Do you think beauty standards for women are too high.
What about older women of course they are going to get wrinkles and spots, if you ever walk in daylight. So why do men insist women be without wrinkles or spots? We don't ask the same of men.
Maintaining beauty is a full time job, not to mention super expensive if going by the prices beauty salons charge. Are you sure you can afford one lol
It's been interesting reading the answers here... I know each one is sincere, but I guess it all stems from individual experiences.
I hate to bore long-time members by repeating my life story all the time, but it's the only one I have. Growing up as one of maybe only 6 Asians in an all-white, All-American, very conservative town in Nowheresville USA had a profound effect on my self-image and beliefs about beauty standards.
I'm not meaning to play a race card here, but beauty was white, pure and simple -- it was just a fact in that area. I think it's admirable that many of the posters in this thread don't seem to care about beauty standards and/or have never let the status quo affect them much, but unfortunately, I wasn't as Teflon-coated, though I wish I were.
Even as an adult, I've still had incidences of kids "slanting" their eyes at me, and yes, it still affects me. When I was growing up, I wanted round, blue eyes, long, blond hair, and a much taller frame, because I thought it would ensure that I would finally fit in.
I'm sure everyone here has gone through some sort of rejection, and that's what really rooted most of my own self-disdain. I would get crushes on someone and didn't know how to not take it personally when I saw what was chosen instead (now it could have been ALL about her personality, sure, but...)
The pinnacle came when my then-husband chose a tall, leaner, younger redhead we worked with to have a relationship with instead of me. This pretty much shattered my self-worth and confidence -- most of us seem to have a limited amount to begin with -- and it's not something I think I'll ever get back. I always say he ripped my soul out when he left, and I've spent all this time (with God by my side, of course,) trying to grow a new one. (It's a complicated and long story -- one of the reasons I felt so bonded to him was because he was half Asian and he could relate to a lot of things, such as identity issues in my life that no one else ever had ever even asked me about.) 's
I think it's nearly impossible to go being rejected by someone important to you (whether a spouse, employer, friend, relative, etc.) and not have it tarnish your sense of self when compared to what that other person chooses instead of you.
Years after my husband divorced me, I tried the Christian dating sites a bit and yes, I can reinforce the belief that the good majority of men I observed (particularly in the main chats) were looking for women a lot younger than them, and yes, they cared an awful lot about what the women looked like. And yes, the women cared a lot about what the men looked like and how much money they made.
One major reason I gave up is because of all the Unicorn Thinking -- everyone demanding something from someone else that they didn't qualify for themselves, such as men who wanted thin, fit women, but looked 8 1/2 months pregnant -- with twins -- themselves, and women demanding men who made 6 figure salaries when they themselves didn't work.
I understand there is some give and take in all of this, etc., but I think y'all know what I mean.
I can openly admit that I DO feel the pressures of beauty standards, but I also try to use it as motivation to try to stay healthy and active.
As a Christian, of course I know that our true worth and beauty is in God, but I think most everyone has some kind of insecurity, whether it has to do with looks or skills or our own personal quirks or whatever else it may be, that are a lifelong process of learning to let God handle instead of trying to do it all ourselves.
I am very much on that journey of still learning as I go.