She Needs a Makeover!
In the classic rags-to-riches story written by Brothers Grimm, a young girl whose life was made miserable by her step-mother and stepsisters suddenly takes a turn after she attends a ball and makes a connection with the handsome prince. Before the fancy ball, Cinderella only was only able to wear an “old grey smock”, which is shown in the photo on the left from Disney’s adaptation of the fairy tale. She was also forced to do the dirty work around the house, causing her to constantly be filthy. The sole reason why the stepmother would not allow Cinderella to attend the ball is that she did not have anything nice to wear. She ends up receiving three beautiful dresses and slippers from a white bird in a tree she grew and is able to go to the festivities. Cinderella’s iconic blue dress from the Disney film is shown in the photo on the right. Cinderella’s makeover emphasizes the fact that she could only be accepted if she had an adequate physical appearance.
In the movie “Grease”, Sandy transfers to a high school attended by Danny Zuko, a boy she met during summer vacation. After realizing his personality and vibe when around his friends, and acknowledging that things are not the same between her and Danny in their school setting as they were on vacation, Sandy’s friends offer to help give her a makeover in order to impress Danny and win his heart. They give her cigarettes to try and even attempt to pierce her ears, which results in Sandy fainting at the sight of the needle going through her earlobe. Sandy’s character transforms from a modest-looking high school student with clean-cut hair and a long skirt to a jaw-dropping beauty with tight leather pants, curly hair, high heels, and bright red lipstick. Her transformation is so drastic that Danny does not even recognize her at first sight. Again, we see a female character who feels the need to change her physical appearance in order to be accepted and noticed by a person of interest.
Caster Semenya is a South African olympic track athlete. Semenya is biologically female, and also identifies as female. But, she has exceptionally high levels of testosterone in her body, giving her an advantage in her races. This is a very controversial topic because some believe that it would be unfair for her to be allowed to compete against other women, while others argue that she should be able to run with the people she identifies with. If Semenya were to compete against other men, she would be at a major disadvantage, because she does not have as much testosterone as male athletes. People that believe she should not be able to compete with women take her appearance into consideration. Semenya is a strong-built athlete with short hair, making her look like what society considers to be a man. In response to this, a magazine published Semenya on the cover with a complete makeover in order to make her appear more feminine. She has her hair, makeup, and nails done, and also is wearing a nice outfit with elegant jewelry to make her look like what society considers to be a woman. It is almost as though they are trying to fit her into a category by changing her physical characteristics so that she is accepted by the athletic community as the woman she is.
