I am looking at the cover of People Magazine right now and the cover reads, "Beyonce World's Most Beautiful Woman!" In this world beauty is something that so many girls love but do not understand. Beauty is not being skinny, having amazing skin, straight teeth, and straight silky hair. Beauty is the way you treat others, the respect you give yourself, and the life you chose to lead.
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The only reason we believe sex sells and all the fake forms of beauty listed above are perfect is because media shoves it down our throat everyday. Girls believe they need to look that way for someone to find them attractive, or that they be accepted by others if they are beautiful. These beliefs only lead to eating disorders and a distorted self image. We need to empower women and all forms of beauty, not try to fit them all into one mold.
Ever since I was young and still to this day I have seen beautiful women grace the covers of our Magazines. I remember seeing tan skin, with dark straight hair, perfect straight teeth and I made the relation that it did not look like me. It took a long time to embrace my pale skin and my curly frizzy hair. It may not be the prototype of today but it is ME. If I continued to believe that I would be more attractive with a tan and dark straight hair, I wouldn't know what I would really look like. I would no longer be unique.
The fact of these media messages is that it begins to ruin young women's minds. We don't need to be judging and rating each other. Women need to stick together and understand that we are unique and yet all very beautiful. The psychological issues that come along with young women looking up to beauty magazines is so destructive and so unnecessary. We don't need to push perfection anymore. It is a time for change and that should include this image we all have of "beautiful" women.
4 comments:
I completely agree with you on this post. Americans are taught to believe that if a woman is not physically beautiful, then she is not really worth much at all. It is uncommon to see unattractive women on television or magazines. I recently saw this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JFh5F8cFb3g&fb_source=message and it really opened my eyes to how oppressed women continue to be. It really is so sad that so many girls say they want to be president when they are little and then change their minds in just a few years. If you look at our congress, women are still very underrepresented despite all our advances in equality. We, as women, continue to allow ourselves to be paid less and still regularly hit the "glass ceiling". It is very sad that so many girls and women continue to define themselves by their beauty and are content to remain in low-level positions.
I absolutely agree with this post and the points that you made. I, myself, used to try to live up to all of the expectations set for women by media. Media sets these bizarre standards that imply women must be skinny, have straight teeth, pretty hair (all of which you mentioned) in order to be "beautiful." FALSE. Every woman is exactly who she is and can be beautiful being exactly that.
Let's look at Marilyn Monroe, for example. She had curves and was looked at as one of the hottest sex symbols of the 50s. She made history for being content and dominant in who she was, and did not fall under the "standards" set for women. She made her name in history by being different than everyone else and being okay with that.
Oprah Winfrey, too, is a dominant African American who is not the ideal image of women today. She is not a model figure, and has plenty of curves, but is still known as one of the most impacting, dominant woman today.
The media affects women and they don't even seem to care. They broadcast all of these underweight models in cute clothes to give girls the desire to look like that. We have rights, as women, and I don't believe those rights are affected by our weight, what we wear, what style of hair we have, etc. In reality, it is none of our business what other people think about us. I feel as though there are bigger problems to worry about than "fitting in"...because "fitting in" happens when we are ourselves, not trying to live up to expectations or be someone we are not.
I totally agree with you when you say that the media feeds us fake forms of beauty. The media uses sexual appeal in their advertisement to encourage consumers to buy a certain product.In addition, I also agree with you when you say " We need to empower women and all forms of beauty, not try to fit them all into one mold", but you should know that men feel the same way. The media tells us guys that if we don't have a rip six pack and a big chest like taylor lautner then were scrawny and unattractive. However, I believe that how much the media influences you depends on your current self-esteem. According to "The Truth About Women and Self-Esteem" by Susan Nolen-Hoeksema, " before adolescence, girls have a range of interests and strong opinions about the world. As they enter dating age, however, girls lose their "voice" as they confront demands to become subservient and silent in order to be attractive to males", and i believe that Susan brings up a good point. Many women I know learn to accept themselves and their flaws later in life, but everyone mimics the attractive women on popular magazines in their younger years. I think that it is only a phase in your life, and it may be short or it could last for the rest of your life. However, I believe that all women with good personalities are beautiful. Women use make up, eyeliner, blush, ect because they feel physically ugly, but trust me that can only go so far in life.
Of course as a woman I agree with you that women should not be judged or rated based on there outer appearance. A persons inner beauty should of course be most important. The part of your post I don't agree with though is that sex appeal is shoved down our throats and that being the only reason it seems to be so prominent in the media. Sex is a natural basic human instinct. And girls wanting to emulate those they see on covers of magazines is normal. In your about me bio you state your love for fashion and Elle magazines; every part of fashion and those types of magazines are filled with women who are beautiful and by all standards perfect. People in general are drawn to attractive people what is a problem is that girls don't seem to have the capacity to know that those women in the media aren't real; airbrushed pictures and unrealistic better versions of themselves. I think those who let people they don't even know such as celebrities effect their own lives and psyche are that way because no one told them as children that thats not the way to think or behave. No matter how many feminists types there are protesting be judged on their looks its still going to be a fact of life. And there is nothing wrong with women idolizing those who are beautiful and wanting to be the best they can be. At the same time still staying true to themselves because no matter your hair or make up people are still unique because you are you and no one else can come close to that.
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