Wolf/Banks Blog Post

Gracie Hall

Blog Post 9.18.12

            On Friday of this week my friend Max from back home sent me a review of Naomi Wolf’s new book, “Vagina: A New Biography”. (Can be found here: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/16/books/review/vagina-a-new-biography-by-naomi-wolf.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all) This was the first time I had been introduced to any of her ideas or her words, and quite frankly I was a little disappointed. The author, Toni Bentley, let us readers know that she was let down by what could have been “a very important book” because of questionable scientific methods, poor word choice, ridiculous redundancies, and failed nerves. After reading this review, I approached our weekly reading with a similar mentality. What I found, however, was that I was greatly impressed by “The Beauty Myth” and agreed with most of what I read.

            In this text Naomi Wolf states that the modern woman has been loosing the ground that was covered by the 1970’s wave of feminism. She says, “women’s collective progress has stalled” and metaphorically implies that our generation is unwilling to “light the torch”. It is with our new liberties, money, power, scope, and legal recognition that we roll over and again are suppressed by what she has coined “the beauty myth.” Shortly after releasing ourselves from the feminine mystic of domesticity we have been beat down and restrained by the beauty myth, which has been “seeking to undo psychologically and covertly all the good things that feminism did for women.” The advertisements for house products have changed to diet supplements and the youthful model has “supplanted the happy housewife”; we have fallen into the trap once again. Instead of using the power we have recently reclaimed over our bodies, we have resumed the pattern of male medical control and have starved and artificially modified ourselves.

            Naomi Wolf states that this of course, is not natural. There is no changeless, universal quantity of “beauty”. This is not a function of evolution; there is no historical or biological justification. This is instead a result of “men’s institutions and institutional power”. Wolf’s historical context claims that beauty was never really a main factor in the consideration of marriage back in the day, and that our modern ideals were only really born around the 1830’s. It has been with the modern boom of technology (which Judith Lorber told us was a man’s world) that an alternate female world with “it’s own laws, economy, religion, sexuality, education, and culture” has been constructed. Now we live in a society where there is a $33 billion dollar diet industry, a $300 million dollar cosmetic surgery industry, a $20 billion dollar cosmetics industry, and a $7 billion dollar pornography industry! We have been trapped by the “iron maiden” and have deemed feminists ugly. What Judith Lorber says we need, is a new way to see.

            I agree of course, that the torch of feminism should be lit again, however, like most I am caught up in the Beauty Myth. My daily log clearly shows that I am chained to beauty ideals, products, and misconceptions. I feel terrible and gross if my hair is unwashed or my eyes are not made up. I spend far too much time observing my imperfections in the mirror and, like most, feel as if I could loose a few pounds. I know that I am healthy and that the world won’t end if I skip my shower in the morning, but sometimes it’s just so hard to fight the norm. The iron maiden example really hit too close to home, it reminded me so much of my self and other women. When reading Ingrid Bank’s “Hair Matters” I definitely found evidence of this “Iron Maiden” complex.

            Bank’s chapters focus on hair and power, hair as empowerment, natural hair as empowerment, hair as disempowerment, hair as economic power, and hair as power to attract a mate. These chapters quote a series of women (all with different hair styles) and their opinions on the above topic. The first woman, Indigo, fires a cannon early on. She says that she doesn’t appreciate when white women comment on her hair, she doesn’t want them to validate or not validate her, “their opinion has no bearing on what I choose to do anymore.”

            On the question: What is the relationship between hair and power? There were many different opinions: some women thought that wearing their hair natural allowed them to participate in a revolutionary act, others thought that the choices they make and the ability to make choices is what’s empowering, some thought that the way in which you chose to wear your hair is a statement in the “face of societal, cultural, and familial opposition”. The opinions were as varied as the styles, and as varied as the women.

            What I thought to be one of the most interesting parts of the article is a conversation I have witnessed before. The question of what makes an “authentic” black identity, and the tensions that surface about ideas of black womanhood. Does wearing your hair naturally make you more “authentic”, does relaxing or straightening your hair make you more a part of mainstream white culture? Although this question wasn’t fully explored in Bank’s text (at least from what we read) it would be something I would be interested to read more about. Of course, these ideas about what is physically beautiful continue to be shaped by social ideals (as Wolf explained) but as Nydeye-Ante says, these are not only white ideals:

                        “We were taught too. And not by white people directly. I mean, that was a deep part of it. The way it works is that the white person doesn’t have to be in front of you preaching to you, “love me better than yourself” anymore because we teach each other that. We get trained so well.”

