| Blogs > mistyfern > Dewi Kayangan |
|
VANITY (Part 2) So, why ALL other women, other than those vain pigs, also suffer from the similar deep insecurity, only that differs in the levels of intensity? So, what are the culprits that caused this prolonged painful emotional problems in women? Their grannies’ demands? Men’s prefer girlies to real women? The women’s own foolishness? You tell. I tell mine? OK. First, the media and women’s own stupidity who influenced by it. Second, the damn society. Third, the men’s obnoxious high demands. Why the media comes first? Well open any glossy women’s magazines, and if you’re a woman, you’ll feel 10 times uglier and then turn broccoli-green envy. So intimidating and envious that it could make the reader to put the magazine back on the rack. But at the same time, ironically, the glossy, attractive pages of beautiful women are compelling enough to make another female reader to continue on flipping pages after pages. Of course the magazines as such are selling fantasies that somehow, also preferred by female readers themselves. The readers would sometimes fantasize themselves as the gorgeous, tall, slim models or movie stars there, a twist from feeling intimidated, ugly and envious. And they’d want to achieve the immaculate looks and bodies of the models or movie stars featured in the magazines, of which is very near to IMPOSSIBLE. Almost all readers are unaware that ALL the glamorous pictures in the magazines are ROUTINELY RETOUCHED. The famous British photographer, Richard Avedon, claimed that, ‘There’s no such thing as photographic reality’. And he had been manipulating images by hand since 1950s, like switching bodies with heads he liked better. And now with the non-stop advancing of computer and digital technology, any perfect images could be created by both professionals and any computer-literate ones alike. And the consequences of it? The MORE PERFECT the pictures in the magazines, the even UGLIER the female readers feel of themselves. And next, the more eager to emulate the faces and bodies of the models and stars that flashing from those pages after pages. What else other than the infamous, skyrocketing demands of nips and tucks, cut and sewn for a metamorphosis like that? The Nature is cruel. But the farthest way for science to fight against It is to go under the knife, of creating man-made noses, eyes, boobs and so on. But no guarantee for successes whatsoever. So, suing your doctor could be as nerve wrecking as your misery, if he has done any botch jobs. Cosmetic surgery has indeed caused the global epidemic of women’s insecurity of their physical appearances. What’s next? The manipulations of genes or Genome? Hence, those women who are lost in their fantasies would demand for Christina Turlinton’s nose, Angelina Jolie’s lips, Aiswarya Rai’s eyes, whose and whose boobs and butts, and so on. But unfortunately, often instead of achieving the super models’ and stars’ looks, they end up looking like craved potatoes, or a burned victim. Why don’t they use their brains, their common senses, before being wheeled into the operation theaters for their damn sake of VANITY? Then come the damn society’s soaring standards of living. The more developed the country, the higher the demand for perfection, thus the higher standard of beauty. And the more intense of craving after all these near impossible perfection. Women often show off their latest branded attires and shoes to their colleagues, friends, relatives, siblings or just any other female passer by. And then they’d compete with each other, trying to be the most attractive, gorgeous, trendiest and most importantly, being the most attracted and admired by men. Nvm if their credit cards are all blown, their savings dry up, or even to borrow money. Those who work ordinarily 9 to 5, often earning only enough to get by would skip lunches and dinners, or buying cheaper toiletries, and even move to cheaper rented rooms, all to save money to dress up in branded attires and sip coffee at the Coffee Bean. Besides that, we all know the fact that both attractive men and women would have higher chances to be employed. Lastly, the most obnoxious of all, the men’s unstoppable high demands. That has made women to believe that they have to be attractive before being noticed by men. But this is no myth or just the women’s hormonal unreasonable fears. Men INDEED prefer attractive women. It sounds very shallow, but practically, the Shallow Hals are indeed OUTNUMBERED the considerate, wisely thoughtful men many folds! Dr. David Boss of University of Texas, had given 3 pragmatic points in his book, Sex, Power, Conflict. First, women desires for beauty stemmed from men’s mate preferences (preferences for their mates). Second, in the evolutionary history, men have imposed their desires for attractive women because physical attractiveness provides a set of proximate clues to health and youth, and therefore fertility. Third, a woman enhances her own beauty at the expense of other women, because she improves her odds (chances) of attracting a desirable man at a cost to her competitors. Something else interesting to ponder on. According to a survey conducted on male collage students in US, inquiring them to rate the range of suitable female partners, ‘fat chick’ was raked BELOW cocaine users, shoplifters, embezzlers and ex-mental patient (Yippe! I stand a chance!). And hey, I’ve come across MANY men, Asian, esp., that would consider a woman beautiful and would only date her, if she looks like a model or actress! I repeat, MANY. Well, this is the Planet where the weaker gender’s worth and virtue are weight and measured by their physical appearances. Can any of them escapes or be spared of? None. Is that one of the major factors that leads to the emergence of teenage girls’ low self-esteems? Yes. Do emotional insecurity and little self-confidence then follow steadily, on their ways to adulthood? Yes. That they feel they’re only valuable in the society if they possess BEAUTY, which is mandatory? Yes. That the obese or unattractive women often feel they’ve no value as persons in the society? Yes. And are all 3 above the primary reasons that caused the development of Eating Disorder in me? YES. |
|||
2/19/2006 8:43 am |
friend, well said....so what can we do about it, should do about it, ...? Live and let live lah.
| ||
2/20/2006 10:15 pm |
Dear virgo, Thanks for your perspectives on the probably the kinder part of world you're living in, which are less known or even unexisted in my part of world. I see the bad, vulgar, unequality, favouritsm, bigotry, prejucides, violence, selfishness, malevolent manipulations all my life. Those are why my mindset, thoughts and characteristics are different from the mainstream in Malaysian society. One day, I hope I could leave this world, in which both day and night world are equally bad, and begin my life in a kinder, more considerate world. Great ambition, isnt it? GC
| ||
2/23/2006 5:42 am |
Grace Peng You, I know...some ppl are just so nasty. Even a good ten yr friend of mine (ok, maybe we drifted away, just that I nv notice?), meet up with me occasionally and kept talking abt my supposedly increased income. If it happens again, I will tell her to buzz out of my life.
|
