Why Can Women Only Ever Be Attractive in the Eyes of Men?
A woman can be pretty — but only if she doesn’t know it.
I recently ran across an article which said that women and girls were growing vainer. This selfie culture, in which women could and even were encouraged to post pictures of themselves to general thirst on Instagram, was leading to women who were under the (obviously mistaken!!) impression that they were really good-looking. Despicable.
I’m guilty of feeling ashamed of selfies, myself. I always try to get a “candid” profile picture — in other words, I always want to give the impression that I’ve been captured smiling, laughing, loving life from afar, uncaring or even unknowing that I’m being photographed.
It’s because I don’t want to be perceived as vain.
I’ve been told I’m pretty, but any kind of acknowledgment of that fact through my knowing gaze, smiling directly into the camera, acknowledging that I look great, feels narcissistic. Though I have been objectified and sexualized ever since I grew breasts, it is unthinkable that I should see myself as beautiful — or worse, use that beauty as a type of power.
One of my favorite quotes about art and feminism is by an author called John Berger.
“You painted a naked woman…