These societal structures of beauty are being upheld by all of us, we are all trained so well, we are all held within the iron maiden. To break out of this trap Stacy implied that it was imperative that black women construct their own notions of beauty. I think it is imperative that we all construct our own notions of beauty, it is then and only then that we will all be realsed from the Beauty Myth.

            The last section of the text focused on the connection of hair with femininity. Almost everyone stated that long, silky hair is feminine and that short hair can ofton be linked with homosexual perceptions. Some women who had their hair short said that they would try and overcompensate with makeup, accessories, or feminine clothes. They were afraid of what western ideals would assume about them and their sexuality otherwise. The curveball in all of this was that men with long hair, or classically female styles were not considered feminine. In the case of Snoop Dogg and others, their feminine hair added to their heightened sense of masculinity not the other way around.

            I know that I have taken great pride in growing my hair long, and I think that truthfully that really does have to do with what I see as feminine and beautiful. It’s not that I don’t think women with short hair aren’t beautiful of feminine, but like women in the article I have used the excuse that “it wouldn’t work for me”. When my mother asked me this summer why I have been growing my hair out to be so, so long, I responded: “I want to achieve mermaid status”. Ariel, the red headed mermaid and her other Disney sisters were probably my first outside introduction to “The Beauty Myth” and I, apparently have been thirsting after their cartoon styles ever since. Although now I realize how much I give in to these norms, I have also within the past year started my own little hair revolution.

            When I was sixteen I met one of my best friends Quela. (Read her blog here: http://theformativeyears.wordpress.com/ it’s full of tips, tricks, and musings on wearing natural hair) We quickly bonded over classic R&B tunes, our favorite poets, Kim Possible and our love of creating our own clothes. We talked about all the ways we liked to style ourselves, how we wanted the world to see us, and what it was we each saw in our own faces. Once our conversation naturally moved to hair and we ended up deciding like Banks, that hair is a segregated ‘thing’. We thought about the aisles in CVS with the “white” products on one side and the “black” products on the other, the different hair dressers, and the different ‘acceptable’ styles. It was all so separate. For that reason, when I found the brand “Mixed Chicks” I was beyond excited. Mixed Chicks, is a company that makes products for every kind of hair, on their website they state:

            “Finally, a curl-defining system for "us". Whether you're black, white, asian, latin, mediterranean, or any glorious combination of the above, you'll love the way these non-sticky, lightweight curly hair products leave your hair inviting to touch as they define and lock moisture into every curl. Be a proud part of our multiracial movement..."MIXED CHICKS" your curls! And yes, it not only works on wavy, tightly curled or straight hair but it also works on weaves.”

             Suddenly I could group myself with all women, instead of just the ones with a similar ethnic background! Granted, I still use my Paul Mitchell for fancy occasions, but I have relished in the fact that after my shower I can put in a little bit of my Mixed Chicks and go against the grain. I can have my own little hair revolution and break away (if only slightly) from the beauty myth that contains us all. 

Natalie Bennett

          I really really enjoyed reading The Beauty Myth. Everything she had to say was so true and so insightful, yet I don't think most people actually realize them. I think when people look at women's rights and compare them to those of women now gone, they think we're doing amazingly well, yet we see in this article that women are just being suppressed in a completely different way.
          One thing I had never thought about was how different it was before there were photographs and the wide scale distribution of images of "beauty." she made it sounds if this concept of the ideal woman was not entirely prevalent at one time.
          When I worked with The Body Project back in high school, one of the main things we talked about was the 'thin ideal'. This is the image of beauty we felt is currently being portrayed to us. This is the only type of woman we ever see in magazines and on tv. The movie Miss representation is a real eye opener about the media and it's portrayal of women. One quote from this that I can never get out of my mind is when Jim Steyer said, "in a world of a million channels, people try to do more shocking and shocking things to break through the clutter. They resort to violent images, or sexually offensive images, or demeaning images." I couldn't see more truth in this statement.

