She states “I was taught to despise myself”- a sentiment that most women find unfortunately familiar. From young ages, girls are saturated with images and ideas equating womanhood with femininity (in this case, femininity as a patriarchal construct, not a self-generated identity). Women’s appearances are examined through a narrow spectrum; femininity = thin, youthful, conventionally attractive. Possibly more disturbing than this is the manner in which woman are expected to behave; primarily- subordinate to men, seen and not heard, objects of desire (objects which lose desirability when they are shown to have personal agency). Brown addresses this; “don’t you ever shatter the illusion you could be anything beyond paper fine flesh and flashing fingernails”.
Dismantling the gender binary and patriarchal expectations of men and women is not a simple task. It requires individuals to re-examine their notions of gender identity and their perceptions of each gender. It requires the realization that nothing is inherently masculine or feminine. Strength is not found in how much a man can bench-press, and beauty is not found in the width of a woman’s thigh gap.
Emma Gordon