To FIX or NOT to fix?

Ihear it is that time of the month when I am expected to come up with a smart and witty article. In my bid to do so, I braved the Saturday morning stampede in Oxford circus to understand the latest fashion trends that encompass our society today. Following my research, I discovered the following:

  • Purple is the colour of the season
  • You are no one if you do not own an item of leather.
  • The skinny jeans are sooooooooo out (do I hear an Amen?)
  • Tweed is back
  • Satchel bags are the new big bags.
  • Gok is a GENIUS!!!

But you all knew that. The thing that actually struck me the most was the new ‘to fix or not to fix’ craze. It appears that cosmetic surgery is the new item on most women’s ‘to-do’ list (not chicken or soup for tea). I recently read an article about a mother who works long hours at varying jobs to MAKE her fifteen-year-old daughter look like Jordan (Yes you read properly, the kid IS fifteen). By ‘make her look like Jordan’ I mean an overdose in her use of sun beds (Imagine the side effects!) bikini waxes, dyed hair, eyebrow waxes and all that gismo. Apparently Jordan is her role model ( JORDAN?!?...everyman to their own). Another woman recently slept with strangers to get her £10,000 smile. Before you cast your stones, stand up and look at yourself in the mirror. Now ask yourself this honest question: Am I 100% satisfied with the way I look?If your answer is yes, then you are lucky and undoubtedly in the minority. For the rest of us that answered no, we are not alone. Statistics show that the average woman would pay more than £10,000 to correct a part of her body she believes falls below standard.

I’ll provide you with a case study. Rumour has it that I have a nose like Pinocchio (Imagine that?). Would I like to have it changed? Truthfully, Yes. As much as I would love to claim that it makes me unique and special (and all those other things your mum tells you to make you feel better) I am no different from the woman next door who would pay £5,000 to enhance her physical appearance. The question however, isn’t how much we would pay but why we are willing to pay so much for corrective surgery. Does this have anything to do with the fashion industry? My answer would be an indecisive maybe. One must admit that there are not a lot of size 12 models with Pinocchio sized noses walking on the runway. I definitely have never been approached to do so much as a university modeling gig (she laughs at the possibility). The sad truth is that none of us will ever reach perfection. Why then do we obsess over these things I ask again? If we are not going under the knife we are going on fad diets like the crunchy nut ‘get slimmer in two weeks challenge’ (of which I am a guilty party). I am adamant in my refusal of the theory that women enhance themselves to attract the “male specie” (that is a topic for another day). Why then do independent (big up to Neyo for acknowledging this), self- actualised , professional women of great strength and caliber subject themselves to the rules laid out by the media, fashion gurus and the likes? I believe the answer lies in our newly discovered need for self actualization at any cost.

As convenient as it is to blame the fashion industry for our various insecurities I believe the problem runs deeper. The 21 st century woman, in her bid to be super woman has forgotten the important things in life*. We are so pre occupied with success and our appearance we have lost the very thing that characterizes us as women. We no longer have a love for our ultra feminine curves. We have lost the awareness that we are beautiful the way we are. We have failed to realize that we do not need Gucci to tell us how to be perfect. We do not need Trinny and Susannah to tell us that we do not dress appropriately. We definitely do not need a man to teach us how to look and feel good naked (I still maintain that Gok IS a fashion genius). We were all born with this ability individually. We only need to channel our inner goddesses. Unfortunately in an age where feminism and independence are associated with semi perfection , one can argue that we are left with only two options: to fix and be accepted or not fix and face the unyielding consequences.

If we all get so consumed with our externalities, who is going to be the role model to our children? Who will teach them to judge people by who they are and not what they look like or are? Who will instill in the younger generation the ideals our mothers tried to instill in us? The answers reside with you.

Yours always,

Chinelo Awa

*I am aware that these assumptions do not apply to every woman.