          I think I agree with the statements made on page 73 that the true power comes from the choice to wear your hair in any one of such a wide variety of ways. With that said, I also think it can be very empowering for a black woman to wear her hair as it naturally falls.
          My old roommate is from a small Caribbean island and living with her I learned a lot about her hair. One thing I noticed is that when in the states, she almost always has her hair straightened, but at home for whatever reason, she doesn't feel the need to change it. There is certainly nothing unattractive about her natural hair, she has the most beautiful spiral curls that look so cute framing her face when she clips back the front pieces. It should be very clear to her how much people like her hair this way based on the number of compliments she unfailingly receives every time she has it. Yet, the majority of the time we spent at school together, and absolutely most definitely at every special occasion and formal event, her hair was 'tamed' and straight.

Charlotte Sargent

“The Beauty Myth” and “Hair Matters” Response

Both the readings “The Beauty Myth” and “Hair Matters” talk about how prominent beauty is for women in society. The desire and need to look and feel beautiful is what the majority of women deal with all over the world. Women feel pressured by society and mainly men to be attractive and to look beautiful. This causes women to constantly worry about their image and confidence, which makes women feel less powerful and more insecure.

In “The Beauty Myth” by Naomi Wolf, she talks about how women have been fighting for equality for years and in the early 1970’s, Western women gained rights that they never had before. Such as, higher education, entering the work force, and changing the old beliefs and ideas about what their role is in society as women. However, as talked about in Wolf’s article, women do not feel as free as they could, due to the pressure that comes from society to look beautiful. The older women who fought for equality and their rights feel burned out, but the younger women have no motivation to keep making changes. The idea of being beautiful overrides the desire to achieve goals. Women are constantly thinking about their image and that insecurity shows, therefore making women appear inferior.

            The fact that women feel the need to look beautiful instead of independent or powerful is what makes them inferior to men. In some aspects women bring it on upon themselves. As Wolf states “We are in the midst of a violent backlash against feminism that uses images of female beauty as a political weapon against women’s advancement: the beauty myth.” Ten years ago women were violating power and challenging everyone around them, because they had a goal. Overtime, society began to struggle with eating disorders and cosmetic surgery. Wolf talks about how even though women may have more power, money, and choice than ever before, the way women feel and worry about their physical body and their appearance has most likely made us worse off than women years ago, who had no choice.  Women are so conscientious about what they look like, what they wear, and the strive to feel beautiful in the eyes of a man, that they can end up hurting themselves. I feel that women have become weaker, more insecure, and more fragile due to the fact that they are so self-conscious about their appearance, especially to men.

In the reading “Hair Matters” by Ingrid Bank, she talks about hair and power, especially the relationship between the two for black women. In society there are copious amounts of different norms and perceptions of what “looks good” from clothing to hairstyle to accessories, etc. Depending on where you are from, what you look like, and who surrounds you is what makes a person who they are.

Black women have the choice to wear their hair natural or they can straighten it or get braids, etc. I found it interesting how some black women feel more powerful in a sense when they leave their hair natural because that is the way they were born. One of the girls that Bank interviewed said, “In fact, I’m insulted, especially when white people come up to me and say they like my hair because I’ve had to listen to [their] value judgments to create who I am for so long. I don’t want [them] to validate or not validate me.” Others claim they don’t leave their hair natural, but it is not because they are embarrassed or ashamed of their natural hair, it just depends on what makes them feel attractive. Another girl from the reading said, “I think that anyone who loves their self for who they are and doesn’t really care what anyone thinks is powerful.” Some black women like keeping their hair natural because it is going against the grain, which is empowering. However, it can also be empowering to straighten their hair when coming from a family or group that only wears their hair natural, because that is empowering as well. A different interviewee stated “It’s about the choices and your ability to make those choices that brings empowerment.” This shows that the feeling of power can be achieved according to how you make the choices you are presented with and by what your surroundings are.  It is funny to think that a simple bodily feature such as hair has the capability to bring power.

            Straight hair is deemed to be the image of beauty, mainly in the media. This doesn’t mean that just because a black woman straightens her hair, she isn’t a strong woman or proud of her culture. Another woman who was interviewed in the reading said, “I consider myself to be a strong woman. And I’m definitely proud of being black, and that’s why I’m just sort of confused about why I straighten my hair, but I still do it.” I think hairstyle has to do with what makes you feel good, attractive, and confident. In the reading, Bank voiced that long hair is what many men consider to be attractive and feminine. I have always had long hair and I honestly do feel more confident and attractive with long hair. I highly dislike getting my hair cut, because whenever I do, it always seems too short and I feel more insecure. It is interesting that hair length can make me and many others feel that way. For those women who wear their hair short, they are perceived as manly, unfeminine, or lesbian. That is because society has created these norms and when anyone goes against them, they are looked at differently or judged.

