Many women are finding themselves in a vicious cycle that could, and often
time
s does, include low self
-
esteem, depression, eating disorders, sexual assault and/or
harassment, and an overall feeling of discontent as a result of a desire to emulate a
visual standard that is near impossible to achieve.
Some partners
are reading women‟
s
modeling as an urge or desire to be treated or used as the object the media portrays
them as. The result is an unpredictable dance between a woman and her environment
that yo yo‟s between temporary contentment when attention is achieved, to severe
depre
ssion after it is taken away.
Women are
then coerced
to repeat the cycle by
seeking out new forms of approval. Meanwhile, to achieve the title of sexy or desirable,
intimate relations continue to lose meaning, resulting in high
-
risk behavior
.
A
lso
, there
is the sad reality that some of these women will fall victim to assault, harassment,
and/or stalking, which will no doubt serve as a detrimental obstacle in achieving
contentment.
Despite the physical, cognitive, emotional, and spiritual obstacles in t
he quest to
achieve idealized beauty
,
women continue to chase it
. While
any
woman stuck in the
spider‟s web
has
different reasoning for prescribing
to these “ideals,” it seems quite
consistent that the failure to obtain American beauty standards often lea
ds to great
body dissatisfaction
and a probable inability to find peace. To
combat
sexism and
objectification, society must reshape its patriarchal framework and move towards more
egalitarian standards. However, with the media consistently flashing the “
ideal” around
every corner the likelihood of self
-
acceptance and a less judgmental society seems near
impossible. Therefore, working towards a society where women can walk safely down
the street without fear of assault, or can look in the mirror without ne
gative mental
and physical consequences begins
internally and...