Women, Beauty and Self-Esteem Essay -- Body Image & Self Esteem

Ambrose Bierce (1958) once wrote, To men a man is but a mind. Who c atomic number 18s what face he carries or what he wears? But womans body is the woman. Despite the societal changes achieved since Bierces time, his statement remains true. Since the height of the feminist movement in the early 1970s, women have spent more silver than ever before on products and treatments designed to make them beautiful. Cosmetic gross revenue have increased annually to reach $18 billion in 1987 (Ignoring the economy. . . , 1989), sales of womens clothing aver be ond $103 billion per month in 1990 ( individualized communication, U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, 1992), dieting has become a $30-billion-per-year industry (Stoffel, 1989), and women spent $1.2 billion on enhancive surgery in 1990 (personal communication, American Society of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeons, 1992). The importance of beauty has app arntly increased even as women are reaching for personal freedoms and economic rights undreamed of by our grandmothers. The emphasis on beauty may be a way to hold onto a feminine image turn shedding feminine roles.Attractiveness is prerequisite for femininity but not for masculinity (Freedman, 1986). The word beauty always refers to the female body. Attractive male bodies are described as handsome, a word derived from hand that refers as much to action as appearance (Freedman, 1986). Qualities of achievement and strength accompany the term handsome, much(prenominal) attributes are rarely employed in the description of attractive women and certainly do not accompany the term beauty, which refers only to a decorative quality. Men are instrumental, women are ornamental.Beauty is a most elusive commodity. Ideas of what is beautiful vary across cultures and change ... .... Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 10, 129-38. Stoffel, Jennifer. (1989, November 26). Whats new in freight control A market mushrooms as motivations change. New York Times, p. C17.Thompson, J. Kevin. (1986, April). Larger than life. Psychology Today, pp. 41-44. Walker, Alice. (1990). Beauty When the other dancer is the self. In Evelyn C. White (Ed.), The black womens wellness book Speaking for ourselves (pp. 280-87). Seattle Seal Press. Walster, Elaine, Aronson, Vera, Abrahams, Darcy, & Rottman, Leon. (1966). Importance of physical attractiveness in dating behavior. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 4, 508-16. Wernick, Mark, & Manaster, Guy J. (1984). Age and the perception of age and attractiveness. Gerontologist, 24, 408-14. Williams, Juanita H. (1985). Psychology of women Behavior in a biosocial context. New York Norton.