A joint sink of a married couple tells two very different stories of a morning routine. The man is able to Brush his teeth, wash his face. And maybe brush his hair if need be. The woman on the other hand has to spend much longer doing not only this, but applying makeup and making sure she looks perfect. With no imperfections visible on her skin or otherwise lest she be ridiculed by society. Why should a woman be ridiculed when she has a skin blemish on her face, or chose not to put on makeup for the day. Women are constantly ridiculed for makeup, whether they go all out with different kinds of eyeliner and foundation or they do just enough to cover imperfections on their skin, there will always be someone to comment on how she looks. Nearly always, the comment will be negative, ranging from “eww she wears so much makeup there's like 10 pounds on her face” when she decides to dress herself up to the subtle “are you ok? you look awful today” when she has the bare minimum. Skin care and beauty products are so expensive, and with women making less than most men do, it's hard for them to be able to get other things that they might want, lest they give up makeup and accept the ridicule that may come from others.
4 comments:
This relates to the ambivalent attitude towards women due to the ridicule of not wearing makeup, or even spending hours to look and feel beautiful (hostile sexism). This negative portrayal of women needing to look beautiful ties into the fact that sexuality is controlled by men. That women are to abide by the rules: no profanity, wear makeup, be a stay-at-home wife and housewife. On the contrary, the benevolent sexism is disguised as a subtle form of hostility because women are expected to be wonderful, vulnerable creatures, and to be saved in troubled times because they are "less competent" and only "know how to cook, clean, and be a good housewife/mother." This resembles the intimate interdependence between a man and woman. It is sad to see women still conform to the stereotypical ideology that woman are nothing but beautiful, vulnerable creatures. Being beautiful should not define or control a woman. A woman should define and control her own life that disregards feminine stereotypes regarding "stay-at-home mom" and "housewife."
From: Katelyn
From this photograph you can see the two different sinks. The right sink shows which is the man’s side is shown with minimum products. The left sink on the other hand is filled with multiple different feminine products. Women struggle not matter which way you look at it. Whether women’s makeup for be too much, too little, or none at all they are still criticized for the way they look. Women try to fit into the social norm but still get looked at even when they tried to make an attempt. Women and young adolescences wake up early just to make sure they have enough time to fit into the norm of being attractive. As a young women myself, I’d rather take the extra time to get more sleep then to wake up early to apply makeup just so people look highly of me. I believe women get a negative image that they must be completely “dolled up” to go into public.
The two sided sink with one side having almost nothing around it and one that has all the makeup is really important. Women must not only spend so much more time just to look “normal” or attractive but they all must spend so much more money on makeup and even other things that are needed. As a guy I can’t begin to understand how it feels to be scrutinized for something as small as makeup. Is wanting to wear makeup a bad thing? Probably not. Is being scrutinized and judged for not wearing makeup? Most definitely. I even was part of that problem long before I realized how problematic it was. Seeing a girl without make my first thought was always “aw she must be sick”. Later I realized how wrong that was and how unfair it was. Hopefully there will come a day where others realize how bad this problem is and it will change for the better.
from: Ashlyn
The fact the woman's sink is the main focus in the photograph correlates to the concept that women are expected to take long periods of time beautifying themselves in the morning. Beauty standards in today's society expect women to emphasize the use of cosmetics and other beauty products instead of being natural. Beauty products are advertised as the sole reason for making a woman beautiful. If she has the right makeup products, skincare products, and perfumes, etc this will define her beauty. The main focus of the sink is also portrayed in many TV shows and movies seen today. You always see the man waiting on the woman, asking if “she is ready yet?” This is kind of an ironic statement because men expect the women to look good-having her hair and makeup always done to perfection- but complain when she is taking too long to beautify herself. I also see the guys sink is off in the distance and contains no beauty products except toothpaste. Men can be seen as handsome with minimal to no effort. Brushing your teeth is all it takes to be attractive as a man but it takes vast amounts of beauty products for a woman to even be looked at twice.
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