an excerpt from “An open letter to the woman who wrote ‘11 Qualities of the Perfect Woman’”
“Now, I know you’re just reporting on some studies. This is what the dudes put on their wish lists. That’s totally fine. In case it isn’t clear, I am not addressing what men ‘should’ or ‘shouldn’t’ find attractive. I guess I’m just wondering if, as women, we can all start pushing back against this shit a little. A good start would be not printing it up and legitimizing it in a national magazine with zero critical analysis or raised eyebrows or sarcasm. At what point do we start to have some social responsibility to one another?
Think, for one second, about the way that affects the world and the consequences it holds for actual people. Think about a short, chubby 14-year-old girl reading that. Maybe she has small feet but big hips. Maybe her mom tells her she’s fat every day. Maybe she’s disabled. Maybe she doesn’t have feet (the smallest feet of all! Loophole!). Maybe she’s got a great sense of humor and wants to be more than just a hollow sounding board for some dude’s shitty jokes. This hypothetical girl exists, she’s everywhere, and she’s listening.
No woman escapes this culture. In all of recorded history, not even the most privileged, genetically ‘perfect’ woman has escaped feeling devalued as a person at some point or another. And you have to know this, woman who wrote ‘11 Qualities of the Perfect Woman.’ How could you not know?”
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The piece West mentions, for Men’s Health, is here—the terrifying infographic above is theirs, too.
When I went to see the story, I found an MH List about “6 Types of Women Every Man Should Date.” It offers a “roster of classic womanly personalities” (can you believe we’re all the way up to 6 different kinds?!) that will help men “evolve”—because, hey, that’s why we’re here.
Jebus.
g.
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FIND SOMETHING BETTER TO READ.
