Imagine a
boisterous woman, burning her bra, brandishing a banner in protest and shooting
herself in the foot. That is the image of the stereotypical feminist, an image
that is not a far cry from Naomi Wolf’s article entitled “The Beauty Myth.”
Wolf claims that the persistent pressures on women to look like the average,
waif-like runway model arose because “an ideology that makes women feel ‘worth
less’ was urgently needed to counteract the way feminism had begun to make
[women] feel worth more” (625). The female obsession with achieving
unattainable standards of beauty is rather a function of vanity than of
oppression. It may appear that “The Beauty Myth” only applies to women, but the
author conveniently omits the societal pressures imposed on men to achieve
equally unattainable standards. Wolf’s article only serves to take the feminist
movement in the wrong direction. It is counter-productive to rebel against
social norms rather than to use them to one’s advantage.
In
no way is it the purpose of this paper to undermine the continuing successes
and struggles in terms of rights and equality that women face. It is sad, yet
undeniable that in recent years “consumer spending doubled, pornography became
the main media category … and thirty-three thousand American women told
researchers that they would rather lose ten to fifteen pounds than achieve any
other goal” (619). Wolf presents a plethora of information to support the fact
that feminism has had to change in order to allow for a female increase in
material wealth; however, the causes of this change are misidentified. Women do
not strive to achieve unattainable standards of beauty because they are
oppressed by some unseen, testosterone-driven force. The actions of modern
women are fueled by selfishness, vanity, and excess in accordance with the
values of Western society. This obsession is an epidemic that plagues all
people fortunate enough to live in the first world and particularly in North
America.
“Beauty
and the Geek: the Great Social Experiment” is a television show that is (or rather, was, at the time that I wrote this paper) as
popular as it is entertaining. The male contestants in the show are extremely
intelligent, but unattractive and devoid of any social skills while the female
contestants are gorgeous, vapid and in some cases, have added to and/or subtracted
from their original body parts.
This show depicts a far more representational view of Western culture
and values than does Wolf’s article, “The Beauty Myth,” by demonstrating the
desirable and undesirable characteristics in both men and women. The recent
rise in male eating disorders as well as the male self-obsessed, metro-sexual
movement (seems so long ago now!) clearly demonstrates the magnitude of the pressures on men to present
themselves in a way that is aesthetically pleasing. Wolf negates her argument
by implying that “The Beauty Myth” applies solely to women because her
one-sided view reinforces the divide between men and women.
It
is not only futile to wage a war against a social norm such as “The Beauty
Myth” from an entirely female perspective, but to do so demonstrates naivety
and folly. In fact, one must take
into account the values of a particular society at a particular period from a
perspective that is representational to that society in order to gain social
advancement. The diligent feminist, knowledgeable about the workings and
intricacies of modern society, would take what she knows about beauty and culture
and use it to benefit her, other females and society as a whole. Oprah Winfrey, for example,
is not one to let herself be victimized by “The Beauty Myth”; she presents
herself well, both aesthetically and morally, and is considered one of the most
successful and wealthy people in the world. Oprah is not merely an example of a
successful, socially responsible, attractive woman by her indirect accomplishments;
she actively verifies herself as a role model for both men and women by
promoting values of physical, mental and social health to her viewers. Because
Oprah does not succumb to “self-hatred, physical obsessions, terror of aging,
and dread of lost control” (619) while encouraging her viewers to do the same,
she exemplifies the characteristics of a scrupulous feminist.
“The
Beauty Myth” is not “a political weapon against women’s advancement” (619); it
represents the tendency of those in Western society to hold superficial values
as being of the utmost importance. Ignoring the fact that “The Beauty Myth”
applies to both men and women detracts from the root of the problem thus
impeding social progress. It would be more beneficial and productive to work
with society as it is rather than against it. Women must concentrate their
efforts on being part of the solution rather than contributing to the problem.
Works Cited
Wolf,
Naomi. “The Beauty Myth”. Reasoning and Writing Well: A Rhetoric, Research
Guide, Reader and Handbook. Canada: McGraw-Hill Ryerson Limited, 2006.
618-626.
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