Chic in China

 In this day and age many women have the freedom and luxury to decide what they wish to do with their life, what job they want, if they want to get married, if they rather have a career over children or if they maybe wish to have it all. Women strive higher and won’t settle for just anything. But compared to men, who also wish to rise higher and make more money, the way that they look while doing so is not as important as it is for women. Because the backlash that women faces when it comes to reaching higher and becoming some kind of superwoman is that we start to spread ourselves very thin, which makes it impossible to do everything and that, in its turn, gives us the feeling of not being good enough.

 

A big culprit in us feeling like we are inadequate is social media. We see these beautiful, perfectly put together, successful women, and we wonder “how do they do it?” How do they manage to live a life where they work more than 8 hours a day, have time for girlfriends and boyfriends, keep their bodies in perfect shape as well as looking stylish and have flawless hair and makeup? I get up at 6am and get back home after 7pm and try to squeeze in a 30 minutes workout before I tumble into bed, and it is freaking exhausting! Not that I look like a complete mess at work, but honestly, there is some room for improvement, I just don't have the energy for it.

 

A perfect example of someone who appears to have the superwoman quality is Olivia Palermo. Her outfits are always on point; striking a perfect balancer between business and chic. Not to mention her amazing physique, hair, makeup and, of course, a successful career in fashion. From outside looking in she is the embodiment of the modern superwoman; fashionable, beautiful and successful.  

 

What is her secret? How does she do it? Of course it is easier if you have proper foundation to begin with; having good genes and a full bank account. The life of a superwoman, or aspiring superwoman, is much simpler if there is a proper amount of money that can be used on various things like beauty, fashion, transportation, home service and fitness. If you take out those time-consuming and boring, but necessary, things it is much easier to reach the image of superwoman.

 

But what about the rest of us? We who strive to be a superwoman but that doesn't have the advantage to give us a head start, that has to start from square one, or even starting out with trying to find square one. How do we live up to the ideal, how can we become a superwoman? I think that before we head out on any journey we need to accept that what we see might not always be the truth, that nobody is 100% perfect, that being a superwoman is to a big part merely a facade. Just by changing your look to that of a superwoman two things can happen; people start believing that you might actually be a superwoman and, most importantly, you yourself will feel like you are one. Look at it like method acting; you take on the role of superwoman in looks, but as time goes one your old self will merge together with your new look.

 

But as with many big undertakings; the hard part is not starting out, it is keeping it up. During the weekend you might have had the time to get your nails done, cut your hair, get a wax, fix your brows and pick out an outfit and some nice new undies for the next day. So when Monday comes a long you feel tip top and ready to take on the world. But as the days tick by and we are approaching Thursday your nail have chipped, your hair is up in a messy bun because there wasn't time to wash it this morning, you are wearing your washed out cotton panties because there was no time for laundry and your threw on the first thing you found this morning, jeans and a t-shirt, because you were too tired to come up with something more amazing. It is really hard to keep it up, it takes a lot of effort, and sometimes there are more important things that has to take up our time, especially when there is no sweet little maid at home to cook, clean and do laundry for us.

 

But yes, it is unfair how important it is for women to strike a balance between work, home and looks to be considered successful, to be a superwoman. Just look at the media; they praise famous women for how fast they manage to slim down after childbirth and ridicule the ones that don’t. And I think it was Ben Affleck who said that when he and his wife, actress Jennifer Garner, was being interview about a movie they done one of the first questions she got was how she manage to balance work and staying in shape with being a mom, while Ben never even once were questioned about working and being a father.

 

It is not easy becoming, and more importantly, being a superwoman. And all in all, is it actually worth the effort? Maybe. But one thing is for sure; it will take hard work, discipline and sacrifice. Can you handle that?