Class Entry- Callie Corday

When growing up, all the little girls wanted to have the newest Barbie doll. They wanted to be just like her. They wanted her hair, her clothes, her shoes, and her houses-everything. With Barbie, nothing could go wrong. She always had the right thing to say, do, or wear. What we didn’t realize when we were growing up is how superficial Barbie really was. Long, blonde, flowing hair, long legs, skinny body, tanned skin, who couldn’t love Barbie? She was everything the girls wanted, and never what girls really were.

Of course, there were those select few Barbie’s that were made just to avoid a lawsuit, but come on, not all of us wanted to play with an Oreo Barbie. In class on Thursday, we made four Barbie’s that we thought Sontag and Prager would approve. My group designed realistic dolls that were more than just the cookie-cutter Barbie. They had character. They were different. They were their own. They were beautiful in their own way.

It was no surprise to me when I found out that a man invented Barbie. She has all the features that make her “guy hot.” Women and men perceive beauty differently. Celebrities like Megan Fox and Blake Lively are considered “guy hot”; they have the attraction. Anne Hathaway and Leighton Meester, on the other hand, are considered “girl hot” because they have a classier look, personality, good bone structure. Girls tend to take in looks as a whole. They look at the whole thing and judge another girl’s look as a whole. Guys on the other hand, merely look at the face, and other main features. Teen Vogue explains why this happens in further detail.

Media plays a huge role in how society sees beauty today. Everywhere we look, we see advertisements, TV shows, movies, and posters filled with skinny models. It sends out the impression that if you are not skinny, then you are not beautiful. That is a lie. Society has our generation practically brainwashed. Beauty is not just on the outside. We can have beautiful looks, but we can also have beautiful traits, qualities, or personalities. If you have a great heart, and you share your love, then you are beautiful. If you are a good person, you are beautiful. If you care, you are beautiful.

In I Want a Wife by Judy Brady, women are pictured as servants. Brady gives the term “wife” a negative connotation. Many women, in fact, do see it as negative. In this day in age, women can be whatever they want to be. If they want to be CEO of a company, then they can be. Today, we are open to the equality of men and women. It gives women a sense of empowerment. If we want something, we don’t have to rely on anybody but ourselves. If we want something done, we don’t need a man to voice our opinions; we can do it all by ourselves. And that is what makes us beautiful.