According to the New York Times, men feel happier than women and the gap is growing. According to some surveys, women were slightly happier than men in the 1970's, but today guys have switched with gals.
Why? Everyone has a different reason. Here's one I like:
When Ms. Stevenson and I were talking last week about possible explanations, she mentioned her “hottie theory.” It’s based on an April article in this newspaper by Sara Rimer, about a group of incredibly impressive teenage girls in Newton, Mass [incidentally, the high school I went to - Jason]. The girls were getting better grades than the boys, playing varsity sports, helping to run the student government and doing community service. Yet one girl who had gotten a perfect 2,400 on her college entrance exams noted that she and her friends still felt pressure to be “effortlessly hot.”
I feel like that same reasoning might work at Stanford. I know I don't feel a particular need to keep my room clean, or wear nice clothes (although for the most part I do anyway). Girls at Stanford - trying to achieve academically AND look hot. No wonder they're feeling down.
Am I totally off on this? Tell me in the comments.
Comments (7)
I couldn't agree with you more. To solve this problem, we should all stop showering, doing our homework, and wearing clothes altogether.
Posted by Naked Hippie | September 26, 2007 12:45 PM
Posted on September 26, 2007 12:45
The look of most women on campus certainly is "effortless". Sweatpants, unkempt hair and no makeup isn't screaming "I'm stressed over my looks" to me...
Posted by Sketchy Grad Student | September 26, 2007 2:17 PM
Posted on September 26, 2007 14:17
Hi Jason,
I would agree with your observations. The feminist revolution has been great in a lot of ways... but it's also created a double standard for women that's almost impossible to defeat. Women are not only expected to be as smart and academically aggressive as their male counterparts, but they're still expected to be feminine, beautiful, and charming.
I feel women who are considered "nerdy" and unkempt are more frowned upon than men who are "nerdy" and unkempt.
Posted by S | September 28, 2007 5:31 PM
Posted on September 28, 2007 17:31
Wow. I don't even where to begin. The girls at SU have taken "effortless" to mean unkept, unclean, unfriendly, and unattractive. I almost feel bad posting such an opinion, but I feel if even one girl that reads this puts on a little makeup before her 9am chemistry class or decides to ditch the sweats for her IHUM section, it's all worth it.
Posted by Squals | October 9, 2007 10:26 PM
Posted on October 9, 2007 22:26
Hmm, I've lost count of the number of times I've rolled into class unshowered after a long night of problem setting, wearing the same jeans as the day before, or the times I've gone straight from my 7:30am gym class to my 9am engineering class, still sweating from the workout. Sure, there's a high standard out there, but I couldn't give a flying f*ck. I'm here for my brains, not my body.
Posted by girlgeek | October 20, 2007 1:25 AM
Posted on October 20, 2007 01:25
Squals - I'll wear make up to class when you do. And you clearly never go out if you think Stanford women don't care about their looks. I'm more taken aback when students put a ton of effort into their appearance just for class.
Posted by Really? | October 31, 2007 12:26 PM
Posted on October 31, 2007 12:26
Squals - I'll wear make up to class when you do. And you clearly never go out if you think Stanford women don't care about their looks. I'm more taken aback when students put a ton of effort into their appearance just for class.
Posted by Really? | October 31, 2007 12:28 PM
Posted on October 31, 2007 12:28