I can understand why hearing that said might make you feel a certain way, but don't you think that if hearing a statement of fact feels hurtful, that the problem is not that the truth is being spoken aloud, but that you're responding to it in an unhelpful way? Isn't there another way you could interpret this kind of statement that would be self-promoting, rather than self-denigrating?
That was my entire point-- even potentially positive facts become negative if you have internalized the western beauty myth fully enough. The teacher, was trying to be positive-- but, media, my peers adults I knew etc. had already given me this negative framework by age 8-- and it's not like this is some rare deal-- I think you would find that most young girls who are outside of the norm go through a similar thing-- though how one responds can vary quite a bit.
I included it to show how rapid and destructive these ideas can be-- and how a few platitudes such as saying "everyone is beautiful" now and then aren't enough to patch up the damage.
Of course, the damage could be lessened if we did away with the very sexist notion that a woman's worth is closely tied to her attractiveness. And some feminist think this is enough-- I don't I think we need to address the eurocentricity of beauty standards as well.
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Date: 21/12/10 04:08 (UTC)That was my entire point-- even potentially positive facts become negative if you have internalized the western beauty myth fully enough. The teacher, was trying to be positive-- but, media, my peers adults I knew etc. had already given me this negative framework by age 8-- and it's not like this is some rare deal-- I think you would find that most young girls who are outside of the norm go through a similar thing-- though how one responds can vary quite a bit.
I included it to show how rapid and destructive these ideas can be-- and how a few platitudes such as saying "everyone is beautiful" now and then aren't enough to patch up the damage.
Of course, the damage could be lessened if we did away with the very sexist notion that a woman's worth is closely tied to her attractiveness. And some feminist think this is enough-- I don't I think we need to address the eurocentricity of beauty standards as well.