Women share 10 things they do out of societal pressure and it's striking a chord with many

Sep 04, 2023

By: Abhiram Sajai

How societal pressure is influencing women's choices

People living in society will always be subjected to a certain amount of pressure formed by the entire community. In the case of women, societal pressure often ends up playing a crucial role in shaping their choices and behaviors in many intrusive ways. These ...

1. Shave

Shave. Don’t get me wrong, I mainly do it for me because it feels good. But ultimately it feels good because we’ve been told that hair on a woman is unattractive and gross. And sadly although I do it to feel more attractive for myself and no one else, it’s bad...

2. Acting dumb

Playing dumb. Some people really don’t like an intelligent woman. I have been told many nasty things in response to my simply being knowledgeable, engaging, and curious in conversation. Over time, I have caught myself pretending to not know what term someone h...

3. Forced friendliness

I act way friendlier than I want to. There's quite a bit that I let slide in conversation because it simply wouldn't be worth the energy to confront. I went from unattractive to moderately good-looking and as a result I've had to completely chan...

4. Using makeup

If I didn't feel like pretty privilege was real and my worth wasn't at least somewhat based on my appearance, I would happily give up doing makeup. I would still have a good skincare routine, but doing my makeup every day is exhausting. I'm good...

5. Adjusting clothes

I personally like wearing shorts, and sometimes I pull them up further if they're longer, but I always feel the need to push them down again whenever I'm near others. I mostly do so around men, but I also do it near women since I worry they'll j...

6. Pretending to not like sports

I love sports, but I always feel uncomfortable talking about them until I know people very well because most people don’t expect a woman to like sports. Back in college, I was in a sorority and at a frat house party. I didn’t know many people there... walked i...

7. Sticking to presentable hairstyles

I try to make sure my hair looks presentable by clipping it down and wearing a sun hat. It's curly and can get big, and I don't want the attention. My hair can get wild and crazy but I don't want people I don't know to come up and talk to m...

8. Using wigs

I lost my hair in my 20s. Been to many (many) doctors and all of them just shrugged and said male pattern baldness doesn’t just happen to men. I wear wigs. Wigs never look 100% like real hair, and unless you’re willing to spend a couple thousand, you’re st...

9. Weight loss

Lose weight. My family is mostly of Eastern Asian descent, so having the pressure to be as light as a feather while childless is everywhere. I'm by no means obese, but definitely curvier and heavier compared to say K-pop idols or the run-of-the-mill celeb...

10.  Being told to calm down

I feel like I have to tone down my excitement and passion for things. I tend to have strong feelings about specific subjects, and I will show my passion, but I almost always get told to calm down. I'm sure other people experience this as well regardless o...