I totally support women in their desire to look the way they want without suffering.. but the only thing that concerns me is body positivity. No, of course, we have to love ourselves just the way we are. But nowadays mass media makes a huge propaganda of UNHEALTHY living by posting models with very big bodies... this woman in the magazine cover looks good, that's for sure, but no one mentions how much Photoshop was used to create the photo. But normal people believe in what they see..
Why Women Are Sick of Fashion and Are Not Ready to Make Any More Beauty Sacrifices
Imagine that one morning every woman in the world wakes up in a good mood, comes to the mirror, and likes what they see there. Do you know what happens next? A global economic crisis. Thousands of companies that build their business on women’s insecurities go bankrupt. Because beauty is a product that can be bought and sold.
We at Bright Side suggest that you try and imagine where the never-ending pursuit for attractiveness will lead us all.
Today, very few women are ready to go outside without drawing on their eyebrows and wasting a crazy amount of time to make the lines as perfect as possible. It’s hard to believe today, but in the past, women used to pluck their eyebrows. Today, only the Mona Lisa portrait can remind us about the times when thin eyebrows were trendy!
It’s amazing how long fashion houses have managed to lure women into the fashion trap. “Ladies and gentlemen, this century, we think that beautiful women are those who are on the verge of anorexia and who have such pale skin you can study their body’s anatomy.” “We are kind of tired of skinny girls, it’s a Renaissance time, let’s pay attention to the plump girls.” And this happens every century.
Women have always followed the ever-changing hyperbolized ideals, sacrificing their health. For example, in China, small feet were considered to be ideal, so women tied their toes to their feet to the point that they couldn’t move by themselves. It was a sign of being aristocratic and increased their chances of getting married. But the truth was often hidden from men’s eyes: they didn’t see the terrible crippling pain in the women’s feet, they only saw small feet in beautiful shoes.
Few things have changed today. Super-skinny models look attractive because of makeup and photoshop and what never appears on magazine covers are the never-ending diets, skin dryness, pale faces, and hair loss. So, women with normal appearances make sacrifices to conform to the standards: they put on high-heeled shoes, they adhere to strict diets, they wear tight dresses, and they hide their discomfort behind elegance.
And in the past, beauty demanded sacrifices, today, it demands money. Plastic surgeons can do wonders and create perfect bodies and faces. This investment into one’s appearance often pays off: girls with perfect photos make blogs where they advertise their unique diets and beauty life hacks. Other girls that dream of having the same appearance believe them because they don’t know that super-expensive salon procedures are behind their perfect face color and body shape.
Things have become even easier since the appearance of Instagram. All you need is a few swipes on the screen to make your face perfect, your waist as small as possible, and your legs as long as you want. They all end up looking the same. With the right angle, girls create identical photos with identical facial expressions, with identically big lips and small noses, with identical quotes, hashtags, and links.
Social media has created a new subculture that we call “Instagrammers.” They are like goths, emos, and punks that demonstrate the same lifestyle and the same way of thinking. You can easily find a series identical photos with descriptions like, “Only your fingerprints are different.” Because in order to create your own unique style, you need good taste, intelligence, and an understanding of what is attractive. It’s much easier to conform to beauty standards and get thousands of likes.
Yes, in the beginning, the doll-like image looks attractive, but over time it becomes cheap, sort of like fast food. The small feet of Chinese women were a rare thing that were only accessible to rich men and in order to see such a foot, you had to do a lot to earn that money. Not every woman could follow the trends. And now, makeup, photoshop, and shapewear are easy to buy for anyone.
Think about it this way: You may like black caviar and enjoy it rarely, really looking forward to buying it again. And then, you find out that the nearest store offers it at a discount. You buy it, and eat the whole thing. The discount increases and, eventually, the caviar is the same price as a loaf of bread. Everyone will stop buying it, because everyone will be sick of it. Just as sick as people are today when they see unnatural abs and overly plump lips.
Women are disappointed in trying to reach the unreachable ideals, they are disappointed inexpensive and non-effective beauty products, and in suspicious and dangerous plastic surgeries. People want to see real-life images in mass culture.
Society today is tired of deception and is protesting against it now. So, there are things like the Body Positive Movement. Women are fighting for the right to look the way they want to look.
Many celebrities support the new trend with inspiration and happiness. For example, actresses like Julia Roberts and Lena Headey are not afraid of going in public without makeup and they post their photos online telling people there is no need to be afraid. Actress Meghan Markle on the day of her wedding with Prince Henry appeared with a simple haircut and minimal makeup that didn’t even hide her freckles, and after she had her baby, she didn’t even hide her still-swollen belly.
On the other hand, the body positive movement is another kind of extreme that can be disgusting. It was created in order to broaden the definition of beauty, but not the kind that makes attractiveness unattractive.
The extreme supporters of this movement are very aggressive: they refuse to use beauty products, they don’t go to the gym, they don’t shave, they don’t use hygiene products during their periods, even though it’s natural to do it. If a woman shaves her legs and uses deodorant, she is considered to be a slave of the patriarchal values and a weak person.
It is very sad that the body positive movement that was originally meant to support people with special features (like those who were born with a health issue or someone who suffered an accident) is a hype weapon now. Women justify their laziness with the body positive movement and create new fashion traps that they get caught up in.
But despite the fight between the body positive activists and the Instagrammers, we live in the times of amazing changes where natural beauty is losing its stereotypes. Fashion is becoming more honest, and comfort is becoming the most important trend in clothing. The biggest US and European retailers claim that the demand for push-up bras has decreased by 50% and that wireless bras are 70% more popular in China among young people. Magazine covers more often have models with non-standard appearances or ordinary women who don’t hide their flaws.
Aging is another fear that all women had that is disappearing now. For example, a social science professor from New York, Lyn Slater, became a model at the age of 63 proving that aging can be elegant and beautiful.
Despite stereotypes, every person has their own taste and their own opinion. Some people love short girls wearing sneakers with freckles on their faces and some love plump women in long dresses. Maybe, women should stop getting caught up in the fashion trap, try to learn to value their individuality, and try to just be who they are?
Those eyebrows are definitely not worth the time and attention they require every day, are they? What is your opinion on this matter? Share it with us in the comment section below.