Also, why must women insist that another woman's behavior has any effect on them? If a man makes a fool of himself, does he make the whole of mankind look bad? You make yourself look bad, no one else.How does a woman acknowledging her beauty ';set other women back';?
In response to your first question... I don't know. It doesn't. In response to your second question, it's called ';essentialism'; and it's generally viewed as ignorant. Just because one person does or says something doesn't mean that every single person that shares a similar physical characteristic - skin colour, genitalia, whatevs - would do or say the same thing.How does a woman acknowledging her beauty ';set other women back';?
It shouldn't unless they have low self esteem.
I my opinion it does not set other women back. Now if you are like ';I am soo pretty and the only way you could ever be as pretty as me it if you went thought intensive surgical procedures...'; and then you proceded to tell her what to fix, then yeah, that is bad. I think having self esteem is good, but when you are rubbbing it in everyone elses face to make them feel bad about themselves, then you are doing something wrong.
This is not as cut and dry as the ';if it happens behind my closed doors, what business is it of yours';.
We are social animals. Even if you make it clear that you are acting on behalf yourself alone, you are having an impact on your local community, gender, and whatever other stereotype you identify yourself with (or others identify with you).
When we lived in small towns, social embarrassment was a powerful tool to control behavior, now in the big cities we can blow off a glare from a matron on the street, but we still care how people view us.
Add to that the fear and dangers of the lowest common social denominator: No matter how well we protect our children (and adults), in a public place they WILL be exposed to people who do not hold the same morals as us. From exposed flesh to ';dirty'; words someone is more loose than us to cause offense and someone is more conservative to get offended.
Simply, it doesn't. We are all responsible for our own behaviour, and I don't hold anyone responsible for the entirety of a gender. Those who do are reaching...
Women insist that another woman's behavior has an effect on them because women had to fight so hard to get respect and rights that it regressive the way that some women act. Women today still have not reached total equality with men, and living up to stereotypes can hurt the progression towards equality.
Have you ever noticed that really beautiful women are humble? They don't go around saying their beautiful.
oh my gosh im like soooo gorgeous! i mean wow..im all that...and a bag of something...or whatever....
( waiting to see if anyone feels set back now......)
A woman that acknowledges her beauty is absolutely wonderful! I tend to be really hard on myself. One blemish and I think I'm Quasimodo. At the same time, I'll be the first to tell a a girl she looks great when she does! Because I know that we like to have that bit of reassurance.
Now, the difference is when a woman acts like a beautiful woman as opposed to a bimbo. (i.e. There is no need to bump and grind every guy in the club to prove you are desirable. Nor do you need to show your breasts off to the roaring masses on stage).
';Acknowledging her beauty'; doesn't set other women back, USING that beauty to try to manipulate people, ';get ahead,'; etc. DOES. And let's face it, it's different for men, they are not judged as we are, in the same areas. If a woman wears short skirts and sleeps with the boss at work, many people (especially some around here) would say ';See? The only way a woman can get anywhere is by using her sexuality. Women should just stay home and have babies.'; So it adds fuel to those negative and dismissive stereotypes, thus making it even tougher for the next woman who comes along.
';Setting other women back'; means that they're jealous. They hate that some other woman is flaunting what they don't have (or worse, USED to have).
I guess, it is so much easier to make fun of other people, than taking a hard look at your own pathetic self.
One woman's behaviour can have an effect on all women if someone publicly points to them as a shining example of female behaviour. How do you think feminists started getting stereotyped as man-hating lesbians? Because women like Andrea Dworkin and Robin Morgan were the ones getting the press.
A woman who acknowledges her beauty is one thing; a woman who doesn't acknowledges any other positive traits she may have, thinking that her beauty is the only thing she needs, is a bad thing.
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