"It’s a conspiracy!" Carbo says as he hunches over and wags his finger in the air, pointing at nothing or no one in particular.
... It seems believable. A conspiracy directed to not only to control the minds of women but of the men who perceive and interact with women, reinforcing these very specific and unrealistic ideals of femininity. But where does it start? Who is really in on it? And really, does it matter to the individual woman or man?
We are influenced by everything we encounter. And once we become adults (or at least able to make some of our own decisions) we subject ourselves to what we want to influence us. I want to be an astronaut, so I will expose myself to the stars, the universe, and the feeling of weightlessness. One day maybe these things will shape me into a being that is capable of leaving our oxygen shell, or maybe I will just spend the rest of my life smoking pot, lying in empty fields at night and listening to pink floyd– not such a bad existence even without my dream of all dreams. But if were to expose myself to the intentions of these conspirators then yes! of course I would be warped into a woman that feels that her self-image is inadequate and that her mind is unimportant. I am fortunate. Because I have no need for this exposure or for the consideration of the ideas proposed by these conspirators, who I am sure are more numerous than I can imagine.
So what of all the others who are not dreaming to be astronauts, but to be classy ladies, wanted and adored by men. How can they avoid such exposure when it is the dominant perception of such qualities? I suppose the only answer is that they cannot. In fact no one can completely avoid such conspiracies. But we can all add this point of view to our repertoire in a way that does not conflict with the conceptions that we have ourselves. In other words, acknowledge these types perceptions but do not incorporate them into the filters that we view the ourselves and the world with. Easier said than done.