While trying to figure out what to bitch about next, I ran through a list of options, dismissing them all as trite or overdone. Finally I opened a bottle of wine and decided to work on cleaning out my inbox. In so doing, I ran across an e-mail a student sent me over the summer. As I clicked on the link, I was instantly thrust back into the same frustrated mindset I experienced when I first looked at it and Bam! I had my next blog entry. (Thanks Megan!)
One of the things that is most frustrating about body dissatisfaction is the fact that the female body is viewed as a social body. A body openly displayed for any and all to ogle, critique, and openly comment on. Equally frustrating is that the female body is rarely viewed as a whole body, but instead is reduced to parts -- boobs, ass, legs, feet, etc. Each part is sexualized with an ideal image associated with it. If you don't believe me or think I'm exaggerating, do a google search for Kim Kardashian's ass and see how many ridiculous entries come up. More than simply showing us picture after picture after picture of her "big bootie" you'll find numerous examples of people commenting on the size of her butt. Everyone seems to have an opinion and no one seems to agree on just what size is the right one -- for her or for the rest of us.
As frustrating as this may be, the idea of the female body as social body is not limited to adult bodies. We see the same things happening with young girls, ever younger. Even more disturbing is that we see an ever increasing range of products aimed at younger girls to help them achieve the look of ideal beauty, whatever that may be. All of which finally gets me back to the message from this summer.
A new company, Heelarious, is promoting a product aimed at baby girls. With a tagline of "her first high heels," Heelarious provides "Extremely funny soft shoes for babies 0-6 months designed to look like high heels." In other words, they're crib shoes with a high heel and come in a variety of designer-like colors including shiny pink, leopard and zebra prints. I'm still waiting to see the funny aspect of the shoes, as to me they are much more disturbing than humorous. Very disturbing. I can imagine a number of well-meaning people buying these things as way to dress your baby girl up, make her feel like a truly girly-girl.
Now, don't get me wrong, I have my own collection of high heel shoes and wear them quite often. However, I'm an adult woman making a conscious choice to privilege style over comfort or common sense. As a feminist I am well aware of the patriarchal and societal norms I am recreating each and every time I don a pair of stilettos. I do so in part as a way to reclaim high heels as more than just another fetish item or necessary component of women's appearance. No one tells me to wear these things or forced them on me when I was a mere baby of 0-6 months.
Putting high heels on a baby, even when they are soft shoes not designed to be walked on creates an entirely different situation. The baby girl sporting a pair of Heelarious shoes is thrust into the role of being a sexualized, female social body. (And this doesn't even begin to address the problem of pedophilia and how such babies would be viewed through that lens.) The baby girl wearing high heels receives early indoctrination into the dominant norms of femininity. A few years from now, I can imagine a three or four year old girl looking at her baby pictures and asking her parents for another pair of high heels and not understanding why if she could wear high heels in the crib she can't now. I fear that the geniuses behind Heelarious have opened a whole new possible market for kid-sized sexualized products.
We already have make-up, lingerie, and a whole host of other products aimed at the pre-school crowd, including tot-size thongs for the little girl who doesn't want to worry about panty lines. In the wake of such products, are tot-size leopard print high heels that much of a stretch? If we combine products like these with the myriad other beauty discourses and images that all women today must combat, what chance does a little girl have other than to grow up dissatisfied and frustrated? How are young girls ever going to accept that beauty comes in many sizes, shapes, forms, and colors? Or will they just be resigned to a life of constantly striving to achieve an ideal sexualized look that is impossible for the overwhelming majority of them?
I polled a few friends on their responses to Heelarious. I was shocked at the ambivalence most of them displayed. They mostly agreed that high heels for babies does present a problem, but their overall responses were much more hesitant. The general tone was that the shoes were kinda cute and since they only go up to 6 months, could they cause all that much harm? If this is the response from strong, feminist women I can only guess as to the more openly accepting responses from those who aren't familiar with beauty discourses, dominant norms, patriarchy, and the myriad other things operating to keep women in their place. If we let products like these fly under the radar without publicly denouncing them, then aren't we setting up a new standard of bitchin' bodies? A new standard that will demand bitchin' bodies of all women and girls, including the under six month old set. What's next? Build-a-Body Workshops in shopping malls where young girls can drop in for a quick nip and tuck or have a tummy tuck seventh birthday party for a few of their closest friends? (In case you think mall plastic surgery is all that far-fetched, see my January, 2008 blog.)
Maybe I'm just getting old, but I shudder to envision a world where Bitchin' Bodies includes Bitchin' Baby Bodies. It really is time to stop bitchin' about and at each other, and start bitchin' about the numerous injustices still openly exercised on the female body and women in general. It's time to stop letting others determine your destiny and take back what it means to be a woman -- or a young girl. It's time to stop feeding money into the billion dollar industry that is beauty products aimed at women and girl. And maybe, it's time to rethink our addiction to these things. As much as I love my high heels, I have to admit that I am now hesitant to don another pair. I think that as I finish my bottle of wine, I will revisit my shoe collection and finally rid of it of all those crazy uncomfortable shoes that, while they make my legs look long, end up killing my feet at the end of the day. The good news is that comfort shoe manufacturers are finally realizing there are many more options than black and brown leather. I recently purchased a pair of patent leather, leopard print Dansko clogs that I'll be rocking in lieu of my crazy high heels. Just say no to Bitchin' Babies!
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