Ben Doyle

Prof. Lunstrum
English W-130
A Violent Backlash from the Self:
Cosmopolitan, Good House Keeping, Vogue, Dove, Herbal Essence,
Maybellene, and Victorias Secret are all leading industries that produce an ideal
image of what women should be. From hosiery to homemaking, women are
subjected to a constant barrage of media representations that they are supposed
to fulll. From the All-American soccer mom, to the single super mom, or
executive women, from secretaries to the working class women of Wal-Mart;
women all have to t into a certain prole of the feminine mystique, all the while
working hard to match the income and salaries of men. Women are pressured
by themselves, others and the media to t an iconic image of the perfect woman.
In reality, when we succumb to the inuences of others, it is not necessarily the
media or, as Mrs. Wolf would say, men who control women with the Beauty
Myth; it is only the individual who is responsible for supporting and maintaining
the myth.
In her essay, Naomi Wolf writes of how the Beauty Myth as the new
Feminine Mystique and how they are used to subjugate the masses, particularly
women. Wolf, a devout feminist, claims that men are to blame for controlling
women in this way. She states that, We are in the midst of a violent backlash
against feminism that uses images of female beauty as a political weapon
against womens advancement: the beauty myth.(Wolf p.516) As this was
written in the early 1990s, this theory may have held some premise for truth, but
what it implies, is how men got together and plotted this is conspiracy, sounds a
bit absurd. However, at the dawn of the new millennia there is a rising trend in
the scrutiny of ones self compared to others and the ideal image of self. Peer
pressure from the media and others in society represents a false image of
perfection. Who denes perfection? Well, in a perfect world, it would be the
individual not pop culture and/ or the media. No pun intended.
Joan Kron, an editor-at-large for allure magazine, writes of The Semiotics
of Home Dcor. Or the theory that,
Our possessions give us a sense of security and stability. They make us feel in
control. And the more we control an object, the more it is a part of us. If its not
mine, its not me.(Kron p.104)
She cites an important example that it would make more sense for every
neighborhood to share a lawn mower, but the only problem with that is that no
one would have control over it. In an out of control world there are few other
ways to control at least one facet of it; there is little else we can do to manage it
and ourselves properly. Apparently, one way that we attempt to do this is through
what we buy and the way we choose to represent ourselves. It seems to be a
commonly reoccurring theme in women and now the general public that they diet
and control their food intake creating a punishment and rewards system that
dictates their well being, instead of more important socio-political matters. As a
matter of fact, Wolf provides for us a useful example of this power structure.
When asked, Thirty-three thousand women told researchers that they would
rather lose ten to fteen pounds than achieve any other goal. This just goes to
show that there is more to control than we readily assume, it affects us at even
the most seemingly innocent levels. In the same way that control has a more
signicant place in our lives than we give it credit for, so do the things that we
possess. In the end it is only up to us as to what and whether or not we control
it, whether it is our identity or socio-economical matters.
When it comes right down to it we are the only ones who can be held
accountable for our decisions. There is no one else we can blame it on. Now as
to whether or not we are aware of our choices is different. One must rst be
conscious of the problem before they can solve it. As far as advertising goes, it
is not the ad mens fault for selling their product effectively, nor is it the patron for
purchasing it. It really only is up to the consumer to choose how much of the
beauty myth that they buy into or sell out of and how much. Kevin Jennings,
author of American dreams, recants the story of his life and how he came to an
epiphany; we should be accepted and respected for who we are and that, we
shouldnt have to change to meat anyone elses standards. We should be true
to ourselves so that we know who we are and not the way somebody wants us to
be, because we can easily get lost in it. Earlier in Jennings life he had the
makings of an average middle class young American male. According to Kron
we use things to dene ourselves. What happens when the things that are used
to dene us do not represent who we are? In the case of Kevin Jennings this
may very well be true. All of the things that would typically describe an typical
young American male are not any of the which that Jennings wanted. He went
all through high school living up to some one elses American dream and not his
own. Sometimes in life we have to redene our ideals in order to feel more
comfortable with ourselves and attain the things that matter most to us. Jennings
life is a perfect example of how the illusion that we have to live up to a certain
prole, the beauty myth or feminine mystique an image or ideal that is simply so
irrational. It is next to impossible to live up to some one elses expectations and
ideals because their views are not your own. No one can keep you down as long
as you dont let them. Only the individual can be held responsible for their
actions and decisions as long as they are completely aware of what they are
doing.
So again, it is not the medias fault or the mans fault we really have no
one to blame but ourselves for so willingly allowing ourselves to be oppressed by
others. It is really up to the individual to solve this beauty myth problem, after
all beauty is only skin deep, beauty is as beauty does, and beauty is in the eye of
the beholder. It is a decision to buy into what the media sells us and tells us what
is hot and what is not. They are only doing their jobs to promote their products to
make a prot at the expense of your self esteem. If people were more aware of
what is actually happening then they could begin to solve the problem, but you
must rst be conscious of the problem before you can start being the solution.
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