Oberlin College beauty standards questioned

Women's Studies class organizes forum

In a forum designed to initiate discussion about unspoken beauty standards at Oberlin, a group composed almost exclusively of women talked for more than an hour-and-a-half Monday night about the standards for physical appearance at Oberlin.

"I want to talk about Wilder Bowl in the springtime," one participant said. "Can anyone say meat market? … It is the epitome of what is unsaid at Oberlin."

Students who attended the forum on Monday dealt with issues such as the double standard students felt to be both liberal and open-minded as well as beautiful, the differences in standards at the Conservatory and the College, difficulties in talking about beauty standards and the process of socialization students go through as it relates to their beauty image.

The group was organized by members of an introductory women's studies class as part of an out-of-class project. Other groups in the same class are exploring unspoken issues at Oberlin through activities such as film discussions and distributing notebooks that urge students to write about unspoken norms at Oberlin. These notebooks, entitled "Are You Bold Enough," are distributed in various locations on campus including library bathrooms.

Organizers of the forum opened the discussion with questions of whether Oberlin succumbs to the beauty standards of the rest of the nation, and if the college doesn't, does it create standards of its own.

A participant spoke about the doubly harmful effects of being concerned about her body and being in a liberal community like Oberlin. She said that she is hard on herself on one hand because she doesn't look like models on television and in magazines, but also hard on herself for worrying about not looking like them.

"At Oberlin, females are expected to be strong and assertive," another participant said. She said that this can result in discomfort when women don't fit that mold.

Some women expressed a discomfort with attitudes towards traditional beauty and cosmetics at Oberlin. "I feel like I can't go to the bathroom and put on eyeliner because someone might see me," a student said. Other participants agreed that they felt bad when they wore make-up or sought traditional beauty ideals.

Another issue students brought up was the tendency of Oberlin students to homogenize, and the particular "Oberlinization" of first-year students.

The one male participant said that he noticed men being most interested each year in the first-years because, he thought, they had not yet changed to fit the Oberlin beauty standards. He said that he had heard many men during his years at Oberlin say there were no beautiful women at Oberlin.

A first-year student countered this. "When I came to Oberlin, I was astounded at how many people here are beautiful," she said. The same student said she had also been surprised by the "meat market" in Wilder Bowl a participant had spoken about. "But the little girls with perky boobs aren't the only ones wearing the little tank tops. I think it's great these voluptuous women wear them too."

One student raised concerns that beauty standards are more restrictive in the Conservatory. "You're not supposed to be a woman with a strong mind in the Con," she said. "You have to get up in front of old white men who might give you a job."

The group also discussed the differences in beauty standards in the Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual community. One participant said that she thought there were extremely high standards in the gay male community.

"The queer women's community is supposed to be accepting, but it isn't really," one woman said. She said that within the lesbian community is a perceived acceptance of different body types, but that, just like other communities, it has standards, too.

Devon Powers, a sophomore involved in organizing the forum, said that she was pleased with the discussion. She said that the discussion went in some directions she did not expect, but that the sheer length and depth of the discussion revealed that this is an issue students Oberlin are concerned with.

Powers also said that the underlying dynamics in the discussion, and the issues that were not fully discussed, just prove that "so much goes on unsaid."