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"I felt that I was going to be judged for not having the wardrobe that would suggest a successful ideal woman."
"I'm pretty comfortable with how I look naturally"
"When you see these supermodels that are wearing a 0, it's not very representative, so there's this second undercurrent of the real woman"
"It should be: guys don't look at that girl's legs because she's wearing a short skirt, identify her for who she is, not what she's wearing"
he following is dedicated to the
voices and opinions of seven women.We were born in different places, come from different
backgrounds, and study different things. There is one
thing that we do have in common: we are college women and we have some things to say.
As young females, we are the constant recipients of messages from our peers, friends, parents, supervisors, and the media. Some of these messages come in the form of pressures, particularly in terms of our appearance, our professional and academic lives, and our roles as women in modern day society. It is rare that we hear the responses to these pressures, so I created a place where a few female voices could be heard. I hope that you will find yourself entertained and informed and that you will also enjoy listening to the stories and opinions that follow.
PART 3
GENDER NORMS
PART 1
APPEARANCES
LONG HAIR
CATLIKE EYES
HIGH CHEEKBONES
ARCHED BROWS
FEMININE CHIN
FULL LIPS
Even in the 21st century, a woman's
looks still play such an integral role in how she is viewed and how others respond to her. Her appearance serves as her first impression, and I've learned that first impressions are very difficult to change. Not only is this an issue when it comes to dating, but it also has a strong effect on our success in the workforce. Here are some general statistics in regards to female appearance as it stands today:
The average woman spends approximately 55 minutes on her appearance every day
That means 355 hours every year spent on her looks
91% of cosmetic surgery performed in 2012 was on women
9,094 rhinoplasties were performed on women younger than 18 last year
Women who wear makeup earn 30% more than women that don't
Attractive women earn about 3-4% more than women with below-average looks
Though these statistics exist, what I found most interesting with the women that I interviewed was that appearance is becomes less of a priority for us as we age. We still take care of the way we look, but it doesn't concern us as much as it did in high school or middle school.
"I used to not leave the house without putting on my full makeup, so in high school it took me an hour and a half to get ready"
"I feel equally confident walking out of the house with no makeup on or with makeup on"
Appearances may not be as big of a priority as it used to be for us, but we've found ourselves in situations where female attractiveness seems to be at the forefront of everyone else's minds.
"I've listened to the men around me rate other women on a scale of 1-10"
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
"It's still a norm for men to just go on looks, and that's really annoying"
"I've had guy friends sit there and tell me what's wrong with my girlfriend's bodies"
A big part of why appearances are such a prevalent part of the discourse on women can be attributed to the way that the media portrays women, which has historically been unrepresentative and unrealistic. Fortunately, small campaigns like aerie real have emerged in response to the concerns that women have voiced in regards to airbrushing or using models that fit a very specific mold.
PART 2
WORK AND ACADEMICS
As college students, we find
ourselves in between the academic world and the professional world. We study through all hours of the night so that we can look towards the future in the hopes of becoming academics, economists, lawyers, and engineers.
Fortunately for us, the United States has made great strides in terms of female workforce participation and women now comprise 49.9% of working adults. However, where our country lacks in gender equality is in positions of power. In Fortune 500 companies, only an abysmal 4.6% of the CEOs are female.
What I've come to discover is that with every step that I take towards my career goals, I also take one step forward into very murky waters.
"There is a very weird line that you have to walk that I think men don't have to"
"When I go to interviews, I'll dress in a skirt and top and she was dressed in a pantsuit and she had her hair pulled up and she wasn't wearing make-up"
"If we were to get dressed up and look good like we were to go out on a Friday night...if we were to do the same thing and go to class, I think we'd lose a lot of respect from our peers or professors."
Since we are so new to the workforce, it's crucial that we seek out as much information as possible to understand the work environment that we're entering. So, we constantly look for feedback on ways to improve and that feedback has proven to be quite interesting.
