Beauty is a socially constructed Idea

In our society, ideas of beauty are socially constructed. The cosmetic industry makes money off of our insecurities. We develop insecurities from the false perception of beauty we see in the media, all around us. And what do people find attractive about hype and massive media? Material stuff? Unreal people? 66% of adoloscent girls wish they were thinner, when only 16 of them are overweight.

Girls are indoctrined at a very young age that Barbie is how a woman is supposed to look. NOTE: If Barbie was life-size she would stand 5″9 and weigh 110 pounds, 96% of what is considered a healthy weight for her height. Her measurements would be 39-18-33 and she would not menustrate due to inadequate levels of fat on her body. These body ideals are reinforced every day on Tv shows and movies, magazines, and more. We mutilate the natural state of our bodies in order to be deemed acceptable.

Many women do things like shave and wear makeup because that is the “feminine” thing to do. But i am tired of hearing that. Because self-identity goes far beyond appearence. What you choose to do with your body has nothing to do with who you really are. Can you not shave and not wear makeup and still be feminine? Yes, you can! Wearing a bra, shaving off your body hair, ect is not natural. We now see it as normal since it seems to be what the majority of us are doing, but when you really look at it, is that how women are, naturally? It’s easy to forget that women have hairy legs and armpits because we never see them in their natural state. As Carolyn Mackler says, ” What body hair needs is more visibility. It needs a publicity agent and a marketing campaign. It needs models and actresses to flounce around with hairy legs and pits. When those trailblazing, unshaven singers and songwriters stomp onto stage, it sends a loud and clear holler into the hairless vacuum. It propels us to see it, to think about it, and to actually make the connection that this is a real woman, not in reverse.”

Unfortunatley, not to many people share this opinion with me. So all I have to say is, just be you. Do whatever YOU feel like doing. Don’t do things simply because that is what “a girl is supposed to do”. Challege gender roles. If you go along with these unacceptable and unattainable beauty standards, it will just keep growing worse and worse.

Women are beautiful, women should feel beautiful! All of us. No matter what. The goal for so many girls is to be a size 0. The reality? Size 14 is average for a girl in the US. So why do we feel like we are never good enough? Why do we feel the need to compare? Embrace who you are!! Not the size of your breasts or the gap between your thighs or the hair on your legs. Who you REALLY are. The cycle of socialization has to stop somewhere, so the best thing that we can do is be ourselves, our natural selves, not the us that has been brainwashed. Not the us that buys in to the media and these binary gender roles. The us that will take a stand and do whatever we are comfortable with. Think about what you are doing, question yourself. Next time you pick up the razor, ask yourself, why? Or next time you put on a revealing outfit to make yourself feel beautiful, ask yourself why? Why is that seen as the only way to be beautiful? It can be scary and different to step outside of what we have always known, and challenge it. But it is so important if we want to make change. We need to get in touch with our true selves and really think about who WE are.