As I was commenting on Grenas’s post “Presenting the Pushed-Up Self,” I began thinking about why women subscribe to what seems to be the male ideal of beauty. Socialization in our white male dominated culture leads women to comply with the external pressures of being physically attractive.
According to Costanzo (1992), as sited by Fredrickson and Roberts in their article “Objectification Theory,” they then claim “ownership of these socialized values and attitudes, often by incorporating them into their sense of self.” This suggests that women believe that they put on make-up, dye their hair, wear push-up bras, etc. because it pleases them, not men.
This led me to remember this YouTube video by Jenna Marbles, in which she says (starting at 2:25) she gets dressed up, does her hair and puts makeup on when she goes out, not so guys will look at her, but because she just wants to have fun and look good. But it is this male dominated culture that tells women that they have to do these things in order to look good.
Questions:
Do you think Costanzo, Fredrickson and Roberts are correct in their assumption that women only like dressing up because they have been taught to?
What do you think women would choose for themselves if they were not socialized in this way?
