Does anybody ever attend a party where the first thing you do is look around and compare yourself to how other women at the party look?

- I have a friend:

“She’s not even that pretty.”

“Its okay, you’re prettier than her anyway.”

She seems to believe that physical attractiveness is really all that matters.

Beauty is an idea and a function of culture.

When ideas about beauty make

powerful impacts they are considered beauty ideals.

Therefore, those who try to “find” beauty are trying to live up to an ideal.(uen)

Beauty is:› Not Tangible› Not Objective› Not Real

› No one can totally achieve the idea of beauty because there is not one set definition. It is an opinion.

› “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.”

The “Fashion Silhouette”

Affects the natural look of the body to mold into social standard. (Thomas)

A Chinese woman’s foot was considered beautiful if it was small, so foot binding was incorporated into the culture and took place for about 1000 years. Around the age of six, small girls feet were wrapped in tight bandages, so they could not develop normally. They would break and become deformed. These feet remained small and dysfunctional and prone to infection, paralysis and muscular atrophy. The feet usually stayed between 4-6 inches long.

Many African tribe women have had their lips supported and stretched by metal rings (lip plates) since early childhood. In

adulthood their stretched lips express the ultimate in beauty. (able)

“Giraffe necks” are common in a tribe living close to the border of Thailand and also in many African tribes especially in Kenya and Tanzania. (able)

“What was considered beautiful for an aristocratic Elizabethan woman in Tudor England involved whitening the face, plucking eyelashes, and shaving back the hairline to show a prominent forehead.”(Shaw)

In the late 1700s, women began to wear their hair along with fake hair up in a giant wig that took hours to prepare. Women often had to sleep sitting up and scratched their scalps with a tool resembling back scratchers of today. The hair could be built up to 30 inches tall and lice and persistent head aches were common. (Thomas)

Corsets. Not only did they make it hard for women to move freely or sit down, but they also damaged internal organs and restricted air flow. This lead to fainting and less energy than they would have otherwise. It would take about 2 years for internal organs to be “trained” into a smaller position around the waste and about a year of not wearing a corset for the internal organs to settle back into regular positions. (Thomas)

Today, girls (I say girls because it all starts

when one is young), in our society are being

constructed to constantly strive for a

slimmer figure. Anorexia Nervosa and Bulimia have evolved into somewhat of an

epidemic. I would also like to point out that the average woman

who usually is a healthy size 12-14, may have a low self esteem because of

the normalized beauty ideal to be thin.

Though there are many examples that could still

be given, one can conclude from all of these that women have and are

still being oppressed through the beauty ideal.

One may also conclude that it needs to be

stopped.

“The Beauty Ideal works to limit women, encourages competiveness and ultimately tends to lower women’s self-esteem.” (247)

The supporting argument behind this statement begins with the products and rituals that are marketed to women. These standards are not created by the women they affect but by those with power and influence who “create these trends and options and enforce the standards.” (235)

Disciplinary practices

1) Time- shaving, make-up, ironing/straightening hair, plastic surgery

2) Effort- Once one devotes this much time to something it becomes part of who they are. As if this is naturally what they are supposed to look like.

3) $

4) An overall view of ourselves as not being good enough. –We are not good enough the way we are but need certain products to improve the way we look. (237)

“Society has responded to the gains of the marginalized groups through “distractions” that focus energy on the body.” (231) Societal standards can humiliate those who do not or can not fit them.

Men as a group have been able to project their fears and anxieties about frailty and mortality onto women’s flesh.

Patriarchy has shaped women to-stay small, “not

to take up too much space,” stay young, body hair is not acceptable----These are all ways of staying more youth-like and powerless.

Throughout these many cultures and times each “fashion silhouette” has molded many different views of beauty.

All of these women were considered beautiful for adhering to each social standard.

It is foolish for one to know that beauty can be all these different things and still believe the beauty construct that she or he has eternalized is the right one.

•It would be ignorant not to acknowledge the fact that if women ignore cultural expectations for female appearance “they may pay a price in lost wages, diminished marital prospects, lowered status and so on.” Yet, if they conform and follow cultural expectations, they pay a price in time, money, energy and overall a lower self esteem. (279)

•If we cannot totally deny these societal norms for risk of being chastised for it, what we can do is at least be aware of these unnatural standards. We can do this by not let them take over who we are or how we look at and treat others.

•We also must work together to stop these institutionalized ways of thinking to not leak into future generations. We must let them know that they are beautiful just the way they are; to save them from a lifetime of self-deprecation and unfair judgment of others because of their looks.

I want to be really ugly today Just to stick it to The Man I want my ugliness on display Just to fuck with The Man's plans

I want to be like Miss Jane Hathaway Or Aunt Bea, or Alice, the maid For whatever it was Marilyn Monroe had It sure was quick to fade.

I want to invest hours preparing My ugliness on parade My head to toes Just so everybody knows

I want to wear really geeky glasses Not the anarchist horned rim chic I want to be the bearded lady Not some guy's girlfriend on which he cheats

I want to stand in a pile of ripped up newspapers And to bathe in shreds of magazine ads I want to be so ugly you yell at me in crosswalks I want to be so ugly I am banned.

I want to wear my ugliness Like a badge of honor and pride As a statement against capitalist bullshit And letting others control my in and outsides

Beauty is skin deep Ugly is profound You cannot get ugly in a bottle downtown

I want to be so ugly it is beautiful Behind the ugly, I feel safe to hide Committing crimes of which no women dare speak Pursuing ugliness during her beauty make-up time

I'm gonna be really fucking ugly today

Just so everyone knows I'm gonna pursue it like others do beauty Just to stick my thumb to my nose.

Written January, 2006