            These articles brought into light subtle topics that have a large effect on all women around the world. Small things such as hairstyle and the desire to look beautiful play a huge role in who women are and how women act today in society.

“The Beauty Myth” and “Hair Matters”- Lily Cannon

            In the article “The Beauty Myth” by Naomi Wolf, the idea of beauty was discussed and it was explained how the definition of beauty has changed over the centuries along with the changes in the roles of women.  

            Throughout the article Wolf compared women today versus women years ago. She explains that in the past, women were more interested in political issues, such as the right to vote, whereas today, women are more focused on their appearance than in taking an active role in social changes. Today women of all ages are focusing on their weight. Wolf states, “thirty-three thousand American women told researchers that they would rather lose ten to fifteen pounds than achieve any other goal.” I believe that those in the media are the ones to blame. Flipping through magazines today, you see women skin and bones, which causes society to think that that is what women should essentially look like, thus making women all around the world go to extremes to look that way.  Not only does the rate of eating disorders go up, but the rate of plastic surgery does as well. This is because, as stated in the article, “strong men battle for beautiful women”. The pressure for women to look good in our society has increased, while the pressure for women to try to be active in social matters has gone down. This should not be the case at all. It seems to me that we are going backwards in the desire to make woman more equal when it comes time to compare men and women. Society needs to stop judging women by their appearance but by what they accomplish in the work field, in school, athletic wise, etc. For example, in the movie “Devil Wears Prada”, Ann Hathaway’s character is judged based on her unkempt appearance and not on her intelligence.  

            Connecting to “The Beauty Myth”, “Hair Matters”, by Ingrid Banks, also discusses the matters of appearance, but more on the topic of hair. Throughout this chapter, she discusses different peoples’ opinions on hair and how women of color should wear it; either let it be natural and “nappy” or tend to it. What I found interesting was the comparing of men and women of color’s hair and how if a man were to grow his hair out long or braid it, it wouldn’t make him seem feminine, however if a women were to cut her hair or shave it then she would be looked at as a “dyke”. The example used in the text was Snoop Dogg, “When Snoop appeared on the MTV Music Awards show in New York City a few years ago, his hair was freshly straightened with lots of ‘Shirley Temple’ curls. A year or two later, he was on the same awards show with straightened hair that touched his shoulders. Despite Snoops hairstyling practices that imitate popular hairstyling practices by (black) women, his ‘manhood’ and sexuality are not called into question.” Although I agree with not judging a man based off his hair, in this example I believe that women should be treated this way as well. If women were to cut their hair short or shave it, as said before, they would be looked at as a lesbian, which I believe is ridiculous. Banks describes that having long hair is more attractive and makes you come off more appealing. This reminded me of a time where I wanted to get a short bob but my mother, along with my sister, told me how I should never do that because she loves my long hair.  Another example of family commentary would be Kai (from “Hair Matters) and her father’s opinion and decision-making on how she should do her hair, “ Like my father will not allow [me to relax my hair]. He’ll get really upset [if I bring it up].”  This just proves that your family, like society, has an effect on your appearance, good or bad.

            Touching back on the subject of how women with shorter hair are judged, this can be compared to females and their hair all over the country. Two summers ago I traveled to Ghana for a mission trip and learned quickly that in most of the schools I volunteered at, all girls (and boys included) had to shave their head. This was a sense of equality and also hygiene. The equality between boys and girls in Ghana was illustrated further by their similar expectations. For example, in United States it is more acceptable for girls to cry than boys, however in Ghana if a teacher where to find a little girl crying it would be just as unacceptable as if a boy were crying here.   The discrimination of women and the way society judges us should change as a whole. 

Sarah Wills, The Beauty Myth and Hair Matters Response

Beauty may only seem skin deep, but it has ability to over power women in Society. Both The Beauty Myth and Hair Matters stress importance of women’s appearances.

The article The Beauty Myth discusses the change of women’s role in society overtime. It is obvious that modern day women have significantly more power than woman from the past century. However, the need to be beautiful restrains women from being completely liberated. In the Early 20^th century, women had significantly less power than men than they do now. Despite the newly achieved freedoms, women are still inferior when it comes to appearances. The influence of beauty on women is paralyzing. As Wolf points out, eating disorders and cosmetic surgery are on the rise. Pornography has also become more mainstreamed. This is all due to the fact that women need to be beautiful. In this society, beauty is portrayed as youthful, gaunt women. Huge industries have resulted from the need for women to be beautiful. Wolf even states that we might be “worse off than our unliberated grandmothers”. 

