The Perfect Woman

For much of my life I have felt weighted down by the pressures society have put on me as a female. In high school I felt pressured to have a slender figure, to wear makeup, but not too much, to have a boyfriend, to have a lot of friends, to be involved in extracurricular activities, and to be popular. Now that I am 21, I am still pressured by most of these things above as well as to reach my educational goals, obtain a well-paying job, not be a party goer, find a husband, settle down, and have children. I feel like most females feel these same pressures. At least those close to me do.

Society has this idea of a perfect woman. She is slim, naturally beautiful, healthy, educated, and so on. This idea is not healthy for women. It forces unrealistic expectations. I recently came across an online article entitled “11 Qualities of the Perfect Woman,” published on menshealth.com. This article included a picture, or diagram, entitled “Anatomy of a Perfect Woman – Research Breaks Down the Stats on the Average Dream Girl” (pictured below). This website recommends many just as disgusting articles subjecting women to view next (12 Ways to be the Perfect Girlfriend, 6 Types of Women Every Man Should Date).

Many of these 11 qualities are impossible for women to attain without surgically changing their body. For example, “men are attracted to women with bigger breasts,” “men prefer women with narrow hips,” and “men prefer women with little feet.” Most women are not born with these qualities. These are unrealistic standards. Women should not feel as if they are not good enough simply because their body does not measure up to “the anatomy of a perfect woman,” nor should they feel as if they need to have surgery in order to be a man’s “dream girl.” Each and every woman has qualities that are uniquely them and are more important than any physical quality.

Society needs to stop putting these pressures on women. It’s unhealthy and unrealistic. Instead, society’s new anatomy of the perfect woman should be - kind, unique, confident, loyal, intelligent, independent, supportive, and beautiful in her own way. Let’s encourage women to be uniquely them and not to conform to societies standards.