We live in a world where the behaviours and choices of men are naturalised, and the natural existence of women is denaturalised, persecuted, and painfully removed. Beauty standards are a prime example of this, as Western gentrification and non-Western cultural erasure expand faster than a pair of burning lips reacting to a “spicy” plumping gloss.
There is the collective pressure and the nudge of societal shame to keep women as far away from their natural bodies as possible. Take body hair for example: razor cuts from shaving, nerve and skin damage from waxing or laser – it is literally an industrial laser – and let us not forget burning our upper lip because we left the hair removal cream on for too long. In addition to this, we are all hunting for the perfect skincare routine so we are blemish-free, pore-free, discoloration-free, pimple-free, wrinkle-free, and eventually human-free. One stops to wonder how fifty years ago, we survived without toners and serums and masks, but now, we panic if these liquids and potions are getting too close to the bottom of the bottle. Just putting on a bra feels like you are buckling up an oppressive bodily contraption.
Why does it take so much admin to be considered beautiful? What constitutes a 10/10? Does attraction or love become a subscription service to capitalist mating rituals of consumerism? We have all heard the tragedy of transient beauty standards changing every decade, every fashion season, and every influencer, but the real tragedy lies in the cost of beauty and the myth of its uniform, unbending manifestation. So, the invisible pink tax of doing your hair, braids, or blowout, acrylic fingernails, gel toenails, makeup, hair removal, skincare, and wearing trendy clothes that carefully balance how much of that skin is shown to land us dead-centre on the Slut-To-Prude Spectrum.
Furthermore, the denaturalisation of women and the feminine sneakily seeps into our culture and our geopolitics. Sanna Marin, former Finnish Prime Minister, was slandered for the capital crime of dancing and partying with her friends and thereafter labelled as “unserious” and a national security risk. Perhaps, the criticism of Hillary Clinton being “too prepared” to run for office tickles this misogynistic fancy. It is like firing a pilot for flying the plane “too well”. Jillian Gillard was the first female Prime Minister of Australia, and her capacity to lead came into question because she is unmarried and does not want children. Senator Bill Heffernan went as far as to call Gillard “deliberately barren”. When matters of a woman’s uterus become central to parliamentary discussions, it begs the question of our priorities and what motivates those priorities.
These women are dragged through the mud for going to the jol, doing their job, or opting out of motherhood. And yet, the world cannot possibly fathom the persecution of all-too-innocent male leaders for populist aggression, nuclear brinkmanship, sexual harassment charges, inhumane militarism, and flirting with the idea of World War III on social media? The cognitive gymnastics required to justify this would win an Alysa-Liu Olympic gold medal.
At the end of the day, the irony lies in the fact that this denaturalisation is naturalised, and it creeps into every facet of our personal, cultural, social, political, and economic realities. We have naturalised the apocalypse and denaturalised an ozempic-free diet. We can treat borders like suggestions, but fear the unthinkable existence of smile lines. If we make room in our hearts and tax brackets to excuse the naturally good-looking, strategic “Strongman” for major flops, then surely we can find room for a woman to exist without being surgically sanded-down, professionally lobotomised, and emotionally muted.
Visual: Jemma Thomson
