Why women are so obsessed with their looks?

11.03.2016

Women have always been interested in improving their physical appearance. In fact, both men and women are obsessed with their exteriors – but for absolutely different reasons. Starting with the ancient Egypt (where women would use natural substances to lighten their skin, darken their lips and line their eyes) through the Victorian era in the Great Britain (where women wore tight corsets in order to have an hourglass figure) and up till now (plastic surgery, Botox, artificial hair dye etc.) – women have been doing their best to earn the general social admiration. Why do they need that?

1. The society has its particular beauty stereotype. What you have seen in the previous paragraph is the basic objectification of social beauty stereotype. It is not a stable phenomenon – it changes, transmutes, and adapts. We can say that the separate stereotype (pale skin and unhealthy “sparkling” eyes, for example) exists in terms of synchrony – basically, it works only for the certain era or époque. As well, female beauty stereotypes differ from one country (nation) to another. Why would a society need it? Well, the answer is quite ambiguous. On one hand, stereotypes, prototypes and patterns altogether form the basis for the human mind. We do not generate thoughts, we build them from already-known “bricks” – stereotypes and similar phenomena. That is why stereotypes are necessary – they simply help people understand each other. On the other hand, these stereotypes are based on the interests and\or apprehension peculiarities of the certain social group. In the end, women are stuck between their self-perception and everyone else’s vision of female beauty.


2. Men are becoming more and more legible. Centuries ago, before the ancient Greece with its aesthetic theories and developed society appeared, a humankind had only had one significant need – to reproduce itself (just as any living creature). Therefore, a man would choose the woman at the peak of her fertility and health. These women were not always stereotypically beautiful. However, it was not that important. The humanity “evolves” - develops and changes. We no longer stick to reproductive function – this instinct metamorphosed into a thoughtful choice of every man and woman. That is why to fulfil the female need of becoming a mother and a life partner, girls need to be more attractive than others are. Not only have that, but also a social pressing has made girls overthink their apprehension of beauty. We have already mentioned that social stereotype of female beauty often has nothing to do with having healthy children and fertility itself. Why would society force women to believe that these phenomena have a connection between them? We are not sure that any answer will be truthful enough.


3. Beauty and sex are the main driving force of marketing and advertisement. Well, we cannot possibly draw the line between concepts of beauty and sex in the modern world. However, it is a well-known fact that these concepts are widely used in marketing as the main impulsive force. Ask any successful marketing specialist about the concepts they use to promote goods (literally any kind of products). Yes, they would answer in chorus – physical appearance and sexual discourse. Of course, most of them are objectified in the most appropriate way for the contemporary audience – skinny girls with big eyes, plumpish lips, enormous breasts etc. As a result, women see approximate perfection everywhere – in fashion magazines, on TV-shows and the Internet and so on. They compare themselves to runway models and start doing creepy and odd things with their bodies.