Preoccupation (with appearance) among American women prevents them from focusing on more constructive aspects of themselves. At Woodview (middle school), concerns about attractiveness were promoted primarily through the high status activity of cheerleading. The tea her who organizes the tryouts told the judges to keep appearance in mind as they selected the candidates. Also, to pay attention to the person's weight. To be the best representatives they should be highly attractive as wek as being capable of promoting school spirit. Appearance was included in the judging of cheerleaders under the category of "sparkle." Iy was important to have the skills to do these gymnastic routines, but it was equally important to find was to maintain a neat, feminine appearance throughout the performance. This conveys the message to girls that how they look is as important as what they do. Although weight was taken into account, one year some girls who were considered overweight were selected. The judges suggested that they be put on diets, preserving the idea that thinness is an important aspect of cheerleaders' appearance.
Boys' Focus on Girls' Appearance in Peer Interaction
Male interest in girls' bodies as being sexual and appealing could arouse the deepest level of appearance anxiety in girls. Infromal rankings such as this remind girls that they are being evaluated on a daily basis.
The Role of Girls' Gossip
It was evident from the girls' comments at Woodview that the continual focus on other girls' looks further added to their anxieties about their own appearance. Many girls are likely to stay self-conscious and insecure about their body type and weight. Besides being appraised on the basis of their attire, girls were also evaluated for their body weight and type. Girls who were particularly overweight were frequent targets of gossip. Girls who were too skinny were alzo criticized, as were girla who had large hips and large breasts. Girls often try to increase their control over their weight by dieting, which leads, in more severe cases, to eating disorders. A group of sixth graders spent much of their lunch period making fun of a popular girl for wearing a particularly unusual outfit to school.
In another case, a group of eighth grade girls was critical of a local beauty pageant contestant of high school age who visited the school to collect money for her campaign. They claimed that she used makeup to give a false image of beauty, and that underneath she was really ugly. This girl was ctiticized for her attempts to be "too attractive" and "too sexy."
If girls do succeed in looking, acting, or dressing like the models they see in the media, however, they are likely to be accused of portraying false images or wanton sexuality. Thus, girls blame each other for drawing sexual attention to themselves rather than criticizing the social practices that promote a view of girls and women as sexual objects.
Attractiveness as an Increasing Concern for Girls
Appearance is alrady a salient concern among students, and it is likely to increase in importance for many as they get older. A more powerful form of school-sponsored competition is the selection of prom queens, homecoming queens, and attendants in which girls are annually evaluated on their attractiveness, often without ever volunteering to enter such competitions.
These experiences send girls a strong message that what they do and who they are is less important then how they look. Girls and women continued to be viewed as sexual objects within the media as well as other arenas from cheerleading and pompon teams to swimsuit competitions. Women must struggle to overcome a perception of self as object rather than subject before they can begin the process of self-definiton as total and compleate human beings.
Relation to Myself:
I can absolutely say that this article was so true because it's there, at school, in the hallways. I hear girls talking about how other girls look all the time. One incident I overheard a girl saying "I kept looking at her hair wondering how she got so many bobbypins to stay there, and her hair was down. I just kept laughing at her." If girls would stop criticing eachother and start worring more about the important things in life we wouldn't have as many problems as we do. I remember being in elementary school and girls use to torment others for being ugly or having ugly clothes. They use to talk about girls who had big legs and weren't skinny. This is a horrible horrible state of mind. Judging others isn't right. Just like people say, "don't judge a book by its cover." In the end you might have missed out on a great friendship.
