Women and Beauty

One afternoon in a spa atmosphere is cool and comfortable in Jakarta, the women were enjoying a beauty treatment. The scorching sun rays and sting out just seemed like a phosphorescent light that penetrates the cracks curtain salons without fear of hurting the skin of the women there. Among women, the number of girls who look very young still enjoying menicure, pedicure, body scrubs, curling, straightening hair, cream bath, or whatever his name began to tip to toe.

Today it's not unusual anymore when we look at beauty salons, spas, wellness centers, and such busy serving young girls who are ready to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars within an instant. Ten years ago she went to the salon only the youngest age limit of 18 years, but now ordinary salon serving girls aged 10, 12 and 13 years. They could come two to three times a week. Ah, is not the numbers that show they are underage? In shopping malls are also fond of young girls to spend time to shop for beauty products. There is a buy body glitter, eye shadow, face bleach, to remove the hair lotion to the feet. For what?

One of them, a class II student junior high school (junior high), helping to give the answer: according to the confidence of girls her age, self-confidence does not come by itself. He must be achieved not only with a dilute brain, but also through a lifestyle that follows the trend of beauty and fashion. Here the base of the problem. Beauty trends - just as teen fashion - potentially lead our children toward a sense of lack of pe-de, and consumer behavior.

Ubiquitous advertisements of beauty products on us. Image of women now probably not far from what often appear there: body slender, long and straight hair, white face smooth, and beautiful eyes thanks to the lens box purple or green. Thank God for the beautiful is not always like that. Recorded human history, the definition of beauty is constantly changing. In Europe in medieval woman's beauty is linked with fertility, with the ability to reproduce. In the 15th century until the 17th, beautiful and sexy women are those who have a large abdomen and pelvis and chest are plump, which is part of the body related to the reproductive function.

At the beginning of the 19th century beauty is defined by the face and shoulders are rounded and curvaceous body. Meanwhile, entering the 20th century beauty synonymous with women with large buttocks and thighs. In Africa women dn India generally considered beautiful if she was plump, especially when he had married, became a symbol of prosperity because kemontokannya life. In 1965 the British model, Twiggy, the emaciated bodies hit the world with a thin and frail. He then loved by almost all women throughout the world and became an icon for the modern women's representation at the time. According to feminist Naomi Wolf, what the fashion world by Twiggy was a deconstruction of the previous image of plump and plump. Twiggy that skinny is the representation of women's liberation movement of the beauty myth previously associated with reproductive function.

The definition of beauty and myth for women is changing from time to time. However, as said Richard Dunphy, professor of sexual politics in Britain, in fact we have been trapped in a variety of image and myth. Had not we the women have been forced to think and act in line with the myth and image of beauty?

Whether consciously or not, we have been bequeathed to the younger generation of behavior and thinking patterns that shackled in myth and imagery. Even more sadly, we did not realize that the definition and imaging beauty and sexuality - that originally defined the man - gradually became an integral part of women's lives and made our own, solely to please men.

Some of us never read Simone de Beauvoir's monumental work, The Second Sex, of course remember, in one part of Simone described the toughest times for women when undergoing the process of transition from a girl becomes an adult woman. According to Simone, the transition into adulthood accompanied by demands that the feminine attitude which defines as weak, submissive, and not productive.

Generally, women face a great contradictions in its own right in adopting feminine traits that are taught by the family based on traditions. Not all feel glad to be a woman. Of free personal and spontaneous do anything in his childhood and teenage years, now he hrus suppress the will and feelings so as not to kerasa character and fierce like a man.

Simone poured heart turmoil in the phrase "not by increasing its value as a human being that women valued by men, (but) by establishing itself in accordance with their dreams". In the book Simone then complained, "someone not born a woman, but being a woman."

Thus the tradition: he entrenched and teach the community about various things including how it should be a woman or man. Myths of beauty and sexuality in part also born through tradition and partly from our own unconscious was still maintain and let it come down to the generations of our children.

Maybe we've heard from old folks ban on women to eat fruit bananas, pineapple, or cucumber as "can cause white blood." After delivery, women still had to drink herb turmeric for "Peranakan quick dry" and were strictly forbidden to eat fish cork "Peranakan not quickly blossom." Somehow kebebarannya explanation and medically - and not my purpose here to argue with the truth - but the myth that it's making us lose the right to enjoy nature's bounty provided by God.

A more important concern here is all the rules and restrictions that follow the myth that directly or indirectly have the purpose of pleasing men. Naomi Wolf in this case is true, he says in his book, The Beauty Myth, beauty is the perfect place to maintain the dominance of patriarchal view. It is also important to watch is the efforts of the beauty and health product manufacturers to deploy mitor and beauty to the community image. In fact, what they disclose is advertising the product. Television advertising data in November 2003 showed, products such as shampoo, soap, fabric softener, and bleach are included in the 20 largest advertisers. Not to mention if we look at advertising in print media, especially magazines for teenagers. Page after page is filled tight teen beauty products.

Really there's nothing wrong with body treatments for beauty care. To ponder is how we respond to trends and lethal seduction, then firmly say no to a variety of treatments that do not have to be lived. This is important because women as a people who were targeted by the owners of capital are easily made insecure and uncomfortable with his physical condition.

In addition, the way we look at the myths that generations in the tradition is also important to align the imagery that had been imprisoning our freedom. Let's not feeding the young generation with the myths about sexuality and beauty so they can grow and thrive freely without worrying. Our children need to be sure that future generations a sense of pe-de is not achieved through the path of beauty.

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