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March 3, 2006
Editor’s Desk
by Aaron Selbig, insurgent49

[Editor's note: We have a very special treat for you this week at Editor's Desk. Nova Stubbs, co-founder of Insurgent49, has written a guest column in honor of Womens History Month. Enjoy.]
The Real Women

     It has been a beautiful week here at insurgent headquarters.

     At the dawn of Women’s History month, I feel proud of my sisters from the past who have fought and granted me the rights that I have today. Yet, I am aware that so much more needs to be done in the battle for complete social equality.

     Realizing that we live in a stratified world is the first step as it can be seen on the surface. In other words, women are often glorified for their exterior, and the history and modern day fads of fashion have crippled this movement toward liberation.

     “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder” ... isn’t that what we are supposed to believe? If one looks around at the local high schools or takes a trip to L.A., they can see in great numbers that “perfect” beauty and femininity can be obtained, but only at a cost.
 
     During my formative years, I fought to fit into the mainstream hip way of life. But no matter how much I wanted to dress like the popular girls, I could never quite pull it off. I spent the entirety of my junior prom feeling uncomfortable, and honestly a little pissed off: my hair full of Aqua Net, high heels (that prohibited me from walking, let alone dancing), Lee Press on Nails, a sleek tight fitted black dress with a splash of sequence (note this was back in 1993), makeup caked on my face and panty hose that had runs in them due to a bathroom incident where the press on nails became uncooperative.

     “You look beautiful,” they said. So, this is what it meant to be feminine? I hated it.

     Today, I have allowed feminine fashion assimilation to pass me by as I have embraced the “practical.” I see the girls in stiletto high heels skating across the icy pavement wearing a coat that is fashionable rather than warm, and rarely do they have a hat on to protect their ears from the freezing wind. I don’t understand. Why the pressing need to dress feminine? For many years I have pondered this question.

     Don’t get me wrong ... I like to feel pretty, but not in a way that makes me feel physically uncomfortable.

     I am not opposed to makeup or high heels, if one feels comfortable. What I am opposed to is this system that is telling us the definition of beauty and femininity. I could turn this into a male bashing session and attempt to reiterate the objectification of women theory; however, men are just as conditioned to recognize this type of feminine beauty.

     This “cult of beauty” is nothing new.  For generations, women in China would bind their own feet in order to ensure their attractiveness. This mutilating act occurred up until the early twentieth century.

     In America, during the Victorian era, women would tighten corsets to show off their shapeliness. They achieved this goal; however, they had difficulty moving about. Humorists of this time scoffed at the women’s gait as they referred to it as the “kangaroo walk.”

     Women of this era also coveted rosy cheeks and a chalky complexion; therefore, many would apply a cosmetic product known as Fowler’s Solution. Little did they know that this formula contained arsenic, and many women died for the sake of beauty.

     A resurgence of death for the sake of beauty reemerged during the 1970’s with the rise of eating disorders. In 1995, a woman with severe anorexia noted that, “society applauded my shrinking.” She also said that she had, “learned about womanhood from fashion magazines.” In 2004, 87% of those who participated in cosmetic surgery were women. Liposuction, breast augmentation, and botox were amongst the highest sellers.

     The pain for beauty continues to blemish the social evolution for women.

     I learned about femininity through my mother, as many young women do. She taught me that “beauty is in the eye of the beholder”, and that the beholder was myself. Growing up, my mother was the most beautiful women I had ever known. She wasn’t overly skinny, she wasn’t fashionable, but she had the warmth and kindness that illustrated the real beauty of life.

     It is Women’s History month and I beg you sisters stop putting yourself through the pain of being “beautiful,” because the essence of femininity really does lie elsewhere.   

  




 
- Columnists -

Editor's Desk
by Aaron Selbig

Red Alert
by Soren Wuerth

Alaskan In Exile
by Neil Zawicki

The
Bramble Bush
by Kevin Morford





- also by this writer -

Stop Requested

Drunk Until Proven Sober
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in-sur-gent (in sur'jent), n. 1. a member of a group which  revolts against the policies of its leadership.