Shopping, hair, nails, magazines. Women are constantly fed and sold these images on the daily. Many of us women strive for these aesthetic goals, almost as a means of survival. Survival within our social realms as well as survival within our own minds. When we women continue to perpetuate this image obsessed female culture, we continue having to live up to these expectations.
Have you noticed something about all those Women that seem to be successful in society? They are always held to a standard of being beautiful, smart, well groomed, and well-versed. Women in society are obviously held to higher standards when compared to men.
Men can be praised solely on his capabilities, talents, and intellect, whereas women who are equally gifted go virtually unnoticed, especially if they don't fill the acceptable molds of "woman normalcy" within society.
I wonder if it comes from sexualization of females by the male-dominated world, or if it also comes from the female's tendency to perpetuate the female culture.
At some point, we women must realize what we do to continue this way of thinking. Some of us go to great lengths to impress others, to express ourselves, and to boost our confidence. We must ask ourselves, is aesthetic beauty really worth the price if it costs us a chunk of our minds? Is popular thought more valuable than independent thinking?
Every day we women support the "big men" behind the fashion industries and pop culture. Is it really that hard to believe they would keep control over us, especially for the sake of profit? Is it possible that they designed an impossible standard for women to achieve, simply so they could sell back pre-packaged "confidence" to the masses?
If we are aware, we can ultimately say no. Nothing is making us starve ourselves or put on make-up, but the social pressures for women as a whole still remain. Although a form of pop feminism has made it mainstream in our culture, the perpetuation of ideal feminine beauty standards are here to stay...
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