If Women Ruled the World - Sheila Ellison (ed.) - Part 5

If Women Ruled the World - Sheila Ellison (ed.)

2017 Reading Challenge - Day 112

  April 22, 2017 

Book 32 - If Women Ruled the World -
How to Create the World We Want to Live In
Sheila Ellison (ed.) (2004)
 Part 5 - pages 174-216
Reading Time - 45 minutes

The stories have expanded out to the National Level. If Women Ruled the World - we would humanize the horror of war. Cause war is horror. Some would even go so far as to say that war is terror. Given that the majority of victims of war are women and children... I would hope that if women ruled the world, we could rule with compassion instead of terror.

I've also noticed, over and over again, the comparison between women and men. For example... that if we ruled the world, we would support women in leadership positions, women who would support collaboration instead of competition. Women are more collaborative and men are more competitive. I wonder if that is actually accurate. Probably not. There are always some men who are collaborative... as there are some women who are competitive.. But on the whole... I could see it.

The idea that we would portray real women in advertisements. I get that the advertising industry is a massive brainwashing campaign. Models and actresses who are dolled up, made up, tweaked and photo-shopped to look like some "ideal" woman. And women are then always trying to measure up to that standard. In terms of their weight... their wrinkles... their make-up... their skin tone... their hair... their teeth... their clothing. Women are taught that they NEED to look a certain way... that they need to be attractive... in order to get ahead in life. My question is... attractive to whom? Attracting what? Why aren't girls and women taught that how they look is beautiful in it's own right... without the make-up or the plastic surgery? Without the fancy clothes? Without the liposuction? All of those industries... cosmetics, plastic surgery, fashion... are built on selling us stuff. They're built on selling us an idea that we are not beautiful just as we are. It's a load of horse-puckey!

Here's an article about Why Women Feel Bad about their Appearance. "The truth is that women’s insecurity about their appearance is driven by competition with other women." Go figure...