Melissa lives what people think is a fabulous life, better than any other. What these people do not know is that she actually struggles being a woman. She constantly has to live up to the standard of society’s picture of women. This means that she is always trying to look her best for others, even if it means missing family time to work out. Melissa has to have the perfect hourglass figure, but she cannot be too skinny or her peers might think she is anorexic. If Melissa takes the risk to nibble on a chocolate bar, she is slapped in the face by her insecurity. If Melissa eats the whole bar of candy, she will have to walk it off immediately after because she feels like she put on 10 pounds. Not only does Melissa have to worry about her appearance, but she also constantly has to deal with hormones. She tends to cry from something as little as watching a love movie. She can also snap to crazy mode with in five seconds. On top of all of these unfortunate events, Melissa never catches a break. She is constantly working 24/7, whether it is at her job or cooking meals and taking care of her husband and children at home. Melissa has also had to carry all of her three children, which left her with stretch marks all over her stomach. Pregnancy was also a painful nine months for Melissa to go through. With all of the things Melissa has been though, it becomes evident that being a woman is not all that easy. Although it may appear that being a woman is glorious, it is not at all what it is cracked up to be.
Today’s society is a prime example of why being a girl is awful. Society has the perfect woman in mind. She is Barbie-like with long blonde hair, sun glistened skin, and a perfect hourglass figure. Every day, girls of all ages try living up to this nearly impossible, perfect creature society has created. With this being said, girls are constantly out looking for make-up that will give them the most beautiful look. Many women will spend half of their weekly earnings on make-up. In a column on the internet Emilia reported, “…yesterday I went to Sephora and bought 6 products (5 makeup, 1 brush) totaling... $240” (E. 1). Women are forced to spend a wad of money to get a look that will be fit for today’s society, even though it is not who they are or want to be. There are many more items that the money spent on make-up could be used for. Bills, household items, child care, and food are among these many items. The quote, “Looking good was a ticket to increased social status. Even women who initially rejected cosmetics as an inappropriate solution to problems of inequality felt social pressure to use them” (Georing 1) shows that women do not want to wear all of this make-up, but are inclined to do so by society. Since women are pressured by society to wear make-up, it forces them to get up earlier or spend more time on their appearance. Based on the amount of time women have to put into their appearance, and the money that they have to spend on beauty...
