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| Georgia May Jagger's quirky gap-toothed look caused quite a stir in recent Rimmel London advert. |
As a proud fellow gap-toothed lass, I instantly leapt to Jagger's defence. We live in a time when pink-haired model, Charlotte Free, is the face of another leading makeup brand (Maybelline), when it's cool to be a little bit edgy, when high street brands like Topshop are embracing studs and biker boots, yet Jagger is still stigmatised for her awkward pout. Of course this harsh criticism of women's facial features is in no way a new issue. It's something we face in every workplace, on the cover of magazines, in popular T.V. sitcoms, such as Family Guy. Every young woman in the public eye faces scrutiny for her physical appearance, and this is a problem that won't be rectified overnight.
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| Pink-haired model Charlotte Free's collection for Forever 21 combines vintage glamour with edgy bad girl. |
I simply typed 'Sarah Jessica Parker' into the Tumblr search box and scrolled down a few posts in order to find this meme:
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| Actress Sarah Jessica Parker has received constant criticism for her long face since her SATC days. |
The worst part is that it's not only men making these jokes, but women too. I can't be the only one who regularly finds comments and memes like those above, on my Facebook feed, from smart, educated women who I honestly thought had the sense not to indulge in woman-bashing. Often the ones who bite the most are those who regularly complain about facing stigmatism for their looks.
Of course it's acceptable not to find someone attractive, and it's acceptable to say so. You are of course entitled to your own opinion on what is beautiful, but reducing these women to the sum of their parts demeans what they are as a whole.
The situation isn't completely dire, however. This generation of women is not without its own problems, namely pressure to be thin, blonde, tanned and youthful, but there was a time when a woman with less than perfect straight white teeth wouldn't even be considered for a television makeup advertisement, a time when piercings and tattoos were completely taboo, and a time when women didn't have the resources or encouragement to speak out about this subject.
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| A 1950s makeup advert featuring a conventionally attractive model. |
I, for one, intend to speak out about this subject a whole lot more, and I shall continue to flaunt my gap teeth and overenthusiastically sized nose. With blogs like this one cropping up on the web, I know I'm not alone.
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| My own quirky pout |
If all else fails, I shall fall back on this piece of wisdom:
'Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and it may be necessary from time to time to give a stupid or misinformed beholder a black eye.'
- Miss Piggy
