My Body is My Own Business

Though we have a great degree of freedom when it comes to our appearance and clothing when compared to Persian women, we have many societal pressures and judgements to face. These days, the current definition of beauty involves being thin, wearing designer clothes, with manicured nails perfectly coiffed hair, and so on. I'm not saying I agree or this is universally true but this is the definition of beauty as portrayed by the media as the desired standard in our culture. It takes so much maintenance in order to keep up with this appearance.
During my teaching internship I had the students in my English class read a short essay from their textbook entitled "My Body is My Own Business". In the essay a Persian woman who had been living in the States for a few years gave reasons why she continued to wear her Hejab though she was not "required" to do so. Her reasoning was that while she is wearing it she can escape the pressures that society places on women and their appearance. She does not have to worry about wearing make-up or be concerned about her body, and so on. This is an interesting perspective.
I think that as women we have to be very cautious about how the media can make us feel about ourselves. I don't think any woman can say that they haven't felt a little bit inadequate when it comes to their appearance. I guess we all need to find a balance between feeling good about ourselves without feeling we have to conform to what society tells us we should look like.