After reading Ways of
Seeing by John Berger it made me think more of the expression, “Men act and
Women appear”. Looking at those paintings in this article all the women are
making themselves appear sexual and more appealing to the men looking at these
pictures. I also thought it was interesting when Berger talked about judgment
and said how Paris would give an apple to the women he found most attractive
and now today a women is given a prize in a beauty pageant when judges think
they are the most attractive. Those two things are examples of how big competition
is between females. Competition between women is big every where you go, from
elementary school, to middle school, high school, and college, and also not
only in the school setting its seen every where. The other statement that
Berger wrote in this article that I found interesting was “men survey women
before treating them”. This is also seen
all the time. If women are not acting in a way a man likes the man usually wont
care to interact with the women. Women are judged on everything they do, say,
look, and feel. This is also true in women when they are looking at men, its
nowadays a two way street of judgment and in the past year it was a one way
street of men judging women based on their appearances.
Allie, I agree with what you said about how much competition there is between women in every aspect of society. The most obvious form of competition between women happens in beauty pageants, but as a secondary education major myself I am aware of how competitive girls can be in a high school setting. To teenage girls, their image is all that seems to matter, and I have had first hand experience seeing how student's grades have suffered because they put their looks and image above their school work.
ReplyDeleteGreat insight Allie.I agree that women are extremely competitive at all ages. From my own experience, for example, even getting ready to go out can have competitive undertones. Friends get dressed together or call each other to ask what the other is going to wear. Sometimes it is to make sure neither friend looks like an idiot in sweatpants while the other is in a dress. But other times you wanna make sure you look just as good as other girls. If you look worse, you're definitely not getting the "prize", and you'll just watch your better-dressed friend get the cute guy's number.
ReplyDeleteAllie, I also agree with all the points you have made. Adding on to what everyone else seems to think I believe competition between woman is also a huge factor when it comes to looks. In my opinion, today I think woman try harder to impress or outdo another female before caring about the males opinion. We care about the judgements other woman so easily throw around and try to silence them by improving our own looks. Every girl is guilty of making some kind of judgmental comment about another girls outfit or look. Even as we get older the competition to one up someone else still exists.
ReplyDeleteThis is great Allie! I also pointed out when Berger's statement, "men survey women before treating them." I thought this statement was extremely bold in the sense that men truly do judge a woman based on her appearance even before getting to know her beyond her looks. I think this alone has a huge impact on why there is so much competition between females today. I also agree with you that the society's perception of women has led to a "two way street of judgment" and how women perceive a man's actions and appearance.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your statement that this competition between women begins at a very young age and is consistent all the way up through adulthood. I believe this to be a major issue in our society and, in a sense, stunts the development identity and personality in young women. I can also relate through personal experience that it creates a tension between females as a whole.
ReplyDelete