Hourglass shape, box shape, pear shape and apple shape are all phrases that women hear too often. From the second we enter puberty, our bodies are plastered onto a billboard deciding how society will view us. Molding ourselves to fit into these makeshift boxes.
I was born during the “heroin chic” era, where the girls were doing coke in the bathrooms and wearing jeans so low their lower back tattoos stuck out. When I was in middle school, the rise of “body positivity” started, where women of all shapes were beginning to be worshipped in the media. We had Meghan Trainor’s “All About That Bass” and Lizzo’s “Good As Hell” carrying the music charts.
Then the Kardashians broke social media with their new and improved bodies and the rise of the BBLS – Brazilian Butt Lifts – when I was in high school. They exaggerated their breasts, cinched in their waists even if it meant losing a rib and put all their weight into their butts. And just like that, a new fad was created. Cardi B, Nicki Minaj, Iggy Azalea and many other women were next to carry on the trend.
I wish it stopped there, but I’ve noticed in recent award shows and fashion shows that women have now once again, altered their bodies. Now, in my 20s, women are changing their faces with Buccal fat remover. Buccal fat removal is an invasive surgery where a doctor takes the fat from your midface to hollow out your cheeks to make you look slimmer. Miley Cyrus, Zoe Kravitz and Chrissy Teigen are all notable celebrities who have been accused of undergoing the surgery.
When is enough enough? For the last 15 years of my life, I have seen at least four “beauty standards” corrupt my social media and my perception of beauty. It’s bad enough that women are held to unrealistic standards with body hair and how they should act, but on top of all that is how our bodies should be shaped. Unless you have $100,000, you’ll never measure up to the standards.
It has corrupted everyone’s perception of natural female bodies and how a normal older woman should look without Botox or lip injections. As a society, we have demonized growing old and having wrinkles because it has always viewed a woman as overdone or washed up.
“As I’m reaching 30, I’m like, I want to work really hard while society is still tolerating me being successful,” Taylor Swift said to Niagara Frontier Publications.
As women, we have a limited time to make a name for ourselves before society decides for us who we are. The endless standards are exhausting and, some days, prevent me from getting out of bed. It’s not enough to create life, but rather create life and then get back into the gym so you don’t hold on to the baby weight. We fight our way to the top of the ladder only to be questioned about our worth after giving birth and not staying home with the baby.
Throughout history women were questioned why they would go back to work and not stay home with their child, deeming them as unfit or careless as a mother. While men who take paternity leave are praised for being an ‘involved dad’ or a hard worker for taking the kids, women are often scrutinized for taking the time off. Traditionally this was made to ensure new parents have the opportunity to settle in with their new child but women are mainly the parent that receives criticism for continuing their mother duties–breastfeeding– while trying to transition back into the work field. Luckily in today’s day in age women can have the opportunity to work virtually.
It would be one thing if men were held to the same standards, but the older I get, the more I realize that women are getting more and more rules to follow while men are granted more leeway. Men are untouchable and always have been, especially in today’s political climate, where women’s rights are on the chopping block. There is no time better than now to flip the hourglass and change the trajectory of women’s worth.
