This was so well put together with great references to so much of what is happening in pop culture. As with many things, this relates back to clothes (for me) in the way that I CARE a lot about what a wear and what that says about me but I’m always chasing an “effortless” look. I would hate to look too fussy but I don’t want to be underdressed, etc. My friends and I were just commenting about the burden of caring about what you wear but what other choice do we really have?!
You're right, this has its exact parallel in fashion. And I agree...it's so fun but also sometimes so not fun all at once. Thank you for reading Kelly! x
Thank you for writing about this! I’m obsessed with Love Island, it’s my favorite guilty pleasure — I’ve watched every season (UK not USA - that one is horrible) and just today I was bemoaning how these girls look and thinking back to earlier seasons when they were all mostly “natural” — the scariest part is how quickly it’s all progressing. How can 20 year olds feel they need to look like this? It’s insane. I’ve seen articles lately about fillers being in the decline and I hope it’s a general trend away from all of this distortion of young faces (and faces in general).
I truly love the referencing in this, really highlights some things I have missed as someone who’s tried vigorously to ignore western pop cultures pressures on women. My great advantage? African parents who culturally taught me the best thing you can be is yourself. When kids in school bullied me for being different when we fled to Norway, they didn’t tell me anything I didn’t already know and I would always reply with: so? I knew I couldn’t do much about the fact that my body was small and my head too big etc.
I realise from reading this that for many of my pears the pressure had been on them since they were very small. Kids down to twelve years of age wore make up in school. I remember kids in school telling me I had a nice canvas (my face) that I should learn to wear make up. Maybe start with something simple like an eyeliner. I didn’t know what any of these things were. I always assumed the ladies on the album covers just looked like that because they were just pretty, nothing to do the hours they might have spent in the make up chair.
I first wore make up when I was 19 and it felt strange, but I remember the bullying stoped, but never read too much into it. Thanks for writing this. I haven’t thought about this in a long time.
What I hate about beauty trends is that they point out problems I never even realized are problems. I think my breaking point was strawberry legs. I've always had them, never considered it something to get rid off. And then all of a sudden my social feeds where full with "how to get rid of strawberry legs" and I felt self-conscious about my legs ever since.
This was so well put together with great references to so much of what is happening in pop culture. As with many things, this relates back to clothes (for me) in the way that I CARE a lot about what a wear and what that says about me but I’m always chasing an “effortless” look. I would hate to look too fussy but I don’t want to be underdressed, etc. My friends and I were just commenting about the burden of caring about what you wear but what other choice do we really have?!
You're right, this has its exact parallel in fashion. And I agree...it's so fun but also sometimes so not fun all at once. Thank you for reading Kelly! x
Thank you for writing about this! I’m obsessed with Love Island, it’s my favorite guilty pleasure — I’ve watched every season (UK not USA - that one is horrible) and just today I was bemoaning how these girls look and thinking back to earlier seasons when they were all mostly “natural” — the scariest part is how quickly it’s all progressing. How can 20 year olds feel they need to look like this? It’s insane. I’ve seen articles lately about fillers being in the decline and I hope it’s a general trend away from all of this distortion of young faces (and faces in general).
So glad you enjoyed. Thanks for reading. I'm also really hoping this is a pendulum swing that's already reached its extreme :)
Great references and wonderful topic! It reminded me of the book 'Ugly' which I just finished
Ah I have that too! Forgot to include it here, thanks so much for mentioning it Barbs. Also thank you for reading :) x
I truly love the referencing in this, really highlights some things I have missed as someone who’s tried vigorously to ignore western pop cultures pressures on women. My great advantage? African parents who culturally taught me the best thing you can be is yourself. When kids in school bullied me for being different when we fled to Norway, they didn’t tell me anything I didn’t already know and I would always reply with: so? I knew I couldn’t do much about the fact that my body was small and my head too big etc.
I realise from reading this that for many of my pears the pressure had been on them since they were very small. Kids down to twelve years of age wore make up in school. I remember kids in school telling me I had a nice canvas (my face) that I should learn to wear make up. Maybe start with something simple like an eyeliner. I didn’t know what any of these things were. I always assumed the ladies on the album covers just looked like that because they were just pretty, nothing to do the hours they might have spent in the make up chair.
I first wore make up when I was 19 and it felt strange, but I remember the bullying stoped, but never read too much into it. Thanks for writing this. I haven’t thought about this in a long time.
What I hate about beauty trends is that they point out problems I never even realized are problems. I think my breaking point was strawberry legs. I've always had them, never considered it something to get rid off. And then all of a sudden my social feeds where full with "how to get rid of strawberry legs" and I felt self-conscious about my legs ever since.