"[Men] should like me just as I am, but I am a child of Cosmopolitan culture, have been traumatized by supermodels and know that neither my personality nor my body is up to it if left to its own devices; I can't take the pressure," states Bridget Jones (p. 52). Unfortunately, just like her, many women feel the same way. Our culture is too obsessed with our outward appearance, which causes many women to get sucked into thinking they have to be replicas of Barbie dolls just to be able to achieve anything in life. This is what causes so many young girls to have self-esteem issues that, later on in life, build up to greater problems. Both Bridget Jones and most other women in America, have their lives shaped by the way their bodies are managed and are also taught by cultural images that the body should be the most important part of their definition.
Bridget Maniaci and Olive Talique
Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason
Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason (film)Bridget's life is more or less controlled by her body and outer appearance than anything else. A lot of the time she thinks of herself as not being good enough and even being "repulsive," and is continually wanting to improve her appearance. For example, she finds herself "constantly scanning [her] face in mirror for wrinkles and frantically reading Hello!, checking out everyone's age in desperate search for role models," because she is scared she will become old, fat, and useless one day (p. 68). She is also obsessed with thinking she has "thick, age-hardened, sagging flesh," which makes her contemplate on having a face-lift to make her appear younger and more appealing towards men, but since it's too costly she opts for "spending [even] more time on her appearance by putting concealer under her eyes, blusher on cheeks, and defining any fading features"...