I am 23 and have been confused about this since forever. When the media really started to take a form in everyone's life around grade 7 or so (that was many years ago) and now a days it's more like grade 3, I was confused about the logic of media vs reality. How is it that no one either realizes or talks about the connection between consumer and supplier. The consumer being the part of society and essentially all of us who buy the idea of what beauty really is and the supplier being the reason it's being shoved down all of our throats. I have tried to explain this to my boyfriend and he just doesn't see what I am saying. We are enabling the false standards to circulate because we allow them to. How did the idea that strippers are attractive and the ideal form of sexy start? It started with a) disgusting men being okay with disrespecting women and promoting the behaviour through "consumming" the service and b) through women allowing and participating is "supplying this service". And while this may have seemed not such a big deal 200 years ago, it has certainly become rapidly absorbed in our society as normal and now we have almost every young girl trying desperately to achieve the stripper profile and/or taking part in the disrespectful behaviour. Essentially, your disrespecting yourself and fellow females when supporting emotionally and mentally abusing habits, behaviours and thoughts. The media puts sex and sex appeal out everywhere because there are females who will do it (usually for money or fulfilling a low-self esteem void for attention) and there are males who will go see that movie just because "that's" in it. If everyone stopped buying bread all of a sudden, after a certain period of time bread would become obsolete because the demand is not there and we need demand to make money. So if there were no women volunteering to disrespect themselves then there would be nothing to sell and then nothing to buy. Now, you may be thinking well who cares? it's all in good fun, your making too big a deal about this. What is your point really? My point is, women learn how to attract males by the behaviour of the men in their lives, men are directly affecting our self-esteem by being addicted shoppers to that which distructs women emotionally and women are buying these ideals enough to volunteer to be one and to sacrifice things such as food, well being, mental health, etc just to achieve them.
take this example which happens A LOT.
Suzy lives with her mom, dad and brother Billy.
Billy is older than Suzy. Billy is 17, Suzy is 12. Billy always talks about girls in short skirts, large breasts and high heels. Suzy's dad is periodically at the strippers and watching porn. Because of this Suzy's mom is also trying to compete with these strippers for her husbands attention. Suzy has caught on to this. (Which they almost always will) Suzy notices her dad and brother giving attention to the provocative girls walking around. Suzy notices all the other girls at school more closely now and is entering the competitive stage. To beat all the other class mates, Suzy starts to adopt the ideals and standards set by the men in her life and by her mom (who has ACCEPTED these ideals). Suzy starts to enter this race which you cannot win. She either ends up pregnant at 16, or a stripper at 18, or insecure and single until she's 30+ or will stay in a bad relationship until she's 25 and been emotionally abused. All of which her dad and mom will be upset and not proud of and punish, be disappointed with and ask where this came from.
It's okay to dress slutty, it's okay to go to the strippers, it's okay to support porn and become an escort, it's okay to sacrifice your self-esteem and who you are........... all of course until your daughter does it too.
Women- you have more power than you ever have in history, use it. Don't be with a man who will support the ideal's you secretly are fighting with. Do not look away from this situation, number one reason why children and people are bullied in school and the work place..... because they are not acceptable looking. Don't become a stick in the mud with this issue but also don't support it. It is important to be happy - and you never will be if you always feel there is a better looking version of yourself out there, you just have to save 10,000 for the surgery and hope the results turn out okay.
Does this make sense? does anyone else see the obvious circle and round about game were all playing? You may not be able to change the entire world just on your own, but you can make a difference in your life and your children if you be responsible for yourself and your choices. If we all did this, there would be a change, albiet gradual but it would come.
