devoted to her husband. Unlike her mother, who believes that Ana’s life revolves around helping with family chores at home and running the family business, Ana has a different opinion as she values education. Weight and sexuality are some of the sensitive issues that have an impact on the development of a teenager.  Adolescents are likely to develop depressive symptoms as they transition from childhood to adolescence (Friredmann et al., 2016). This is the phase in their lives where teenagers need someone to support their dreams and explain to them the physical and psychological changes in their lives. Ana lacks connection to emotional awareness, yet emotions and logic are similar concepts addressed by Piaget in his cognitive theory (Lourenço, 2019).  Ana’s feelings comprise sadness, embarrassment, and disappointment as she feels nobody cares about her.

Ana’s expression of her emotions is evident when she gets frustrated and says that she never wanted to work in the factory. She also looks at herself in the mirror when with Jimmy and feels embarrassed about her body. She believes that she does not match the beauty standards set by her mother and the society, and therefore, Jimmy does not deserve her as his girlfriend. Therefore, Ana’s emotions connect to cognitive theory as it influences her actions and opinions. Ana perceives education as a way to become a successful person in the future. Her mother and sister may be running the family textile factory, but they are not generating enough income for the family to have a quality lifestyle. Besides, her sister struggles with paying rent and the employees, and thus this business may not be sustainable for Sara and the future generation. She has the desire to pursue her education and therefore defies her mother’s order of not going to college by spending most of the nights writing an essay to the university that will enable her to achieve her dreams.

Ana is also a skillful teenager and thus applies for a scholarship for her studies. She is later happy that her application was successful and had been granted the scholarship. Ana seeks to reject the traditional norms of being an uneducated woman like her mother, who believes in dedicating her life to her husband. One can realize that Ana’s environment throughout her childhood had a significant influence on her ability to reason. She observed the relationship between her parents and did not admire a similar life. She wants to be an empowered woman like men and appreciate herself since her sexuality and body weight does not determine her future. Ana can think about the possibilities of her becoming successful in the future, yet her mother views education as a waste of time. She wants Ana to spend more time at the factory, learning how to perform low-paying jobs like the women in her community did before and continue with a similar trend.

Ana is in her late adolescence as she makes on individual decision making and self-centered concepts, unlike following the set social norms.  Ana is in control of her life and thus goes beyond the traditional norms to satisfy her sexual desires. Ana also goes to school against her mother’s will and, therefore, does not receive her blessing. However, Ana’s father and her sister are supportive of her decision and encourage her to fulfill her dream of going to college. Ana does not resolve her relationship with her mother, and there are high possibilities that this situation will have an impact on her development as a teenager.  According to Espelage (2018), there is a significant relationship between the changes that a person experiences, the anger, and increased relation aggression.

Therefore, in this case, Ana has resentment towards her mother as she does not allow her to pursue her dream and establish her future career. It is likely that Ana may take quite some time before they can become friends,  and this may happen if Ana’s mother compromises her views towards her child’s education and allow her to be the person she aspires to become. Ana may not abandon her dreams to conform to the traditional thoughts of defining a woman as she is determined to be successful through education regardless of whether she gets the support from her mother.

The risk of depression intensifies when an individual is in adolescence (Friedmann et al., 2016).  The study conducted by Friedmann et al. (2016) indicates that there is a relationship between positive and negative schema content and structure after a specific period. Therefore, schemas in adolescence predict depressive symptoms and the possibility of youth resilience. The schemas enable an individual to develop a mental representation of their environment. For example, Ana’s relationship with her mother may affect her future associations with women who are her mother’s age, as she may believe that they have a similar opinion about her career as her mother. She also appears to hold her emotions and not share them with people around her and thus at risk of developing depressive symptoms. Her mother should have taught her to appreciate her body and embrace her beauty. Instead, Ana’s mother made her have doubts about herself. At the time when she was working at the factory, Ana felt the place was sweltering and removed her shirt. Her mother was surprised by her actions and scolded her of not being ashamed of herself because she thinks Ana is overweight. Such comments may affect someone’s perception of life, especially if they are not as brave as Ana.

Depression is more prevalent among adolescents than in childhood as they seek solutions to several issues in society (Lakdawalla et al., 2007). Ana believed that she was beautiful the ways she is, but her mother tries to confuse her and by setting beauty standards. She wanted Ana and her sister to lose weight and become thin and sexy.  She should have explained to Ana the changes that happen to her body as she becomes a teenager instead of trying to change her perception of her body. Ana acknowledges that they are all women and should learn to appreciate themselves and thus an indication that Ana can argue her opinion and can advocate for changes that will ensure justice for everyone in the society. Piaget confirms that in the formal operational stage, adolescents have to gain intellectual development and, therefore, can think of several variables systematically provide possible solutions to the problems they have identified in society.  Ana learned from her mother that society has set beauty standards and that women are not allowed to express their sexuality as well as pursue their dreams. Instead of adhering to such traditions, Ana wants to change the situation by going to her dream college regardless of her mother’s approval.

Generally, the movie Real Women Have Curves sufficiently addresses Piaget’s cognitive theory in several ways but through Ana as the main character. She is a teenager in the formal operational stage and thus satisfies the various aspects of development highlighted by Piaget.  Ana not only wants to achieve her dreams and bring significant changes in her community but also encounters opposition from her mother. However, she is not aware of the set beauty standards and but also advocates for justice for a woman regardless of their body size since their sexuality does not determine who women are in society. Ana believes that she should continue with her education and become a great person. Therefore, Ana is a teenager representing Piaget’s cognitive theory, especially the formal operational stage.

References

Dennis, E. L., Humphreys, K. L., King, L. S., Thompson, P. M., & Gotlib, I. H. (2019). Irritability and brain volume in adolescents: cross-sectional and longitudinal associations. Social Cognitive & Affective Neuroscience, 14(7), 687–698. https://doi-org.ccco.idm.oclc.org/10.1093/scan/nsz053

Espelage, D. L. 1. espelage@ufl. Ed., Merrin, G. J. ., Hong, J. S., & Resko, S. M. 3, (2018). Applying Social Cognitive Theory to Explore Relational Aggression across Early Adolescence: A Within- and between-person Analysis. Journal of Youth & Adolescence, 47(11), 2401–2413. https://doi-org.ccco.idm.oclc.org/10.1007/s10964-018-0910-x

Friedmann, J. S., Lumley, M. N., & Lerman, B. (2016). Cognitive schemas as longitudinal predictors of self-reported adolescent depressive symptoms and resilience. Cognitive Behaviour Therapy, 45(1), 32–48. https://doi-org.ccco.idm.oclc.org/10.1080/16506073.2015.1100212

Lakdawalla, Z., Hankin, B., & Mermelstein, R. (2007). Cognitive Theories of Depression in Children and Adolescents: A Conceptual and Quantitative Review. Clinical Child & Family Psychology Review, 10(1), 1–24. https://doi-org.ccco.idm.oclc.org/10.1007/s10567-006-0013-1

Vonèche, J. (1990). Jean Piaget, adolescent idéal. Psicologia USP, 1(2), 113–116. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com.ccco.idm.oclc.org/login.aspx?direct=true&db=edssci&AN=edssci.S1678.51771990000200002&site=eds-live&scope=site

Lourenço, O. (2019). Children’s understanding of the idea of logical necessity: The effect of counter-suggestions. Análise Psicológica, 37(3), 249–268. https://doi-org.ccco.idm.oclc.org/10.14417/ap.1576