As the Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot) fights to save the entire humanity, she picks up the tank to hurl it at Ares, she dodges each of the many attacks of the God of War, as she contains the thunder thrown by Ares with her bracelets, imagine if her thick long jet black hair comes upon her face at the most important moment of her attack, this shero will be reduced to a meagre stock of laughter and humiliation in front of the audience.
Thank God Harley Quinn had an extra hair tie which she offered to Black Canary to fight better in the scene where 4 savage girls were fighting numerous bad men in Birds of Prey. Even if I am not close to a battle field, in the battlefield of life, how can I not have at least a hair tie to tie my hair?
For their whole life, women had to deal with ‘The feminine beauty ideal’. It is "the socially constructed notion that physical attractiveness is one of women's most important assets, and something all women should strive to achieve and maintain"
I can’t even cross the road with my untied thick flowy hair, without obstructing my peripheral vision and to talk of going through life without tying my long hair is tedious and impractical!
Here’s the thing, sure a man is judged by his looks, but this list also contains intelligence, strength of character, heart etc. but when we praise a woman, it’s only in terms of her beauty. No matter how far we have come, our merit boils down to our beauty!
Remember the last time you went to a wedding reception, when manipulative aunties gossips about ‘his’ qualification and ‘her’ beauty?
I can’t put be in that wretched box! My abilities matter more than looks! It’s damn uncomfortable with this long hair flowing in the wind like a 90s heroine. So I tie it. Not to not look beautiful but to choose my ability over the requisite to look beautiful. I have my career to build, I have tons of books to read, I have a lot of information to gain and I don’t care if my youth and beauty runs out in this time. So am I shabby? Well I would take a detour from considering myself clumsy or shabby.
Feminine beauty ideals are deeply rooted beliefs in our culture, heavily influencing women of all sexual orientations from the start of time. The feminine beauty ideal can include female body shape, skin colour, several face features, height, bosom and ass varies from culture to culture. Several psychologists have confirmed that in willing to adhere to these pseudo beauty standards, women can develop body image issues, food disorders, depression, anxiety etc. from a very young age.
Besides the ability of a woman to adhere to these beauty standards can also influence her social status within her culture. In fact, in order to look more charming to their fellow men, altering physical beauty has been a norm for many years. In Burma, Padung girls from the age of about five years, have metal rings put around their necks. Additional rings are added to the girl's neck every two years. This practice is done to produce a giraffe-like effect in women. This practice is dying out, but these women would eventually carry up to 24 rings around their necks. A neck with many rings was considered the "ideal" image of physical beauty in this culture.
In Europe, the corset has been used over time to create a tiny waistline. In Europe, a tiny waistline was considered "ideal" for beauty. A practice in China involved a girl's feet being bound at age six to create the "ideal" image of feet. The girl's feet were bound to become 1/3 the original size, which crippled the woman, but also gave her a very high social status and was much admired.
Additionally, in South Korea, known for its unrealistic beauty standards, women casually go for cosmetic surgery to alter their appearance according to the trending looks.
Such crises in women’s self-esteem remind me of W. B. Yeats, ‘For Anne Gregory’:
Never shall a young man,
Thrown into despair
By those great honey-coloured
Ramparts at your ear,
Love you for yourself alone
And not your yellow hair …’
The speaker of this poem tells Anne that she is doomed to be loved for her yellow hair rather than for her charming personality or overall beauty: her hair is a sort of curse. Anne finds this prospect so terrible that she threatens to dye her hair, so it doesn’t possess its yellow allure any more.
Final thoughts:
We women are more than beautiful, we can be smart, intelligent, bold and successful, don’t judge us by the same standards. Next time, you meet me, I am not charming you by my beauty but my wit!
