Reality (Goffman / Bordo)

One quote from Goffman that intrigued me was when he says "the point here is that it appears that children and women are pictured on floors and beds more than are men" (Goffman, 41). This quote had me thinking about the traditional view of women staying at home to cook, clean, and take care of the kids. Out of curiosity, I researched about how much the average stay at home mom would earn and came across a site called "salary.com". According to their study, the average US stay at home mom would earn a whopping $134,121 a year if they would get paid for it. I find this interesting because the average household income is only $55,000. A housewife makes well over double this amount, meaning their job is not easy. Trying to make women look inferior to men by picturing them on the floor and beds just doesn't make sense.

Bordo mentions that "my 56-year-old forehead will now be judged against my neighbor's, not just Goldie's, Cher's, and Faye's". This caught my attention because I think people nowadays are forgetting what real beauty is. Beauty in general is natural. How disappointed would you be if you found out the girl's face you've been eyeing for the past few weeks is all Botox and plastic surgery? I don't know about you, but that's a huge "no no". Just as much as you want her to have real hair instead of a wig, you want her to have real skin. That's what real beauty is. It's purely natural.

Honestly, I don't think Goffman's words hold up much today, but when it comes to Bordo, it fits today perfectly. Today, women are portrayed as independent. They've developed the attitude of "if men can do it, we can do it". This generally started during World War II when women took over their husband's jobs but you see it today more than ever. In advertisements, you'll see women dressed up professionally and running their own business. Also, studies have shown that the average age for marriage has went up by several years. This is because more and more women are staying in school to finish up their degrees and start up a career. The men are no longer the main income in some households. This income allows parents to leave this kids at home with a babysitter or send them to child care. On the other hand, Bordo's words go along with lots of celebrities and other women today. Plastic surgery and Botox is getting very popular. More and more commercials and advertisements have shown up recently, hence the news about a new celebrity reconstructing a part of their body every day. People have forgotten what true beauty really is. Like I mentioned before, its all natural!