Why does beauty have so much power over women nowadays? Wolf describes beauty as “woman must want to embody it and men must want to possess women who embody it”.  This description makes beauty sound like a tangible object that can be obtained by all. People have been socialized to think that beauty is a necessity to be successful and happy. Wolf even describes women as being trapped in their bodies.  I feel that women pressure themselves to feel beautiful all the time because their bodies are so sexualized by men. When women are getting ready to go out, they know that men will look at them and make mental judgments. This subliminal notion causes women to be constantly self-aware and always conscious of their appearance.

The reading Hair Matters describes the issues of the black culture when it comes to hair. The major question from the reading is: natural? Or not natural? This hair issue seems to create a divide among the black culture. Ingrid Banks interviews people about their stance on black women’s hair. One interviewee states that “nappy hair is a badge of shame”. This means that black women’s hair, in its natural state, is disempowering. Some of the interviewees believe that black people have a choice when it comes to wearing their hair. However, there are social ramifications that have huge impacts when it comes to these decisions. Semple describes these ramifications as “sexual…economic, cultural…”. Therefore, black women can make decisions about their hair, but they have to except the way the society will respond to the decision. I feel that society does put ridiculous emphasis on hair. Personally, I have always kept my hair long and refuse to cut it. There is something about long flowing hair that feels good for a girl. Since black women don’t natural have this type of hair, they are pressured to change it to be more feminine. I agree that women have the choice about whether they want to wear their hair natural or not. However, the consequences of these decisions definitely impact their status and general public opinions. Just as Banks describes it, women with short nappy hair are not seen as feminine as women with long flowing hair.

Both readings relay the importance of women’s appearances. Beauty affects women in ways that hinder their ability to be successful in life. It is an obstacle that over powers some women. As Banks states, I feel that the need to be beautiful is a fairly recent trend that can be debilitating for some women.

TJ Brady

"The Beauty Myth" and "Hair Matters" were two eye-opening readings for me and provided valuable insight into how women think and how beauty is a much bigger and important concept than many people think.  

"The Beauty Myth" stressed that although women might have more right now than they had in the past, they aren't necessarily more liberated than women were in the 1970s.  The author stressed how women still are not free because of the restraints placed on them through their physical appearance (face, body, hair, clothes).   Women are getting more and more self-conscious by the day and its a scary problem, "During the past decade, women breached the power structure; meanwhile, eating disorders rose exponentially and cosmetic surgery became the fastest-growing medical specialty." (pg 10).  With more women in power now and in the spotlight instead of being at home, more emphasis is being put on their physical appearance.  The idea of "beauty" is constantly being chased by women through new clothes, new products, and sometimes even new body parts.  Men can possess beauty through their wives so they naturally choose the attractive women.  All of this is shown through the 33 billion dollar diet industry, 20 billion dollar cosmetics industry, and the 300 million dollar cosmetic surgery industry.  I'm not going to say that how attractive a girl isn't important to men because it is.  I just think that women put too much emphasis on it in the wrong ways.  I see girls wearing ridiculous amounts of make up and I personally think its disgusting.  I would much rather have a confident girl wearing shorts and a t-shirt then a self-conscious girl who has to get dressed up all the time to feel good about herself.  The self-conscious girl might get talked to by more guys but no guy wants to deal with a self-conscious girl all the time, confidence is attractive.  

The "Hair Matters" article was interesting and something I didn't think about before.  Hair is important to black women because it can portray a voice and empowerment.  The author got different opinions on black hair from multiple black women through interviews.  The one I agreed with the most was Ronnie, "I think anyone who loves their self for who they are and doesn't really care what anyone thinks is powerful.  Now, if that's wearing a perm, wearing locks, wearing braids, whatever it is.  As long as you're happy within yourself and you can say I'm truly happy, then that's powerful."  I completely agree with Ronnie because this talks about the same things that I talked about with the last article.  Confidence is the most important thing and how you feel about yourself personally.  Now although Ronnie is able to feel this way, doesn't mean all other black women feel this way.  Stereotypically nappy hair is shameful and they feel that they have to straighten it.  This wasn't in the article but I remember talking about how black girls are confused on what their hair should be because growing up they all played with white barbies with straight long hair.  There is no black barbie with a different hairstyle and although it might seem trivial it is a big influence on what little girls think.  Other women like Indigo and Elantra say they kept their hair "nappy" as a "fuck you to society".  The thing I took away from this article is how important hair is to women, especially black women.  I personally never thought about this because i never put much thought into my hair.  My entire life I've showered and let it air dry without doing anything to it or using any products.  It was good to get an insight on how important it is to women.  

