R
rebelsue
Hope Addict
- Dec 12, 2019
- 172
I think in the 80s and 90s, there was a well-meaning attempt to give young girls a role model that wasn't a housewife or a bimbo. Forget the fact that we managed to denigrate housewives with this effort. We also managed to fuck up the role model part, too.
Could we have a movie character, doll, or celebrity that had flaws? No we cannot. Because humans love their gods and myths. We love hero stories and extraordinary tales. We just couldn't put it down for one second. The female role models I grew up with were flawlessly perfect. Instead of replacing housewifery and beauty with other traits, they just added things on. So not only did you have to look like you're 20 forever, you also have to do it after having two kids, and raise them without making any mistakes, and have an amazing power career, and a talent, and be brilliant, and also somehow still nice to everyone and really likable?
Yes, it's great that Computer Programmer Barbie exists. But can we make her ugly, too? Can we tell young girls it's okay to be mediocre? Can I watch a movie with a female lead who isn't perfect? Can she be good at singing, but also be a little overweight and not sassy and confident about itand that's just how the story ends? Where she never gets her moment to shine and prove everyone wrong? Can she be attractive, but kind of boring? Can she be really smart, but broke and kind of bad at relationships and maybe not very pretty either? Can we have a show about a girl who is really unremarkable in every way but still has people who love her? Nope, because who would watch that show? I guess I would, but I guess that's the case in point for why I don't fit in anywhere and never have.
Can we look up to women who work hard, but don't necessarily become famous? It is up to us to seek these people out. If people on their own actively tried to look for ordinary people and see what kinds of things they were up to, instead of searching for gods and hero myths, we wouldn't need marketers. We wouldn't need segmentation and targeted ads forcing us to pay attention to things. Artists wouldn't need to sell their souls just to earn a living doing what they love because they wouldn't need record labels and advertising firms to make people aware that they exist. They would just be found on their own.
This is not a well formulated opinion. I am just really sad. I want to be enough as I am.
Could we have a movie character, doll, or celebrity that had flaws? No we cannot. Because humans love their gods and myths. We love hero stories and extraordinary tales. We just couldn't put it down for one second. The female role models I grew up with were flawlessly perfect. Instead of replacing housewifery and beauty with other traits, they just added things on. So not only did you have to look like you're 20 forever, you also have to do it after having two kids, and raise them without making any mistakes, and have an amazing power career, and a talent, and be brilliant, and also somehow still nice to everyone and really likable?
Yes, it's great that Computer Programmer Barbie exists. But can we make her ugly, too? Can we tell young girls it's okay to be mediocre? Can I watch a movie with a female lead who isn't perfect? Can she be good at singing, but also be a little overweight and not sassy and confident about itand that's just how the story ends? Where she never gets her moment to shine and prove everyone wrong? Can she be attractive, but kind of boring? Can she be really smart, but broke and kind of bad at relationships and maybe not very pretty either? Can we have a show about a girl who is really unremarkable in every way but still has people who love her? Nope, because who would watch that show? I guess I would, but I guess that's the case in point for why I don't fit in anywhere and never have.
Can we look up to women who work hard, but don't necessarily become famous? It is up to us to seek these people out. If people on their own actively tried to look for ordinary people and see what kinds of things they were up to, instead of searching for gods and hero myths, we wouldn't need marketers. We wouldn't need segmentation and targeted ads forcing us to pay attention to things. Artists wouldn't need to sell their souls just to earn a living doing what they love because they wouldn't need record labels and advertising firms to make people aware that they exist. They would just be found on their own.
This is not a well formulated opinion. I am just really sad. I want to be enough as I am.