Smarten up and stop focusing on the superficial

Although Australia was ranked as one of the world’s most equal societies in the 2008 World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report, statistics indicate that ambitious males do not share the same pressure to go under the knife or change their appearance as their counterparts.

According to the Cosmetic Physicians Society of Australia, there was approximately $448.5 million spent on cosmetic treatments from the beginning of the year until March. This represents a 30 per cent increase from 2009. In a survey of more than 1000 Australians by international pharmaceutical company Sanofi-aventis, half of the female participants stated they were considering cosmetic procedures.

Professional young actress Pollyanna Nowicki believes that the emphasis placed on the physical appearance of females in the media influences the psychological and emotional health of everyday women, as she experienced recently when advised that success in her chosen career path sat in the middle of her face.

“It was recommended to me by several people that I undergo rhinoplasty to improve my career opportunities.”

An article headed “Smarten up, PM, and do not wear green,” by Niki Savva published in The Australian last week focused on the hair and clothes of Julia Gillard.

“How you look is as important as what you say and how you say it,” Ms Savva told readers. Ms Savva recommended that the PM “get a decent cut and colour”, hire a stylist and undertake “a bit of exercise”. She also urged the Gillard to send all her clothes to charity shops and get a new wardrobe.

Ms Savva’s brief mention of “a healthy mind and all that” and insistence that this rule applies equally to males and females is undermined by her description of the PM as “scratchy and screechy” with a humour that “often lapses into bitchiness”.

It is Ms Savva’s emphasis on female physical appearance that correlates with the content of widely read Australian women’s magazines. The claim that these publications promote a “healthy body image” is contradicted by articles which reveal that “pear shaped women (are) more likely to suffer memory loss”.

Although the feminist protests of the 1970s have been replaced by other forms of activism, Ms Nowicki questions whether the aims this movement compete with the media’s perpetration of gender apartheid and frequent disposal of feminist ideals.
BY MILLY CAFFREY