After reading this week’s articles, I have gained some new insight on some areas of my life that have been affected by systems of privilege and inequality. For most of my life, I never really thought twice about all the things that are expected of me as a woman, or the statements that were made towards me throughout my life. In chapter two of Women’s Voices: Feminist Visions, there is a section of text talking about ageism and age discrimination (p. 47-48 Shaw and Lee). It goes on to say women learn to “age pass,” which led me to think about how from youth we are taught to always look pretty and presentable or how as little girls we are told almost always about our appearance. People may say, “Wow, she looks just like a little doll” or go on and on about how much the little girl will be a “looker” when she gets older. But what happens when that little girl does grow older and older into her 20s, 40s, 60s? If she does not resemble her younger self, people would say, “Oh, she’s really let herself go” or “She must’ve had a hard life.” It’s so much harder for older women to get positive recognition as far as appearance if they are not styled and polished 24/7. We as women learn to not only do this to each other, but also to ourselves. We admire models, singers, and actresses who have “aged gracefully” not realizing the wealth and time that put into their health and skincare to look so naturally graceful. It definitely made me want to stop and evaluate myself and my thoughts, because often times, I do catch myself fearfully thinking about my future and if I’ll still look good when I’m older and that shouldn’t even be a thought that should cross my mind when I think of what my future holds.
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