The Invisible Weight: Societal Pressures on Women
Women can’t be good at what they do. Women can’t have a good work life balance. Women can’t do a job as well as a man. These are all exhaustive of female stereotypes. Why do we still think this way after women have proven again and again that they belong beyond the realms of gender stereotyping? Ultimately, there are stereotypes for women, who we are to be, and the effects of gender bias in society don’t stop with ideals about how women cannot manage to be anything besides a caring mother, they also progress to beauty standards in America. As women in the modern age, it is our time. It all sums up to one question: What can we do about harmful stereotypes against women today?
I. The Expectations of Women
Media and culture set the norm for women. How do women act? How do they behave? What roles do they play? How do they look? Over and over again, beauty standards are shaped. The Barbie Movie says it best,
"It is literally impossible to be a woman…You have to be thin, but not too thin. And you can never say you want to be thin. You have to say you want to be healthy, but also you have to be thin. You have to have money, but you can't ask for money because that's crass. You have to be a boss, but you can't be mean. You have to lead, but you can't squash other people's ideas. You're supposed to love being a mother, but don't talk about your kids all the damn time. You have to be a career woman but also always be looking out for other people. You have to answer for men's bad behavior, which is insane, but if you point that out, you're accused of complaining. You're supposed to stay pretty for men, but not so pretty that you tempt them too much or that you threaten other women because you're supposed to be a part of the sisterhood…You have to never get old, never be rude, never show off, never be selfish, never fall down, never fail, never show fear, never get out of line. It's too hard! It's too contradictory and nobody gives you a medal or says thank you! And it turns out in fact that not only are you doing everything wrong, but also everything is your fault. I'm just so tired of watching myself and every single other woman tie herself into knots so that people will like us. And if all of that is also true for a doll just representing women, then I don't even know.”
There are simply no words. Western beauty standards make it nearly impossible. And even beyond that, the pressure to balance both career success and have a family life where you are constantly in the picture is mandatory by societal pressures. We must be both nurturing, agreeable, and somehow perfect to every single person. I hate to break it to you, but that isn’t going to happen. As much as I would love for this to be how life worked, just naturally gifted women in the realms they typically hold, that isn’t the case. You simply cannot do everything at once. Furthermore, modern feminism has helped to lead the way for women to do something. Even so, however, the effects of such biases in society do not help the progressive movement.
II. The Effects of Gender Bias in Society
When a woman has to hold onto such stressors listed above, there are many negative effects. The quality of overall mental health in a woman’s life lowers significantly. Anxiety, burnout, and low self esteem are inevitable. Comparison to aforementioned standards brought on by social media, movies, and overall popular culture create a narrative leading to the strain of trying to meet conflicting expectations. I feel the best example of this is how the standard for a “perfect body” is constantly changing. In the early 2000s you had to have a “box” torso. That meant super skinny, no curves, long legs. In the 2010’s it moved to a more full figure with bigger boobs and an even bigger butt. Your waist had to be perfectly small, though, because if you were fat in the wrong places, you were ugly. As time has progressed and the media has forced narratives on us, it’s nearly impossible to keep up with the “in” body trend. We forget, somehow, that every healthy body is beautiful. Yet, on the flip side, if we support this too much, then people who exercise a lot, genuinely trying to stay healthy take the lashes. Suddenly everyone is worried they are “fatphobic” or are struggling with their body image. Can we just be people? Can we just live collectively beautiful lives without pressuring a teenage girl to look more “sexy” or tell a girl who starts puberty to “cover up” because as a 13 year old she might be distracting to her older male relatives? It is disgusting. But how do we do that? How do we begin to break down these walls?
III. Challenging Norms and Breaking Gender Stereotypes
The societal movement across America promoting body positivity and equality is an excellent start to the change that must happen in our country. We must take our eyes off the BMI scale, originally made for men and based on a singular body type, and progress to equality across healthcare information. How does an individual look based on their gender, racial background, and family health history? In the realm of body image, women are already reshaping the definitions of success and identity. Outside of the body image realm, we are beginning to see significant change as well. Women, while not entirely offered equal opportunities, are gaining many more opportunities within the workforce. Women who desire to be stay at home moms or homemakers often have the freedom to, yet we must challenge the idea that women can only be this. There is nothing wrong with being a homemaker, and while the idea that that is all a woman is good for is significantly lower in popularity than it used to be, that doesn’t mean that no one still holds this belief. Speak up, speak out, and speak kindly. Boldness without kindness won’t get you anywhere, and kindness without boldness won’t give you the opportunity to start. The real steps towards change are to spread awareness, show representation from multiple cultures and backgrounds standing collectively together for the same cause, and to support the cause in any way you can.
Modern beauty standards, whether we like it or not, are often obstacles to female leadership. With many different voices, we must not only stand together, but also change our mindsets and how we think about the world around us and how such examples of gender bias truly do change the perceptions of ourselves and women around us. Start today. Speak up. Know your why, and believe it, more than anything.
Source: Barbie. Directed by Greta Gerwig, Warner Bros. Pictures, 2023
