beauty, capital, patriotism

Women have inadvertently traded one freedom for another, in the form of being able to achieve power, yet they are confined to the way their bodies look. They go to extremes to pay the price in order to achieve the ever unattainable idea of beauty, by waxing, dieting,drugs/botox, cosmetic surgery, and heavy use of makeup as well as an expensive or revealing warddrobe. Rather than focusing soley on housework and domestic matters, women are able to get high paying jobs and education, but they are now obsessed with their own physical appearances.  Beauty is for women like strength is for men, all women want to be beautiful, and all heterosexual men want a beautiful woman. Beauty is about emphasizing "womanly" features, but being a regular girl is no different from a man being a drag queen.  They all use the same masks, pads, and tricks. The standards of beauty and conforming, affect people on different levels, not only striving to look younger and thinner, but also to appear less ethnic (such as asian eyelids). In America caucasian is still the standard of beauty, as different races try to erase their cultures by assimilating to the american way and changing how they look. The poor self perception is so bad, that many can't admit to themselves why they have surgery or diet. Women are forced to be beautiful, or be shunned. This is a form of patriarchy, because beautiful women are the ones who are desired by rich men. Beauty is also a status symbol and one can attempt to buy beauty in our capitalistic society by purchasing designer clothes, and altering ones face/body through plastic surgery. The pettiest things can cause disatisfaction, and an obsession with correcting it.