Monday, February 26, 2007
In this world where money talks and looks matters, a girl like me struggles to maintain a foothold in this world. In the singaporean culture of degrees, slimming ads, cars, money and assets..a girl could die a horrific death without at least possessing one of these credentials/qualities- degree, career, money and looks. The degree is vital in the quest for a career and the career will bring in the money. Good looks are an advantage for those who own it. So the saying goes, " if you've got it. Flaunt it." How brutally nice.
Today, how well a person maintains her body , alters her looks and decides what fashion statement has moved beyond the intimacy a personal sphere. It has started gaining such momentum that it has evolved past being something personal and unconsidered. It has now become an important agent in the political,social and economical realm.
It has acheived a near god like status that has earned many fervent worshippers. Worship your body, ritualise your body with diets, exercise,slimmingpills and products. Visit the slimming centre and the gym as religiously as the sunday church goers. No. As a matter of fact, show more devotion and dedication, visit the the gym and slimming centres more frequently to express your devotion. Do that, and you will be rewarded.Yes its brutal, but its true. But of couse no sacrifce and dedication is carried out without expectations. These devoutees are rewarded with good karma. They are likely to be the ones with the great jobs, the flashy cars, the designer threads and that concept home. Pure coincidence? I think not.
In this world where logic rules, such miracles can be reduced to sheer logic. It has been statistically proven that the good lookers get the better jobs, are forgiven more easily, treated with more patience, get the lighter jail term, are the best swindlers etc. They are the favoured children of this image conscious world. Even businesses are starting to realise the relation between economical returns and looks. Hire a good looker and by some sheer random occurance, she will be able to deliver more sales despite the fact that really, she is a dumb blonde.
But of course there are those who are have the substance and the looks and they deserve the credit.
Human beings are nosey pokers. In this fortunate part of the world our basic necessities are met, we have more time to satisfy our "itchy backsides" into the heat of things and come up with more criterias and ideals to segregate the society. We have a terrible fetish with the hierachy system. We are constantly coming up with new ways to oppress and be in power. We have huge ego problem really, the basis behind our esteem how good we are as compared to another person. So in the singaporean society where so much emphasis is placed on gender and racial equality it is only logical that we come up with another scale of measurement. And what have come up with? well we have the usual developed nation rich and poor inequality , elitism and recently to add to scale of things, the image hierachy.
On top of this hierachy of course (for ladies) , are the ones with the perfect skin, the outstanding features,the nice long hair, the nice slender body , the walk and the air of elegance. The ones who seem to never have a hair out of place, a pimple in sight, a cellulite in the making and the ones who have this amazing ability to look fresh smell nice despite the tropical oven heat. Put them under the sun for an hour, they wont flinch, they will not let out a single drop of sweat . They will look completely the way they did when they left their house. Enshrined in some magical way so that they'd always look perfect.Oh and how could i forget? The height issue. The taller the better but never taller than the guys. Its unacceptable and sacrilegious. For these girls, they are perfect.
The next on this hierachy of course( for ladies) , are the ones with the great makeup tricks to cover up the slight blemishes, the mac and bobbi brown essentials to create optical facial illusions, the great hari conditioner and hair stylist and big bills, the ones who can walk in their heels, the designer threads and the ones who know how to stay out of the sun to maintain their flawless makeup and the ones who dream about being a tai tai for most of their waking hours. Unable to have as perfect the proportion and figure as the girls in the higest class in the hierachy, they opt for skinny. Stick thin, anorexic skinny. They may not be born with the looks, but ever resourceful and hardworking, they find ways to hide their imperfections. They always mange to look good. Just dont catch them in the morning before their daily ritualistic affair in front of the mirror.
The second lowest of the hierachy of course are the ones with the less than perfect figure, the ones who constantly break out in acne, the ones with the cellulite and the ones who spend the most money trying to fit in with the girls in class 1 and 2. They are th e ones who try their very best to cover up their imperfections by spending hours finding the right clothes (if they even have the size) the right makeup . They are the ones who swing from one extreme eating disorder to the other ( from binge eating to bulimia) . They may not be perfect but they are the ones who win others over by trying to fit in and take everyone elses crap.
The last on the hierachy of course are the ones who have the bulge. The she giants of the society the ones who get teased at by little children, learnt the concept of humiliation since young, the ones who cope with rejection by accepting the joke behind the rejection, the ones who try to ignore the rest of the world, laugh at fat jokes, the ones who hardens their feelings and try to feel good. The ones who know that she will never be as good as the rest and deal with it
There we have it, the newest latest and most pervasive form of class system we have in society today.
