| Careers | 1960 | 1990 |
| Lawyers and Judges | 7,500 | 180,000 |
| Doctors | 15,672 | 108,200 |
| Engineers | 7,404 | 174,000 |
- Women now make up a 1/3 of MBA's, 1/2 of graduating lawyers, and 1/4
of doctors.
- Despite this success, it is still necessary in society that women look
good.
- Women's bodies, clothing, and hair still impact how they are perceived
in society.
In an experiment, the following two options were given to American teenage girls:
Physical: You are breathtakingly
beautiful. Your good looks rival those of a Miss America or Miss Universe, and you
could easily win any beauty competition you entered. Ever since you were small,
people have told you how lovely you are and suggested that you become an actress or
model. You could walk along any beach in the world in a skimpy bikini and turn
heads.
Mental: You are of average intelligence. You always do
your best in school but rarely earn a grade higher than C. You tried to learn to
play chess but it was too difficult to grasp so you gave up on it.
Mental: You are an intellectual
genius. Your IQ is sky-high and you received 800 on both the verbal and math
sections of the SAT. You're at the top of your class and people are always comparing
you to Einstein. Your teachers predict that one day you'll bring home a Nobel Prize.
Physical: You've been called a Plain-Jane, and although you
aren't bad-looking, you've never dazzled anyone with your appearance.
The overwhelming majority of girls chose option A.
Has this issue of beauty always been the same for women?
|
|
Victorian Women |
Modern Women |
- Since the 1920s women's fashion and popular culture have produced a
major unveiling of the female body.
- Control over the body has shifted from an external focus to an internal focus.
- Women have more body parts to worry about.
Since the 1960s women have had many great successes against old stereotypes and inequalities. The popular perception of women and women’s roles has changed greatly since the middle of the century. Today the public sphere is no longer reserved for men alone, and wives no longer must keep house and work solely at child raising. As this decade opened in the US there were already 180,000 women lawyers and judges, up from 7,500 in 1960; there were 108,200 women doctors compared to 15,672 in 1960; there were 174,000 women engineers, increasing from 7,404 three decades earlier. In addition, today in the US, women fill 50% of entry-level management positions, comprise 25% of middle management positions, take a third of the available MBA slots, and fill half of the graduating class from the average law school (Landau, 97). I think these successes are a huge accomplishment, and a credit to the monumental efforts of American feminists. These numbers represent an astounding social change, but they do not tell the whole story. The success of women seeking greater roles in society is indisputable, but the quest for equality is still far from complete. Women are often still held to different standards than men, and still compete on an unlevel playing field with men in their careers. Despite the successes of feminism, in some cases the liberating influence of these broad changes has even hurt women rather than helping them
The changing roles of women have transformed them from seemingly weak, defenseless, sheltered possessions into strong, real people able to compete and to cope in society. Public perceptions of women have changed drastically and old prejudices are disappearing. I grew up accepting that women and men are equally capable, and only later learned that things had not always been so. Other recent changes have freed women from physical protections that hid their bodies and sheltered their sexuality. It is true that in previous generations, women were sometimes seen as “dazzling human accessories that complemented a male’s luxurious home, car, or job” (Landau, 94). Today, career women are valued for the contribution that their skills and talents will bring to the family and to the office. Women are increasingly valued for their intelligence, education, and success- qualities that were once deemed attractive only for men. But while some things change, others stay the same. Women still retain much of their “human accessory” charm in our culture. They are still expected to look good, and the liberation of women’s bodies has left them more exposed to scrutiny than ever before. Beauty is a requirement for success in a woman’s life much more than in a man’s. This problem is also exacerbated by popular culture, advertising, and the advances of science allowing people to reshape their physical exteriors.
Joan Jacobs Brumberg claims in The Body Project that a lot of modern women’s problems have their roots early in this century. In the 1920s women exercised the newly-acquired right to vote, and popular culture flaunted new, more liberated ideals. Films and clothing promoted an “unveiling” of the female body that exposed arms and legs modeled by women in sleek, short flapper dresses. But Brumberg claims “What American women did not realize at the time was that their stunning new freedom actually implied the need for greater internal control of the body, an imperative that would intensify and become even more powerful by the end of the twentieth century.” (Brumberg, 98). Large changes were unfolding that ultimately shifted control of the body from external sources to new internal ones (Brumberg, 123). Before, women relied on corsets and elaborate clothing that changed the look of their bodies from the outside. Fashion was responsible for shaping and creating beauty. After the unveiling of the female body, the new exposed woman needed to fundamentally change her physical appearance to fit in. Clothes merely framed a beautiful exterior, and exhibited much less control over the body. This change came at roughly the time many women began to buy store-bought clothing with standard sizing. When clothes were made in the home, there was no such thing as a standard size and clothes were simply made for the individual. The new size categories made women increasingly conscious their own bodies. When clothes didn’t seem to fit properly or sizes changed, women felt like their own bodies were to blame. The effects of these changes have made women more exposed, and more conscious of their physical shape and size. Psychologically, women internalize any perceived problems with their own appearance. This change in control from external to internal means that women no longer blame beauty concerns on their clothes; instead they feel that their own bodies are at fault. This is obviously a very strong idea, and to me the changes hint at even more negative psychological effects.
