The contemporary world is uncertain and often out of our control. Influencers frequently appear on our feed with seemingly perfectly put together lives and bodies. This elite group appears equally focused on work or school while having weekend lives filled with partying and indulgence, but not too much indulgence because that’s unattractive. You must have a full skin care routine, and achieve cosmetic goals like “glass skin” that glows. You must wear makeup that doesn’t look like you’re wearing makeup, because too much looks “cakey” and while it may not be called trashy, it certainly isn’t “clean girl.”
You are in need of repair, monthly maintenance. And if you want to be an “it girl” you can’t have tattoos, because as Kim Kardashian famously said, “Honey, would you put a bumper sticker on a Bentley?” This unattainable level of upkeep is pitched to us as normal when it is anything but, and you are left to think that your body is the issue when you can’t reach the “norms” being set.
You want to be “demure” or “nonchalant,” you must be emotionally intelligent and a master of conversation, but your depth and opinions cannot reach beyond who should or shouldn’t be kicked off the next episode of Love Island.
You are a product; if you do not maintain yourself and your image by buying and buying, your demand and value go down as an asset. Since the day your first body hair grows in, you are damaged goods; you are broken.
Brands know about this eager search you’ve been on your entire life. They’ve watched you stand in the mirror and pick apart your appearance each time you become aware of a new ugly you didn’t know you had. They’ve known about it since your first zit summited. They’ve known about it since foundation was radioactive to give your skin that Hollywood glow. They seemingly nurture you into what you were simply always meant to be as a woman: a vanity of products.
Since clearly there’s nothing they can do to stop the will of earth and mankind, they’ll provide you with the tools to scrape by scathing standards.
Because aren’t they giving you the key to beauty and desirability? To “pretty privilege?” A luxurious life of beauty and youth beyond what you’ve ever known?
Forget mother nature; the industry is your guide to womanhood.
With the birth of the internet and younger and younger audiences having access to phones, the wait is over. Companies no longer have to patiently prowl from the shadows until high school to begin capitalizing on your uglies. They will point out your faults, guilt you into fixing them, and encourage you to blossom sooner than ever before.
It’s time to scrape the princess stickers off of your bedframe; it’s time to trade in your plastic heels for the next hot sneaker. You are already wasting the clock every day you spend surrounded by saturated colors and childish things. You need to start your mature youthful life now because once you run out, the cycle repeats trying to force you into reverse. Exiting youth is life’s ultimate cruelty, but if you want the glass slipper to fit forever, you’ll have to lose a few toes.
