As a woman, I have realized that throughout my life, people are going to put me into boxes and label me. I recently became aware of this when I took my little cousin into the Barbie section of Target. As my eyes scanned the barbies with slim waists and large breasts, my eyes eventually landed on a Barbie who was bigger than all the others. She looked more realistic and immediately a smile grew on my face. They were finally learning to show that all bodies are beautiful and that you don’t have to look like the classic Barbie. That’s what I thought was happening, but I was wrong. As I observed this Barbie, I saw a sticker on the box that said “plus-sized Barbie” and immediately my smile was gone. Why are we separating bodies? Why couldn’t that Barbie be like any other Barbie? Kids don’t have to look like Barbie to be accepted and to fit in, but instead we are drilling it into their heads that if they’re bigger, they’re different and they can’t just be seen as another little girl, they have to be seen as a “plus-sized.”
This separation of women and their bodies will be carried on throughout girls’ lives. I saw this when I went shopping with friends and came across a mannequin with a bigger stomach. Once again, joy sparked in me until I came to the realization that I was standing in the “plus-sized” part of the store. Girls with bigger stomachs had to be restricted to one small section of the room, rather than having clothes for them be with everyone else’s. Why can’t we show the beauty of diversity by having mannequins of all sizes spread among stores? Yet again, we separate women, because if you’re bigger, you’re different and can only use one part of the store.
This happens with more than just women’s bodies. It happens with their interests as well. When I was younger, I didn’t care to brush my hair, I didn’t care about the way I dressed and I wasn’t afraid of getting dirty and because of this I was called “the son my father never had.” Just because I didn’t act the way people expect young girls to, I was viewed differently and became a joke, just for the way I acted. People made me feel like I was different and didn’t fit in because of who I was. They put me in a box and labeled me “tomboy,” but I was just a young girl who danced to the beat of her own drum.
Although I was judged for being different, some of my friends were put into a box where they were labeled, a “girly girl.” Many of my friends enjoyed dressing up and doing their hair and makeup, and even though they were acting the way they were expected to, they were judged for being “too much of a girly girl.” My friend was told she was trying too hard for wearing makeup, while I was told I wasn’t trying hard enough for not wearing makeup. Girls can’t seem to win, can they? If we show skin, we’re sluts; if we don’t, we’re prudes. If we have muscles, we’re seen as being too strong and if we don’t, we’re told we are weak little girls. If we get plastic surgeries, we are seen as fake, but if we don’t, our bodies are ridiculed.
All women are just women, transgender women are women, women who don’t wear makeup are women, women who don’t like dresses are women. There are no labels needed, we are simply women. Stop dividing us. Stop treating us differently for who we are. Boxes aren’t needed to separate us, together is how we should be.
Photo by Heng Films on Unsplash
