by Maya Brown
Sometimes I wonder why celebrities don’t buy their clothes at thrift stores. It would certainly eliminate the tradition of many a teen or women’s magazine, the “Who Wore It Best” conundrum. It is one of the most common problems tackled in virtually every celebrity ridden media source.
Because, honestly, what is more important in this world than comparing outfits? Whether it’s done by professional opinions or reader polls, somehow it seems the only thing we women can do to bide our time is rate which celebrity wore a designer outfit best. Unfortunately, not only is this a very useless topic, it is also sexist.
First of all, it contributes to catfights. I’m sure the very thing these websites would love to see is some girl-on-girl action over whose curves look better in that Ralph Lauren tee. In reality, these women aren’t competing; they’re simply wearing the same dress. How would you feel if every time you wore a vaguely popular shirt, paparazzi snapped pictures of you and invited people to vote on whether it looked better on you or that woman two states over who wore it three months ago.
By judging women on how well they wear an outfit, we are making them into objects. We are defining them only by their bodies. Not only are we pitting women against each other, we are creating a society where the only thing that matters is who looks better in a dress. It makes what a woman looks like the most important thing about her and leaves no room for her talent. We almost never see these sorts of polls with men involved. In our culture, men are judged based on their accomplishments, while women are judged based on looks.
The truth of the matter is, not all women look the same. Yet there is no room in our world for different weights or body types. If you look at which women win the “competitions” it is almost always the thinner one, or the one with bigger boobs. They have to be either stick thin or curvy in the right places; there is no in-between.
These magazine ploys are so commonplace nowadays that we no longer question them. Yet, when you step back and look, it seems ridiculous to compare two women who hardly know each other based on one particular outfit. Why can’t these magazines discuss real issues? I’d like to hear whether Ashley Tisdale or Vivica Fox has a better opinion on sexualization and women in the media.