Women in
2013
by Janae Rusin
Sometimes
I think about how other women in the future will perceive the American woman
now. This is what I think an sociologist 200 years from now will say about
American women in the year 2013.
"I
have looked at these women and I find them quite the conundrum. There seemed to
be as a whole, a lack of self esteem that was perpetuated by the media and
especially advertising which was controlled primarily by men. But the irony is
that the women bought the products that these ridiculous companies made which
perpetuated the cycle. If they would've halted consumption, they would have
greatly damaged these propaganda machines.
For
example, there was this company called L' Oreal that sold makeup. Makeup seems
to be a type of face painting the women did at the time but the idea was to
make it not look like you were painting your face. This was a very confusing
time for the women. L'Oreal had a slogan, "Because you're worth it."
The only assumption, then, is that if you don't buy this makeup then you are
not worth anything. Instead of rejecting this silly notion that the dyes one
puts on her face makes her substantial in life; there was actually so much
demand that there were hundreds of these makeup companies and thousands of
makeup products. This competition, both among women and the companies, worked
well with the economic system of the time - capitalism. Women primarily
controlled the finances of the household but held almost no positions in heads
of companies. It's this type of counterintuitive thinking that baffles me of
this time. Thus changing this propaganda (perpetrated primarily by males but
sometimes by her fellow females - females in power tended to act the way males
did) was to be at a later date when females had more responsibility thus more
of a say in companies.
In
addition to the face painting, the women wore these stilt-like shoes called
"high heels." These really fascinate me because there is no
utilitarian function for them whatsoever. They are a perfect relic of the time
because they portray the need for women to fit in and look beautiful even at
the cost of physical harm to their feet. These stilt-like shoes were flat at
the toes and raised in the back
causing foot problems to be rampant for women. Although some women rejected them
as footwear, the general consensus was that high heels were representative of a
strong, fashion forward female which was highly coveted at the time.
Though
the majority called for equal rights for women, there was a known problem
called the wage-gap. For the same job, woman made about 30% less than men.
Although this was fairly widely know, especially in the more intellectual and
powerful circles, I can see very little was done. There were two possible
options for change: from the ground up or from the top down. The most rapid fix
would've been for the government to mandate companies to have at least 40%
women on their boards and transition power to females instead of mostly males
thus making a top down change. Other countries at this time had done that. But
since the economic system in America was capitalism that was an extremely
unpopular notion because the prevailing thought was to let the markets decide
everything without government intervention even if it was unfair to a certain
people group.
Before
you get too appalled you must remember at this time, American had not even had
a female President! There was still an undercurrent of thinking that women
should not and do not deserve to be in power - a leftover relic from archaic
Christian thinking which pushed women to be second class citizens in the
church. Church attendance was quite high in America at the time, and most
churches held the belief that women were not to lead the church based on a
verse in the Bible over half the people who believed this could not even name.
Although
most thought women to be just as intelligent as men, women were considered
flighty, gossips and too emotional. And I found it did become a self-fulfilling
prophecy. I recently came across a relic called a magazine targeted for women
that had no substance in current affairs. They mostly contained these paid
messages called advertisements. These were part of the propaganda machine that
promoted these makeup companies and fashion clothes and high heeled shoes. And
guess what was the non-paid content of this magazine? Articles and pictures of
"beautiful" women in makeup, expensive clothes and high heeled shoes!
Women were consuming these products at an alarming rate indeed because they of
course were seeing from every possible media source. But I very much want to
take these women by the shoulders, shake them, and tell them to wake up from
their cycle of meaninglessness. Yet I must remember how perspectives change
with time.
The most
sad aspect that I researched was the rate of eating disorders among women. In
the media advertisements of women, models were used instead of real women who
used the products. In a movement I have a hard time understanding, the type of
woman used in advertisements was always skinny and usually in an unhealthy
manner. For the most part, healthy body types were not represented, the
emphasis was almost always on how thin one was. Since these women were
bombarded with this "perfect" body type, they wanted to be thin too.
So, instead of healthy eating, they dieted to the extreme. This was yet another
topic the magazine would write about - how to diet effectively - another
example of both creating the misinformation then reinforcing it. For the most
part, women created and wrote the magazines and other information but don't
forget the companies behind this all - the paid advertisers - were mostly all
run by men.
Thus
although women contributed to their own plight in 2013, they could've
effectively ended it by stopping or curbing consumption of products, especially
superfluous products. Since capitalism was the economic powerhouse of the time,
reducing or ending demand would have drastic effects on the supply. The
companies and advertisers needed to be stopped but they only would when they
had a reason to stop: when their demand dried up.
Looking
back we now know how it all ended. When Janae Rusin toppled the whole machine
in 2014 when her daughter was two and she didn't want her to live in such a
depressing place for women. Now we all have her to thank."