"The single comment that I got back was...your skirt is too high. You need to get a longer dress"
"He said 'your testimony is dry but you have to be cute and charming, and you are cute! So just play that up and really use that to draw the judges in'"
"I'd get comments like 'lower your voice,' which worked sadly'"
Unfortunately, we find that gender discrimination still has a strong hold in both our academic and professional lives. In fact, the discrimination comes from both men and women, so it can even be difficult to find support from other females.
"I had someone tell me when I'm at work that I need to watch out for the men around me because they'd start looking at my arms, and at my legs, and at other places that they shouldn't be looking instead of listening to me'"
"Getting a job in highly competitive quantitative fields is a little difficult for girls'"
"There are still mental blocks that people have in that because you're a woman, you're still expected to do some of the more menial tasks, which is something I encountered a lot over the last couple of years"
"In choir settings, other musical groups, judges, and audiences love to hear 50 males singing because it's so strong and emotional...but 50 females singing is boring, there's no bass, that's annoying...it's interesting that it even reaches as far as vocals'"
"The men in those fields still tend to judge themselves as more intelligent and having more potential to be successful than women"
"She said you know....you're great but you're just a bitch...and I just looked at her and smiled and laughed because it wasn't worth getting into how inappropriate that was'"
At times we even become our own obstacles in progressing forward, especially when we "realize" our gender in certain situations.
"I realized afterwards that I was too nice...and I that's my personality, so that's hard to cut that off the business side of me"
"There was a male presence and it was really difficult when we were having discussions, because we'd have discussions about feminist issues...and I felt like I couldn't necessarily voice my opinions to its full extent'"
"In a class when students have questions...if you're not that first person to get picked...men are much more likely to keep their hand up and be persistent in getting their questions answered"
We have also encountered some positive responses in terms of how our gender is viewed from a professional standpoint.
"Well I was going to be remembered every single time if I was the only female in the room...and that's what they told me"
"He basically said that all of the interns he had by and large have been women and that he really strongly felt that women my age just did a better job. They took their careers and futures much more seriously than men did."
The modern American social
construct of "female" has come a long way from what it looked like in the 50s. Although gender norms are technically imagined by definition, they still manage to have such a strong hold on the behavior of men, women, and the opportunities afforded to women. My female peers and I are fortunate to live in a time when being a woman can mean so much more than it did a mere 50 years ago. For example, take the following excerpt from a 1961 article written by a doctor at Harvard:
"It seems obvious enough that as a boy approaches graduation he will have his eye out for a job or for a career, and a girl will have hers on marriage." - Dr. Carl Binger
Now, compare that to what we hear today:
"Free political systems require the insights of women in government, journalism and the law" - Former First Lady Laura Bush
Again, the United States has come a long way but our gender does still affect what we can and cannot do and how other view us. The following portion of this project takes a look at how we think about our gender and how we perceive that others respond to it as well.
"I think that society expects a lot out of women...society expects women to have it all"
"Society expects that with the opportunity available to women...an ideal woman takes advantage of those opportunities...I think the ideal woman is a working woman...but at the same time is still someone who has a family"
"I feel like if your walls aren't painted pink or you don't have a Longchamp bag, or you aren't fitting everything and you do something outside of the norm then all of a sudden you're weird"
"Going through rush was really strange...because it was like 'who can out-feminine the other'...I felt like I have to be super feminine for these people to like me, which isn't me"
"In mock trial competitions, I'd generally score higher with middle aged men if I was a crying witness. But then when I was an expert witness...I didn't score as well with men...it could've been because I was a woman in an expert role that was dressing like a man and talking like a man as opposed to your 'typical' feminine woman"
"When a man's masculinity is threatened because you're doing what you're doing...it's ridiculous"
"I don't like lowered expectations compared to men, I don't like how people judge me based upon my appearance instead of my intelligence or capabilities or competency. It's harder to earn respect and it's harder to maintain respect. I don't like the way people expect you to dress or act or stand back"
Sometimes our gender can be an advantage and at points it isn't even on our mind at all unless someone brings it directly to our attention.