People cannot choose their bodies, but they do choose how to conduct themselves in the skin they've been given. The body is animated by the voice that emerges from its depths and the gestures it performs. It's the eyes that have a focused or seductive gaze. It's the face that houses expression. It's the lips that form words. This lump of flesh is in perpetual communication because it's not only a lump of flesh. It is a vehicle to the world.
Women grow into the role of becoming a body. There is a careful fixation on its topography. They are rewarded for obsessing over it. The condition of the body is synonymous with the woman's value. This body will largely determine the love given, opportunities received, and status in social hierarchy.
The modern woman knows of her body's significance, and she's aware of its constant scrutiny. She occupies herself with maintaining it. She diets, wears makeup, works out, and carefully exhibits herself in clothing. She is reduced to this body, but it's normal because this rhetoric is everywhere.
Women navigate how and to what extent they can use the body to their advantage. Because beauty is important, women must determine how much energy is placed into beautification. She must notice the way the environment responds to her body. Sometimes beauty can help her escalate her career, and other times it objectifies her. Her aesthetics give her power or do her a disservice. Beauty can bring mobility, and beauty can bring danger.
The author Laurence Devillairs of "The Philosophy Cure" states, "We use more than just mascara, perfume, and other kinds of balm to beautify ourselves; we do it with our clothing, to reveal or to conceal, and also with language. Talking gives life to your body, both to claim it as your own and to make it the object of other people's gaze. It transforms the silent movie of your appearance into a story, with gestures and words. It gives meaning to the material."
What meaning does a woman give her body? The meaning is displayed in seemingly micro decisions. If she's goes to a job interview, does she wear a tight-fitting shirt? Does she laugh at the boring jokes and smile broadly? Does she showcase her beauty and enlarge it with makeup?
In the West, it's reinforced that a woman should be beautiful because it will allow her to be worthy. As a being needy of love, the woman makes herself a caricature in the hope of adoration. She learns how to speak like a lady. She practices sitting tall with her stomach tucked in. She fixates on the body because she was taught to.
She learns to erase a few of these false teachings for self-preservation. If all her focus is channeled into the flesh, she falls prey to her biology. One day she will age. One day her husband will get tired of the same body. One day she'll need to rely on the capacity of her mind.
If beauty is the primary aim, she can spiral into vanity and a flimsy life of superficialities. If she neglects her looks, she suffers. A well-balanced woman puts energy into the mental hemisphere and intellect too. She refuses to be solely a body, though she knows how to harness its power.
Finding a balance in both the mental and physical realms is delicate and difficult. Common thought states that women should focus most on the body. Why? Because the body serves man and his desires. A woman with a developed mind is sovereign, therefore a threat to man.
A woman is only free in her body if she is more than her body. A woman is trapped in her body if it's all she inhabits.
Comentarios