I thought that both of these articles were very interesting and eye-opening to a guy who didn't think about these topics.  

Kelsey Warkentin- "Beauty Myth" and "Hair Matters" Response

Whether it’s describing how the meaning of beauty has evolved or the different views of hair, “Beauty Myth” and “Hair Matters” go into great detail about the role of genders in society.

“Beauty Myth” was all about the author cleverly stressing the differences between female liberation and female beauty. Looking back to as early as the 1940’s, women played a completely different role in society then they do now. If a woman didn’t find her husband in high school, the only reason she went to college was to get one. Women were completely and utterly dominated by men. They stayed at home, raised the children and always had to make their husband happy when he walked through the door. Naturally, this cult of domesticity didn’t slide with some people and “feminists” began to change the women’s image. Feminism changed many things in society: the job market, religion, advertisement, government, health, etc. All of these significant changes didn’t happen in a century, but a mere 50-60 years. This created a problem that Naomi Wolf introduces. The fact that the “Feminine Mystique” provided more opportunities to women, “a private reality colonized female consciousness” (16). The more power and recognition that women gained, the more industries benefitted off of it. Eating disorders began to arise, cosmetic surgery is considered the norm in some countries, and the 7 million dollar pornographic industry keeps on rising.

            Why is all of this happening? Well, Wolf claims that the “beauty myth is not about women at all” (13). Rather, it is about men’s existent power. I have to say that I somewhat agree with this article. Now that women have a say in society, they are controlled by ideals and stereotypes. Beauty has a completely different meaning than it did in the 1940’s. “Beauty…is determined by politics” (12). It also is determined by the economy, for the economy depends on the representation of women. The fact that women have more power, causes a “dark vein of self-hatred, physical obsessions” (10).  I feel as though men are confused by how quickly gender relations have transformed and they are more critical of women. It seems like men have a natural yearning to be superior over women, so they want the ones who are more attractive, not successful and smart. That is what causes the “Beauty Myth”; the fact that cosmetic surgery and crazy diets make women feel better.  We all just need to step back and realize that men and women, though significantly different, are equal! And we must not let gender transformations change the way women feel about themselves and men depict them.

            Similarly to “Beauty Myth”, “Hair Matters” is all about the depiction of hair as it pertains to race, power, choice and femininity. Throughout this article, Ingrid Banks interviews a variety of women about their views on hair in society. She starts off with discussing the idea of hair and power. While there were many opinions to be discussed, one that struck me was that of Ndeye-ante. When asked about power, she talked about she was trained to be envious of white girls’ hair.  Banks describes this as “how the process of disliking black physical features is very insidious because of mainstream images of beauty” (76). In society, there are so many myths about what is attractive, that hair becomes either a disempowerment or an empowerment for certain women. Banks then goes on to talk about hair and choice. One point of view that I found interesting was Barbara’s. She said, “it is the individual who determines her 
life chances, not external forces” (79). So it is not about whether a woman is black, white, gay, straight, etc…it’s about having the capability to make your own choices and constructing your own notions about beauty. Some women did say they tend to follow trends or go by how they were raised by their parents. But personally, and agreeing with Barbara, I believe it is a woman’s choice about how she goes about styling her hair and there are no external forces. The last point Banks gets across is the concept of hair and femininity. This point was the most interesting to me because it is a way of thinking that I am guilty of. Aria basically said that, “if a woman lacks hair, her femininity is questioned” (89). This is a notion that I believe to be true as well. Women tend to be criticized of their femininity and their sexuality if they have a “butch” haircut. Personally, I feel more beautiful with long hair rather than short hair. I think that’s a thought shared by many, even if its not the most plausible one.

All in all, both of these articles were very interesting. They covered a variety of topics that seemed strange to write about at first, but proved otherwise with the dense material. Beauty is something very important to women nowadays, even though it has changed in meaning. At the end of her article, Banks states something that very much relates both pieces of writing together. “People living in a sexist and homophobic society receive certain messages about what constitutes gender identity and sexuality” (96). While most of us would like to say we do not live in that type of society, I believe it is still heavily apparent.