There is also a powerful idea that appearance and the body act as windows to the soul. This is an old idea that persists today. By changing how they appear to the outside world, women feel they can change what other people think about their intellect, personality, and general worth. In many cases, they may be right. “Image” is an important relation of external appearance to internal characteristics. In order to affect fundamental changes in personality, intelligence, and interests, the important starting point is image. Today, with many women in important career and academic positions, it is still true that the exterior serves as a very important factor for employers, suitors, and everyone else. When adolescent girls want to change an aspect of their lives, the first step is often a new hairstyle, a diet, or a shopping trip. At this stage in their childhood, girls even change their handwriting with the same goal of changing others' perceptions through an alteration of physical signs (Brumberg). When I first confronted this idea, I began to realize that everyone is guilty of perpetuating the myth of "image". I find myself judging people based on a first impression, and I think this tendency is stronger when I observe women. The difference today compared to the previous century is that much more of a woman’s body is exposed to scrutiny, leading to changes that are more drastic and more difficult.
Stories
abound that describe women who are denied jobs because other applicants were simply
prettier, or who were fired from their jobs because of age, appearance, or weight. Face
Value: the Politics of Beauty sadly notes that
A woman can spend her youth learning to be beautiful, and her maturity learning how it feels to be treated as beautiful, becoming used to the privileges that power confers…. But where possessors of other sources of power can look forward with cleverness and luck to holding on to that power to death, the beauty has to be aware that she will lose it, through no misdeed of her own, and absolutely certainly (Lakoff and Scherr).
The same is not true for men. A pleasing appearance may be an advantage for a man, but it is not a necessity. Furthermore, it is expected that men will age and that their appearances will change. The media makes this difference obvious, and bears much of the responsibility in my opinion. Actors well past middle age can still play sex symbols and any other roles in films, while older women are increasingly restricted to the roles of mother, grandmother, or villain. Sean Connery has never lost the appeal he enjoyed as James Bond, but his female costars (although much younger than he) are no longer landing sexy roles. This scenario has few exceptions in Hollywood. This situation also filters down into everyday life. Older men become wise and distinguished in our culture, while women often just become old.
To further confuse the issue, there is no such thing as a single clear-cut model for female beauty. Instead, "There are usually many equally ridiculous and often diametrically opposed ideals operating simultaneously." (Sanford and Donovan). There are voluptuous, curvy models like Pamela Anderson at one extreme, and skinny preadolescent models like Kate Moss at the other. Women at either end of the spectrum or at the middle, feel pulled in opposite directions. No woman can be both. Today, the more popular of the two extremes seems to be the skinny, young, boyish look. This is the ideal that supports a diet aid market that consumes $10 billion American dollars a year (Sanford and Donovan). In short, even if there are a handful of completely beautiful flawless women out there, they still have reason to feel like maybe their bodies aren't right. I'm often surprised that I hear very attractive women complaining about their appearance, but this argument makes a convincing assessment of their fears. Women can feel pulled in several different directions at once when they weigh personal appearance.
Physical beauty is a simple matter of luck that represents cultural perceptions and media hype. It is fleeting and it tells nothing about ability or character. As a source of power, it really is a poor indicator of potential. Nevertheless, it remains a strong societal force and its implications act against the best interests of feminism. Men and women bear this burden unequally. For a man, old age and silver hair connote distinction or wisdom. Wrinkles make a man look rugged or weathered. In men, even fat symbolizes power in some situations. Despite the ground that women have gained, this is one rift that continues to widen. A solution to the problem is not readily apparent. I think that the first step is understanding. Women need to realize the trap they are in. They need to confront the power of fashion designers and work to undo the psychological influence of the media. I think men will even support this change. The popular complaint among men that "My wife takes two hours to get ready in the morning..." hints at this support. Men are not targeted in the same way, and we do not understand the pressures that women feel over their own bodies. But I think many of us realize beauty can become an obsession for women, even as we continue to judge them based on appearance. Still, I think that confidence and competence together can create a much stronger impression. The next goal for feminism is to separate women's confidence from their physical appearance. Beauty should not dictate happiness or self worth. This is the next hurdle for women in the road to equality.
Brumberg, Joan Jacobs. The Body Project: An Intimate History of American Girls. Random House, Inc. New York, NY. 1997.
Lakoff, Robin Tolmach and Scherr, Raquel L. Face Value: The Politics of Beauty. Routledge and Kegan. New York, NY. 1984.
Landau, Elaine. The Beauty Trap. MacMillan Publishing Company. New York, NY. 1994.
Sanford, Linda Tschirhart and Donovan, Mary Ellen. Women and Self-Esteem. The Penguin Group. New York, NY. 1984.
