Haley Dallas

Features Editor

   Shower, makeup, hair straight, perfect outfit, breakfast, school work together, get out the door. Girls’ mornings are crazy! We do all of this work, and to please who? It surely isn’t ourselves with all the complaining that goes on. We want to meet societal expectations because we’re shown in magazines, ads, and television shows that we’re supposed to be skinny and sexy. Not only do we complain about how we look and how long it takes for us to get ready in the mornings, but we also complain about the “sexism” in how little the male gender does to try to look good for the rest of the world. Are the ladies being fooled? Curtis Buell, who has always been complimented on his sense of style and good looks, will tell you that his impeccable fashion takes him up to an hour to get into order every morning!

    Now, who are the boys trying to please during the day? Everyone knows they would rather be sleeping than getting up and primping themselves in the morning, but go back to those magazines, ads, and television programs that I was talking about earlier. What do the boys and men look like in those advertisements? What do the celebrities that we look up to and admire all look like? Six pack abs, perfect hair, the perfect outfit. Boys have it just as hard as the girls do, yet we think that we have too much pressure. The pressure of the magazines and celebrities get to us all. Sophomore Mat Townsend admits that his workout kick wasn’t just to be in better shape for tennis, but also to look better for the ladies.

    Girls see skinny models and work hard to keep their figures looking thin. Likewise, guys see big muscular models all over the media and even in digital mediums, such as television shows and video games. In turn, they end up working out and trying - but mostly failing - to look like the so-called ‘role models’ they see everywhere.

    Overall, boys and girls both have tons of pressure weighing on them to look, eat, and be just like the people in ads and television shows. It kills our self-esteem and makes us feel inferior to others. So, before we girls judge too quickly how little boys have to work in the morning and how little pressure they are under, watch a little television or look through a magazine, and you will be quickly reminded that boys have very high physical standards according to society.