This is Sam Pucket, from Nickelodeon's iCarly. This is what TV thinks a bullying tomboy with a chip on her shoulder who comes from a bad home looks like. Notice the curled hair, the lip gloss, the pink shirt. This is a 14 year old tomboy!
This is from Xena: Warrior Princess (retro, I know). These women are rogue warriors trying to make it in a man's world. Notice the cropped top on one, the bustier with boob-centric ornamentation on the other, and the mini skirts on both. You can't see it really well here, but both have extensive eye make up, which they applied every day back in 500BC. Because when you're waging war and on your guard against constant attack, you have to have eye liner and a push up bra. No really.
I have always hated this, and apparently I'm the only one who notices it. Strong women, women who don't go for the frail=beautiful notion of femininity, always end up somehow looking like they put every thought in their head into impressing men. The tough FBI agent, the hardened cop, the CEO who clawed her way to the top; in movies or TV they all look sexy as hell. Because above all else, women have to cater to men's ideals. What does it say to young girls when Lara Croft has to look like a porno Barbie? What does it tell them when they look around the media and even the non-superficial role models have to fit the superficial criteria? Everyone important has sex appeal. If you want to matter, or carry any weight, in anything, you better turn men on. Men can be ugly, or even just average; women can't. They have to be thin, and beautiful, and extensively groomed. No skipping the blush for these workaholics. No flat shoes or sensible pants suits. No, it's long lean legs and underclothes made to accentuate. Remember, even in 500 BC, it was eyeliner and mini skirts.
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