Beauty and brains-it’s what most women like to claim, but only a few of us actually have both. We live in a culture that values them both, but not from the same gender. Stereotypically, men have the brains, women have the beauty. Sometimes the men also have beauty, but in our culture, women are seldom classified as the ones with brains. Of course, just like every other woman, I would like to think that I have both, but unfortunately women today, particularly young women, have no interest in having both. They much rather have the beauty over the brains.
The American culture is more sexified than ever. Girls are dressing provocatively, sending “sex-t” messages, videotaping themselves having sex and taking semi-nude photos. Girls today have simply lost their sense of shame. They are open with their sexuality, and using their sexuality to get ahead.
We all know that celebrities like Paris Hilton, Kim Kardashian, and Lauren Conrad all became more famous after a release of a sex tape featuring them and a significant other. Girls around the country see that these women get even richer and more famous after “inappropriate behavior”. This sends a message to girls that inappropriate behavior takes you to a far destination, and it doesn’t necessarily require brains to get there. I mean, let’s be honest. No one has ever accused any of the girls listed above of being smart.
In schools around the country, the most popular girls are either beautiful, or smart and beautiful. They are seldom ever smart alone. Why? Because in our society, a smart woman isn’t as valuable as a sexy woman. It’s an unspoken rule. Young women are noticing what is truly valued about us, and it’s not our brains.
We always tell girls to make decisions that are going to take you somewhere in life. But you see, in the minds of these young women, they are making the choices that are going to lead them to what they want to be. And you know what that is? A wife and a mom. You don’t necessarily have to have brains to get either one of those things. In order to get married, you have to attract a man. You do that by being beautiful. Once you have that man, you keep him by staying beautiful. Then you get him to desire to impregnate you by being beautiful. Voila!
If you’ve read my article Femi-Nazi: The Evolution of Modern Day Feminism, you know that I feel that society has taught girls to become a mom and a wife. Of course I know that many women truly want this, but I feel that society has pushed it upon us. Girls are playing with baby dolls when they are still a baby themselves. We are told fairy tales and love stories as early kindergarten. All of these things teach girls to aspire to companionship, love, marriage, and children. Society has made that our ultimate goal-not us.
There aren’t very many women that want something more than marriage and children. It angers me, but that’s the truth. Women in the past have fought so hard for us to have the opportunity to be more than a mom or a wife, but unfortunately, many of us are still looking forward to motherhood and wifehood more than anything else. Ask these over sexified girls what they want most in life, and let’s see if it’s not motherhood or wifehood.
I spend my personal time reading and writing. I try to acquire knowledge. You know why? Because I’m going into the business field, a place where brains is key. Business is my ultimate goal. So I invest my time in what’s going to lead me there. These “out of control” girls are investing their time in where they want to end up- being a family woman. And the first step to getting there is by attracting a man. I know some of these girls are doing it for attention. But they’re doing it for attention from whom? I know being wild and slutty makes you popular, but who do you become most popular among when you behave that way?
Our divorce rate in this country averages at 50%. Being beautiful and sexy may get you married, but how is it going to keep you out of a divorce? Even Halle Berry and Angelina Jolie is divorced. If you do get a divorce, how is being beautiful going to cover the expenses? How is being beautiful going to keep you financially stable? After all, financial problems are the #1 cause of divorce in our country. By the statistics, doesn’t it look like we women need to change our priorities? Doesn’t being beautiful only take you to a certain point? What about when things go sour? Are you going to rely on beauty to save you from life’s deepest troubles?
Beauty should be about self love, not for the love and approval of others. Girls and women need to learn how to take care of themselves for their own pleasure and not exploit themselves for the pleasure and approval of someone who probably is going to be with another girl a month from now. We need to see the beauty in investing in ourselves and our own well being. It is not selfish to do it for you. We’ve been taught to be everything to everyone else, and to be nothing to ourselves. This message is all wrong. You will never have a truly fulfilling life by doing everything for others and doing nothing for yourself.
You deserve to have brains. It’s what takes you the farthest. Men are ahead of us in this country because they invest in knowledge, and we invest in beauty. They have their priorities in a different order from ours, and it’s been working for them. We can actually learn a couple of things from those creatures…
