The Beauty Myth

I believe there isn’t much difference during the Victorian Era and today. During the Victorian Era Women were like prisoners in their own home. They weren’t allowed to be educated, work, vote or state their opinions. Their responsibilities were to cook, clean, take care of their children and their husbands. Women’s lives were extremely limited during the Victorian Era. Today woman are considered prisoners in their own bodies. As stated in the article “The Beauty Myth” by Naomi Wolf, women do not feel as free as they want to. Society puts pressure on women to be “beautiful”. Society’s meaning of beauty is based on looks rather than personality. When it comes to TV, magazines and even dolls, beautiful women are portrayed as skinny and young looking. Women are forced to be a size zero and to never age. Naomi Wolf explains how after woman gained their rights, eating disorders rose and cosmetic surgery became the fastest-growing medical specialty. Also pornography became the main media category. Women were also saying how they prefer to lose 15 pounds than to accomplish any other goals. Women have become their own enemies, judging themselves based on their looks because they did not look like the ‘Beautiful’ women society puts out there. Many powerful and successful women have low self-esteem because they believe they are not beautiful. When some men look for a mate, they look for that ‘beauty’ society portrays, causing more pressure for women to be beautiful. Women shouldn’t torture themselves as much as they do. Women today are under so much pressure to be perfect that it causes them to still feel like a prisoner. Women today do not enjoy their lives because they are too busy worrying about pleasing society’s portrayal of a beautiful woman without realizing if you have a beautiful inside it shouldn’t matter.