It’s about control. In our Patriarchal society, men are at the top of the social ladder, and generation after generation of men have done what is within their power to keep it that way. The concept of “beauty” has been socially constructed by men as a way to keep women submissive to their own self-empowerment. The current generation has successfully taken the attention of women away from setting and achieving their own dreams and desires…to fulfilling those of men. “Beauty” has become the lure by which men dangle the fate of women. If women are “beautiful,” life is good…usually made so by the men in their lives. If they are not, then they suffer a life in self-loathing and possible loneliness. Either way, men hold the power to impact the lives of women, not the other way around.
According to Wolf, “the beauty myth is always actually prescribing behavior and not appearance.” In my opinion, this suggests that by men holding women to such a high standard of “beauty,” one that is virtually unattainable by the majority, what they are truly doing is controlling their behavior, more specifically women’s actions towards them. Men have put women in an obedient position, one in which they strive to be beautiful rather than successful. With women facing the enemy of an “ideal” body image on a daily basis, no time and effort can be put forth in other areas of life, such as overturning the male social status. Men have thrived as the socially dominant gender, not because they are stronger or smarter, but simply because they have devised a way to keep women busy worrying about how to perfect their own body for the better part of their lives. Beauty, unfortunately, rarely makes women happy. Instead, it makes men happy. Until women understand and accept this distinction, men will always be in control.
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