Disclaimer: I hate it when my peers try to be philosophical and "soapbox-y" because I feel that we really haven't "lived enough" to say anything truly worthwhile on societal issues like this one. Yet, I continue anyways. This makes me a hypocrite before I even begin my point. So we'll see how this goes...
Lately in AP Art History (don't get me started on how much I wish this class interested me) we have been studying the artist's large role in shaping an unrealistic womanly beauty that subjects a woman to demeaning and purely visual standards/categories that are pleasing to the "male gaze." The concept is basically explained by Raphael's quote, "...to paint one beautiful woman, I must see several beautiful women...But since there are not enough beautiful women, I use an idea."
As you might have already guessed, this topic put the class on a rather long tangent on society's effects on modern day images of women vs. men. I sleepily blew it off at first, it's not like this had been the first time that stereotypes and sexual innuendoes were discussed in class. But as I continued to halfheartedly listen to the discussion, I became very bothered and discouraged by the overwhelming amount of women conforming to society's, mainly men's, degrading visual standards. Not surprisingly, the male students agreed on the fact that beauty (disregarding any type of inner beauty by guideline of activity) was a combination of a woman's eyes, legs, butt, stomach, hair, and breasts. Again, "whatever, I'm not shocked." But then when the focus was shifted to the female students, I was actually quite disturbed by the obvious majority of the students who blindly accept all that the "male gaze" subjects the woman too. Topics discussed by the majority: forcing themselves to wear high heels (so their "butts would look good") even though they caused indescribably amounts of pain in simply crossing the street, beginning to wear makeup at the age of 11, and trying to look the skinny/curvy "Barbie model" type shape.
I really don't want to criticize the situation, though I do see it as discouraging and a direct effect of media (and the overpowering male dominance in producing media shows), but I did feel fairly confident in myself after the discussion. Needless to say, I really don't stress on my image (almost to the point of not caring too much, according to mom sometimes. haha). I wear sneakers everyday. I wear no makeup, and it literally takes me 15 minutes to get ready every morning. (Note to self: I'll probably view this as some sort of barbaric stage in my life when/if I ever start making a conscious effort to present myself). Regardless, I came out feeling absolutely blessed that I feel comfortable enough with myself to not have to worry about my appearance and what others may "judge me by." I won't get all sappy in Godly beauty, but I truly believe in it and appreciate the simplicity that it brings to my life. And whatever happens, I hope I hold this (most likely naive) ideal in my life forever.
Next post: Why society has subjected us to wear clothes. Lol, I kidddddd...
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