“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.