Stunning

Recently while driving into the city of Reading, Pennsylvania, I saw a pink billboard with black writing, and a black silhouette of a thin, yet curvy woman. The message read: "Be stunning. Yes, you can." I wondered what the billboard was advertising, "Curves? A women's support group?" Nope...a Plastic Surgery Center. I laughed out loud.

I consider myself to be a feminist. That being said, I often tire from the verbal tyrants and public petitions of feminists today. In addition, some of the feminists of today's time (Hilary Clinton, namely) I find to be over-the-top. To me, being a feminist means being in support of the following statement: "...asserting that sex is a fundamental and irreducible axis of social organization which, to date, has subordinated women to men. Thus, feminism is centrally concerned with sex as an organizing principle of social life where gender relations are thoroughly saturaed with power." (Culture Studies, Barker, p. 24) I appreciate the stand feminists took in years past and know that the rights I have today are thanks to their efforts. I also believe we still have a lot of fighting to do. However, I am more of a quiet, strong-willed fighter than an outspoken, in-your-face activist.

As a woman, I found this billboard to be completely repulsive and offensive. Why do you have to change your outer appearance to be stunning? Is the idea of "being stunning" solely based upon a woman's physical appearance? What does it mean to be stunning? Who teaches us this concept? I would agree that "this structuring of the human subject is not something we are born with; rather, it is something we acquire though our relations with our immediate 'carers.' Here the self is by definition fractured; consequently we must understand the unified narrative of the self as something we attain over time." (Culture Studies, Barker, p. 22)

Furthermore, I would be willing to argue that our "immediate 'carers'" to some extent are the media. How many children sit infront of the TV while the parents make a few phone calls? How many girls look at a TeenVouge magazine for fun? Consciously or subconsciously, we allow media to guide our perception of what it means to be a stunning woman. Sexy. Thin. Fashionable.

The advertisement above is for David Yurman, a jewerly designer. It is just one example of how over-sexed the media in our culture has become. Is the overtly sexual pose, the short dress, the blank, yet suggestive stare on her face necessary to sell jewerly? I am blown away that women have actually bought in to the idea of plastic surgery--changing their physical appearance to become more "attractive." Making women appear to be nothing more than thoughtless, sex symbols in media is just one example of how we are still subordinated in society today. It is a driving force behind the need for women to change their appearance to become "stunning."