When taking a look at our society, it is common that women spend much more time getting ready in the morning than men. This also goes for women being highly more concerned about appearance and being accepted by the opposite gender. From my own personal experiences, I can shamefully say that I have been slightly late to school a few times whether “I changed my outfit 3 times 15 minutes before school” or “I wasn’t wearing enough makeup,” and the biggest one, “My legs weren’t shaved.” But why do girls have to even feel the need to look a certain way in the first place?

A nation wide statistic states that In a female’s lifetime, the average woman will spend $15,000 on makeup. According to a study recently published on Mint.com, the average woman will shell out $3,770 on mascara, $2,750 on eyeshadow and $1,780 on lipstick in her lifetime.

Every day I ask myself, “Why should I care so much about what I look like?” It’s very common now a days to go up to a girl and ask them what they don’t like about themselves and they can give you a list of random flaws in return. I believe a major influence on teenage girls in today’s culture is the media. If you take a look on the cover of magazines such as Vogue, you see the typical skinny, long hair, model with minimal clothing.

In my opinion, these women all look similar. It seems as if the magazines all have the same goal of sending a message to the viewers telling them that is what they are supposed to look up to and be like. The businesses that place these women on the covers expect the public to idolize these Barbie doll, unrealistic faces.

On the other hand, Magazines like Seventeen recruit more realistic-looking teenage girls to include in their articles, while being well aware that most of their readers are teenage girls. In addition, a new trend for magazines and clothing stores is to use models that don’t look like they haven’t eaten in a few weeks. Instead, they are claiming to aim for a more healthy and non-photoshopped look. If you want get more information on these new image campaigns, check out this article.

After coming to the realization of having plenty of unnecessary stress all leading up to the concern of appearance…  in the end, what is more important? How you dressed last week or what you were able to accomplish? You decide.