Ah, the "Open Source Boob Project."
I can't address it fully without including a metric tonne of links, so let this stand as a placeholder. And also as my statement that yes, I do feel objectified on a regular basis. I have a high IQ, a master's degree, a creativity that my mother and I agreed was "relentless" when I was a child, a good eye for photography and art and fashion. I live in a city (Seattle) with less emphasis on physical appearance than on physical health and experiencing the outdoor opportunities we have here in such abundance.
And yet I have picked up the notion that nothing I do, nothing I am, will ever be as important to the culture at large as how I look. And yes, that drains me of energy that I could put to more useful ends and leaves me with anxiety and feelings of competitiveness for every standard marker of attractiveness that I don't meet. And I am getting older and that's a cultural strike against me no matter how hard I deny or fight it.
It's worst when I feel like I'm failing in other areas of my life, when I feel that looks are all I have to fall back on. I suppose that even makes sense in a sad way.
I know I don't have this particular complex nearly as badly as some others do. But why should any of us have it? As observed by other feminist writers, what cost to the culture when so much intellect and drive is being funneled into something that ultimately has so little to do with how well we live and how well we treat others and how we construct a healthy society?
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1 comment:
I have heard that people judge the outcome of the potential relationship generally within the first 3-5 seconds of meeting a person, based on looks first then how they "feel". I agree that it is a sad state of affairs when looks have developed more value then the actual intellect and experience of a person, male or female.
As a note I am 42 and dealing with ungraceful aging myself.
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