Something Important

So today I wrote an English exam and in the exam was a specific question which I found to be an incredibly diverse and interesting topic. The question was, "why do you think women worry about their looks?" So I felt I'd share what I thought.

I feel that women worry about their appearance because today's society has become conditioned to this false portrayal of perfection. We are constantly fed this idea that beauty is vital, and so we believe that it is. Our entire life is dictated by what is considered socially acceptable. I believe that makeup and fashion acts as a mask. And when we know what our mask looks like, we know what the perception of other people is and we therefore have a monitored idea of what people's opinions of us are. Whereas if we left ourselves unchanged, we'd have no control over how people perceive us which leaves us in a position of vulnerability. We are in constant judgement of the people around us because our appearance is automatically attached to a label. Our idea of beauty is constantly altered by advertisements, celebrities, friends and people in general and so we change ourselves according to what the general view of beauty is. The truth is, beauty and masks become transparent when your personality becomes pure. But we hide our purity with a false image just so we please people who are blinded by the distorted opinions of society. We are all trapped in this void of acceptance that we forget our real beauty and our unique features. We've been offered this constant feast of false ways to enhance beauty that we have become conditioned to devour whatever is handed to us. I also think that with age, we increasingly become far more obsessed with the label of perfection and we see age as a competition. Don't compete, everyone is the same age eventually. And as Morrie from the book 'Tuesday's With Morrie' stated, "Age is growth, not decay."

I just thought this was very important to say

 

I think it's instinctual. The females (and males) of many different species of animals portray bright colors, or something similar, in an effort to attract a mate, it's no different now with makeup and what not. It's in our genes to be attractive in order to reproduce and make offspring.

 

I don't think women get complimented enough, guys shouldn't be afraid to tell someone they look great! It will make someone's day and put a smile on their face, I constantly let my girlfriend know how beautiful she is and always tell her she doesn't need makeup. I do wish girls would worry less about how they look

 

Has little to do with today's society. Women in antiquity did the same thing they used cosmetics to be paler.

I think Del is on the right track, it provides a benefit in the area of mating, therefor people do it

 

Here's how I feel on this situation. While women and girls are being pressured into fitting a certain image, they are choosing to fit it. No one can change you except for yourself. I feel this pressure is coming from two things how ever. First off and of course the media. They will always find an attractive women to be the front page of a magazine etc. This is because it will of course attract a greater audience. Almost any women you see on a TV show will be attractive this is a given. Women and young girls especially want to be like them. Who wouldn't want to be though? The second is the male counterpart. But I do not feel how ever that it is directly males though. It is a part of being a heterosexual male. They look for a perfect mate, perfect build and just good body features in general. Because of this girls are forced to fit a certain image so that they can find a partner. Girls that don't fit this image are often looked down upon, maybe their larger or maybe they don't do their hair in a certain way. But society creates this anxiety for them, and if you don't look amazing you are rejected.

All that being said doesn't mean males aren't extremely pressured either. Often when a grown man cries people think their weak or often have remarks being through at them like "Man up and stop crying" or "HaHa cry baby" Men not wanting to be shamed and have remarks at them often try to hide the tears, which in the end makes it even harder because they are storing their emotions not realizing them. This creates a social stereotype that men shouldn't cry. Same goes for not being well build/strong. Women look for a strong counter part. Plus other male friends will often pick on you if you are the weak of the group. Again this all comes back to the mating part. That lots of us are forced to fit a certain image so that we can have better parts of finding a partner.

In the end I think it's part instinct telling them to look a certain way. And society rejecting people that don't look attractive both for male and female.

I don't know, that's just my thoughts.