Questions for you:
How do you see yourself in the mirror when you look into it?
Depends on the time of the month
If my skin is fairly clear (at the moment, it's shot to shit), my hair is reasonably tame, and I look awake, I think I'm gorgeous! But if I look blotchy, my hair is dead or froofy, and I look tired, I tend to think, "Hun, you could use a nap, a blow-out, and a facial."
Why do you think the bar is set so incredibly high for women?
Media. It really has nothing to do with men. Most men, if they love us, love us the way we are. They don't want us to be Claudia Schiffer.
And can women really live up to this? (some women seem too and they seem so successful)
Oh, sure. But it takes far more effort than I'm willing to exert on behalf of my appearance. My appearance is tertiary when compared to my intelligence and personality. I'd rather put those first. I'm really not willing to spend constant hours in the bathroom applying make-up, and I'm really super unwilling to spend countless hours at the gym trying to get the "perfect" body. It is, to me, a waste of time.
Is anyone here actually living up to this image of the in control and perfectly styled professional women? (i'd like to know how! )
Shit, no. Sure, I work in an office, but I work graveyard (ugh) and the job I do requires childcare. Do you think I want baby spitup on my nice shirts? No thanks. I usually settle for comfy jeans and a t-shirt versus attempting to look professional. Perhaps if I worked day shift, that would be different, but I highly doubt it, given the childcare aspect of the work I do. However, when I do practicum work in classrooms, I do put extra effort into appearing professional, because for someone my age high school students equate a professional look with adulthood. If I showed up in my jeans and a t-shirt for a student teaching job, I wouldn't be taken seriously as an authority figure. So there professionalism of the highest order is a must.
How many of you are generally happy with the way you are present yourself phsyically, professionally?
Yes. I was actually thinking about this today because my SO and I were out with some friends, and while we were out an acquaintance of his came up to our group. Now, this girl is your perfect example of the skinny blonde bimbo type who's perfectly put together right down to her manicured toenails. For a minute I felt slightly inferior but then I found out she pays guys to do her homework for her (which offends me). Then I was thinking how much credit card debt she must be in to maintain such a look (or else highly dependent on her parents). I wasn't jealous of her by any means, mostly because my SO is soooo not into that kind of look (when I get dressed up/wear make-up he whines because "it looks unnatural"), and honestly, I know I clean up well--I just choose not to. So yes, I am happy with how I present myself to the world, in all the ways I choose to do so.
Now, if only I could get my skin to cooperate...my hair is doing quite nicely today...but given the time of month, I'm getting ready to give up on the skin front...