14 DAY TRIAL // Women are going through what has already been labeled the most severe and potentially damaging crisis in the history of mankind. With images of perfection plastered all around them, they have come to realize that nothing short of perfection is expected from them as well, which, in turn, has led to them developing a feeling of pure hatred towards their bodies. When perfection becomes norm, women are nearly lost, William Leith writes for the Daily Mail.
Leith says women are in crisis because beauty has come to mean much more than each individual’s attractiveness rated arbitrarily. The media has helped set up certain standards that all women feel forced to meet and, clearly, when they fail to do so (or, similarly, come to the realization they couldn’t attain such ideals in a thousand years), they start hating what they have become, at the same time trying to change it. When they fail at that too, they enter a vicious circle consisting of attempts and failure which keeps the economy going (be that circle dieting, working out, or beauty treatments and cosmetic procedures), Leith says.
“This female body-hatred has got out of hand. You can see it in magazines in the newsagents. From a distance, the predominant color is the tawny-pink of perfect female flesh. And then, inside the magazines, you get all those features about cellulite, bingo wings and muffin tops. For instance, yesterday I read a story about female celebrities, and which of their body-parts people are envious of. Some women want Beyonce’s bum. Some want Kelly Brook’s legs. Mischa Barton, apparently, has the best face, Angelina Jolie the best breasts, Jennifer Aniston the best arms, and Jessica Alba has the best back.” Leith writes.
The question arises: so what happens when an average woman wants to have all of the above in just one place? What happens is that they all fail – predictably so – but never give up trying. So our society keeps working, because it’s based on a system that wants to make people feel fat and ugly, this being the only way they can be encouraged to consume more, Leith argues. This is why diets never work, working out becomes obsession, weight loss products sell by billions a year and plastic surgery leaves us wanting more – because, in order to sell, man (speaking in general terms) needed to make women hate the very bodies they were born in.
“Every day, women are bombarded with the same message – you have to be more beautiful than you were the day before. The perfect breasts, the bottoms, and now even backs, are getting harder and harder to attain. Breasts must now be slightly higher and firmer – big, but, impossibly, also small. Bottoms must jut out – again, they must look big and soft, but also tight and firm, simultaneously. Figures must be slim, but also voluptuous. They must be worked on, but must also look natural.” Leith says of the contradictory messages spread out in the media.
In many ways, Leith could be right. Women are indeed constantly being told they need to change and the media does play an important part in it. However, to what extent Leith makes a good point you can see for yourselves by checking out the rest of the Daily Mail piece.