Where We Really Stand

Written by Lilith DemHareIs

I was watching one of those day talk shows (ah, the joys of being unemployed ) the other day, and it makes me really sick to realize how low humans can sink.

The subject of the show was women who thought they were so hot they could get anything they wanted, especially from men. Their mothers and sisters were on there as well, complaining about the attitudes of these women. (Strangely enough, none of the others were friends. In fact, one of them remarked that her ego-besotted sister didn't have any friends anymore. I'm not shocked.)

Anyhow, the most disgusting thing about these women was their statements. “I’m hot, and you're not. You're just jealous because I'm pretty and you’re not." That bothered me. I'm not ugly (proof available upon request), nor was I in the studio audience. I was offended just the same. Who were these women to come on this show, and tell the rest of us that we were ugly, that we were jealous, and that all we wanted in life was to be like themselves?

It's one thing to recognize that you are a beauty. But it is completely another to say that you're THE standard for beauty, and everyone else pales in comparison.

Truth is, these women were not beautiful at all. In fact, they weren’t even pretty. They all were dressed like sluts--literally. They all wore short-short skirts and no nylons. That is the height of tacky. Whores don't wear nylons because they just can't last the night. They all had these ugly chunky shoes--you know the ones. They're popular right now, though I don't know why. They make feet look awkward. There is no grace or style to them. One chick's makeup could have rivaled Tammy Faye’s. She was a sallow girl, at best, and she insisted on wearing winter colours. Sicko! She looked like a Goth with the flu. She would have looked better with some warmer colours, and not so much makeup. A warm red lipstick would have done her better. Maybe soften the lines of her hair with a bit of body, stick her in a pumpkin-coloured turtleneck sweater, and she could look as good as she claims.

The worst part of the show was that these women were users. They'd use their looks to charm men into buying things for them. Then, when they were finished with the man, or had no more use for him, they'd dump him. And they admitted it freely. They openly claimed that men were there for their pleasure, and to buy them things. They didn't see men as sentient beings. They saw them as slaves, or machines.

These women were used to getting their way. They had the rudest manners. They kept interrupting the host, and the studio audience. Nobody but them could get a word in edgewise. It eventually got so bad that two of them were literally screaming at each other, and would have torn each other’s hair out, if security hadn't pulled them apart. They kept screaming "You're just jealous! You can't handle it."

I may not be an oil painting, but I was so ready to stand up, screaming, “Oh yeah? If you think you're so hot, let's you and me go out for an hour and see who can have the most money stuffed down their bra!!"(Only one was wearing a bra, though.) Chances are, I could do it too. After all, I've belly-danced before. I know how to capture a man’s attention, and make him feel like he's somebody. But if I was there, I probably wouldn't have issued the challenge. Perhaps I'm afraid I’d lose.

And then, I realized where these women really stood. They were so concerned not so much with their own beauty, but the putting down of others. I realized that they were too busy making sure everybody "knew their place," and would not challenge the pecking order. They've got to keep it that way. For maybe someday, someone will stand up, and point out what hideous beasts these women truly are, and everyone else will believe them, and the women will realize that they don't have any power after all, and their lives will be over.

Not that that changes anything. I still want to beat in the faces of these women, not so much because they're "hotter" [sic] than me, but because their attitude towards other women very much like myself is insulting.

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