Attraction.
Odds are, you think about it every day, multiple times a day. How attractive are you? Who is attracted to you? Who is attractive to you?
I think something interesting about this is how women are seemingly trained to think about attractiveness far more often than men. We don’t need science to prove this to us either. Think about what steps you take to “get ready” for a night out. For many men, a shower, quick run-through of their hair, shaving, and picking out an outfit will suffice. For the majority of women, getting ready is a daunting task.
For one night out, a woman may shower, pluck, shave, wax, straighten, curl, paint, brush, spray her body with chemicals--at many points literally hurting herself to achieve the desired result. Which, in this day and age is often a done-up, virtually hairless, toned, bronzed goddess -- not to mention the expectation of dressing in the perfect combination of both sophisticated and sexy attire. This routine in no way speaks for ALL women, but it certainly speaks for MOST women. What I think is most important to reflect upon when discussing attractiveness is simply the time and money we spend working for the outcome deemed acceptable by the greater part of society.
I am not writing this article with the intent to chastise all women who spend time and money doing these things, especially because I am guilty of this as well. I do however, want to to encourage women to think twice about how much of their valuable time and money is spent chasing the unattainable result of perfection.
A good way to grasp this is to think about other things that could be accomplished with the time and money we spend on looking good -- most of the time according to other people’s standards.
According to Mint.com, the average woman will spend around $15,000 on beauty products in her lifetime, about a fifth of that going to mascara alone. That $15,000 would pay for a year’s tuition at many public universities. It could pay for online classes or even an online master's program.
According to DailyMail.com, the average woman will spend TWO YEARS of her life just applying makeup. In that time she could earn a master’s degree, an associate’s degree, become a certified medical assistant, complete half of a bachelor’s degree, complete the average length of a mission with the Peace Corps, and complete ⅔ of the majority of law programs offered in the United States.
Let’s say you get your eyebrows waxed, as the vast majority of American women do. You go once a month, costing you anywhere from $12-$20 each time depending on the bargains you find. In one year, you have spent anywhere from $144-$240 just on waxing your eyebrows.
How about getting your nails done? A pedicure will cost anywhere between $25 and $50 depending on the quality of the salon.Go once a month and throw in the cost of tipping a nail tech and you can be dropping approximately $400 on pedicures a year. Not to mention the time, spending an hour on a pedicure six times a year will waste roughly 6 hours a year. Add in bi-weekly manicures averaging around 45 minutes each, and you’re spending a total of 28.5 hours--that’s more than an entire day--just getting your nails done. With that time, you could attend 26 consecutive 45 minute college lectures, the average person could learn how to play a musical instrument. Uninterrupted, the average person could read around 400,000 words in that time alone.
Products surround us that promise results. Advertising convinces us we can achieve these results with minimal time, pain, and cost. I don’t have a problem with grooming because I think it’s vain. I don't believe in making it an issue of sexism because women should be able to do what they want to feel beautiful. But I plead you to open your eyes and see all of the other valuable things you could be accomplishing with your time. Open your eyes and recognize that the time, money, and energy spent on excessive pruning, nipping, and tucking can be shifted away from your morning routine and refocused on building your mind, finding a fuller happiness in life, and changing the world.