Ooooh life is so brutal its almost funny.....
Thank goodness for good friends, company and travel opportunities :)
Today, how well a person maintains her body , alters her looks and decides what fashion statement has moved beyond the intimacy a personal sphere. It has started gaining such momentum that it has evolved past being something personal and unconsidered. It has now become an important agent in the political,social and economical realm.
It has acheived a near god like status that has earned many fervent worshippers. Worship your body, ritualise your body with diets, exercise,slimmingpills and products. Visit the slimming centre and the gym as religiously as the sunday church goers. No. As a matter of fact, show more devotion and dedication, visit the the gym and slimming centres more frequently to express your devotion. Do that, and you will be rewarded.Yes its brutal, but its true. But of couse no sacrifce and dedication is carried out without expectations. These devoutees are rewarded with good karma. They are likely to be the ones with the great jobs, the flashy cars, the designer threads and that concept home. Pure coincidence? I think not.
In this world where logic rules, such miracles can be reduced to sheer logic. It has been statistically proven that the good lookers get the better jobs, are forgiven more easily, treated with more patience, get the lighter jail term, are the best swindlers etc. They are the favoured children of this image conscious world. Even businesses are starting to realise the relation between economical returns and looks. Hire a good looker and by some sheer random occurance, she will be able to deliver more sales despite the fact that really, she is a dumb blonde.
But of course there are those who are have the substance and the looks and they deserve the credit.
Human beings are nosey pokers. In this fortunate part of the world our basic necessities are met, we have more time to satisfy our "itchy backsides" into the heat of things and come up with more criterias and ideals to segregate the society. We have a terrible fetish with the hierachy system. We are constantly coming up with new ways to oppress and be in power. We have huge ego problem really, the basis behind our esteem how good we are as compared to another person. So in the singaporean society where so much emphasis is placed on gender and racial equality it is only logical that we come up with another scale of measurement. And what have come up with? well we have the usual developed nation rich and poor inequality , elitism and recently to add to scale of things, the image hierachy.
On top of this hierachy of course (for ladies) , are the ones with the perfect skin, the outstanding features,the nice long hair, the nice slender body , the walk and the air of elegance. The ones who seem to never have a hair out of place, a pimple in sight, a cellulite in the making and the ones who have this amazing ability to look fresh smell nice despite the tropical oven heat. Put them under the sun for an hour, they wont flinch, they will not let out a single drop of sweat . They will look completely the way they did when they left their house. Enshrined in some magical way so that they'd always look perfect.Oh and how could i forget? The height issue. The taller the better but never taller than the guys. Its unacceptable and sacrilegious. For these girls, they are perfect.
The next on this hierachy of course( for ladies) , are the ones with the great makeup tricks to cover up the slight blemishes, the mac and bobbi brown essentials to create optical facial illusions, the great hari conditioner and hair stylist and big bills, the ones who can walk in their heels, the designer threads and the ones who know how to stay out of the sun to maintain their flawless makeup and the ones who dream about being a tai tai for most of their waking hours. Unable to have as perfect the proportion and figure as the girls in the higest class in the hierachy, they opt for skinny. Stick thin, anorexic skinny. They may not be born with the looks, but ever resourceful and hardworking, they find ways to hide their imperfections. They always mange to look good. Just dont catch them in the morning before their daily ritualistic affair in front of the mirror.
The second lowest of the hierachy of course are the ones with the less than perfect figure, the ones who constantly break out in acne, the ones with the cellulite and the ones who spend the most money trying to fit in with the girls in class 1 and 2. They are th e ones who try their very best to cover up their imperfections by spending hours finding the right clothes (if they even have the size) the right makeup . They are the ones who swing from one extreme eating disorder to the other ( from binge eating to bulimia) . They may not be perfect but they are the ones who win others over by trying to fit in and take everyone elses crap.
The last on the hierachy of course are the ones who have the bulge. The she giants of the society the ones who get teased at by little children, learnt the concept of humiliation since young, the ones who cope with rejection by accepting the joke behind the rejection, the ones who try to ignore the rest of the world, laugh at fat jokes, the ones who hardens their feelings and try to feel good. The ones who know that she will never be as good as the rest and deal with it
There we have it, the newest latest and most pervasive form of class system we have in society today.
Ooooh life is so brutal its almost funny.....
Thank goodness for good friends, company and travel opportunities :)
# posted by - : 8:33 PM
Subscribe to Posts [Atom]