The Consequences of Choice

I feel that out of all of the poster projects the two that were most closely related, with the possible exception of Addiction and Prison, were Cosmetic Surgery and Drug Enhancement in Sports and Industry. Both involved people's decisions to use external means in an attempt to better themselves. The main difference is that one is generally done by women, and the other men. I feel that this fact says much about gender roles and stereotypes that very much continue to influence society.

First, are the women. Since the 1980s, there has been a sort of paradox regarding how women are expected to behave and look. In the business place we are expected to be unemotional and driven, as men have been molded to behave for ages. If not, we are deemed soft and unfit for any sort of position of power. At the same time, however, it is assumed that we will look flawless and will be the emotional foundations of our families and, often, our work places. No woman could live up to all of the pressures put upon us, largely due to the dichotomous nature of all that is expected. The goal only becomes more and more unattainable, yet society never allows us to stop reaching for it. With this, it is no surprise just how many women seek cosmetic surgery today. Society expects us to be perfect, both in form and action. The sad fact of the matter is that a woman who is considered unattractive will have to work much harder than a pretty one, only because her outward appearance is used as an indicator on how good of a worker she is.

The challenge that faces men in today's society is quite different, though no less formidable. Rather than the flawless perfection expected in women, men are taught that they must be the best. And if they are the best, to do better than they did before. No one cared how Mark McGwire looked when he was playing baseball. Nor was he expected to be particularly personable on or off the field. What was expected of him was that he never stopped pushing himself to be the best player of the game, and after he broke the record for the most single-season homeruns he was expected to do even better the next year. In sports, as well as in other areas, the line for men has been pushed past the realm of possibility, at least without some sort of external aid. And any man who does not strive to push that line just a bit further is considered weak, lazy or uncaring about what he does. Much of masculinity is decided by how determined the man is to exceeding those who've come before him and by whether or not he is successful.

The choice of women to seek cosmetic surgery and of men to use steroids or other performance enhancers are the consequences of today's society. Not only because of the impossible expectations put on both genders, but also because, as Americans, when we want something, we want it now, nevermind the consequences later. We want the quick fix despite how we look when we're older or the legal trouble we may get into down the road. Our culture tells that we be perfect or push ourselves further than anyone else now, and that is something that can be very difficult to ignore.