Social Snapshot: Women

She's not a disney princess because she pointed out that beauty isn't the reason the guy should marry the girl. 

Most movies about fairy tales will make the princess the "fairest of them all" and that beauty is for the delight of their prince. Most women want to be a princess and live happily ever after, but only the beautiful ones get to do that.



Even heroines have to be the sexy type. You can't even defeat bad guys without full on makeup and a tight leather suit.

A popular trend now is to post faceless photos.

We love our pinterest and clothes, but faces and personalities might ruin our ideal outfit.

 

The ever present battle between what men want us to be and feeling bad for wanting to be anything other than that.

The main shot here is the body. Our bodies and how they look are what is most important to our health.


We can't be trusted with credit cards. We, again, value our looks more than anything.


It's almost impossible to understand what we think, so go with the easiest thing to do and just look at us.

What is being portrayed?
What most of the artifacts depict is that looks are all that are important for women. It is almost to the point where we can't do anything but care about that. To be a woman in America you have to care about your looks or you won't get anywhere in life. You have to be a certain size jeans, have impeccable hair, and be flawless in everything, in order to succeed. Also, women are seen by men as overly confusing and difficult to work with, which can be ok as long as you're drop dead gorgeous.

What are the consequences for children?
In our society, girls are expected to read and know these fairy tales of a beautiful princess who has a happily ever after. They want that happily ever after, so they have to become that princess in order to get it. Also, boys who are interested in their looks are thought to be "girly" or a "sissy" and are often made fun of. These kids will grow up thinking that the things that go along with looking good (shopping, becoming models, taking a long time to get ready, etc) are exclusively a large part of women's lives. Girls worry about how they look so much that they may lose self-confidence when they aren't the models in the magazines or in the movies.

Why is it important for teachers and others to understand the counter argument?
Understanding the counter argument is important because it gives women the power to show that there isn't a single story. It gives us power to say, being a woman will not stop me from being what I want to be, whether that be a scientist, a mother, an artist, or a CEO. There have been moevements to eradicate things like photoshopping in order to make the portrayal of women better, but I think those movements are missing the point. We end up with things like the unphotoshopped, plus sized model, swimsuit edition, sports illustrated magazine. What we really need to do is start telling the stories of different women and give girls role models. Those stories need to reach the general public, not just the women who are educated. It's a problem that when asked what great female role model in science, politics, or history they'd like to meet, people don't have an answer or can only think of a few women. It's not that there are only a few, they just aren't heard about. We need to talk about those role models so girls will stop worrying about their looks and worrying about how to become the best they can be. As teachers we need to encourage girls to think beyond their looks and start lifting each other up to do great things. Because we can do great things.