Do I Need Plastic Surgery, Sir?

A question, most men would be thrilled and confident to answer, under a system's roof that has been nurturing generations of entitled men who believe that their personal opinions on how a woman should behave, think, or look like is widely acknowledged man right, earned by just being born a man.

It is an unconsciously rooted belief, that can be found, through strangers' random talk in the street, at family gatherings, intimate conversations, and even at formal public events. However, this practice of entitlement can be more evident in the digital realm, where you can find an enormous amount of comments, at any time or context, on social media regarding why should not a particular female singer get plastic surgery, or how should a female actress dress like.

Actually what really triggered me to write about this, right now, is not the fact that I've been normalized with the society's double standard when it comes to gender, and suddenly I have this moment of social awakening, but the fact that I was enjoying listening to a young female emerging singer, who I am sure, enjoying her practice, and out of sudden, I read this comment, which by the way is the top comment by likes, men gang, explaining why this young lady SHOULD NOT get plastic surgeries, as a compliment of course, "Because she is SO BEAUTIFUL, AND HAS A GLIMPSE OF CHILDISH INNOCENCE".

From their point of view, within their version of reality, that patriarchal social practices significantly shaped, I am insane, and overreacting. That man actually was being nice, complementing her "natural beauty", but from my personal point of view, and within my version of reality: I had one single question popping up immediately when I read that comment, besides, of course, my rising level of accumulated anger: Why on earth would someone start a conversation about someone else's appearance, if not asked, or even implied, in literally no relevant context? Because again, the main topic, I believe, to discuss was the singer's musical performance, not a casual photo of her face in black and white. Ironically, these comments get the most likes, dismissing the fact that they are irrelevant, especially coming from men, who projecting their beauty standards in the form of compliments.

Later on, I was questioning how the same men would react if they found a video of that singer, considering their generous feedback, on her appearance, on one single photo of her face. More extremely, how would they react if the same singer asked them directly: "Do I need plastic surgery, sir?". Would they eventually realize the irrelevance of that discussion, or would they keep practicing their "natural rights" as men?

12/02/2024