Super Power

At a young age, girls are flooded with words describing physical characteristics. Pretty, beautiful and gorgeous would be thrown at all angles, imprinting onto growing minds. Relatives, parents, strangers and friends say, “What a beautiful little girl,” and they meant it.



I knew I was pretty when boys gave me their lunch and asked to marry them in primary school. I knew I was pretty when I was picked for the lead, even though I could not sing for the life of me. I knew I was pretty when my male teachers let me hand my assignments in three months late. Every day I am reminded of beauty when strange men advance on me, like my photos and give me free, underserving attention. It’s hard to escape from something that is showcased and written on your face.

People assume being attractive is a good thing and that girls who are pretty are lucky and have it easy. That is a lie. Objectification, under any circumstances is ugly. It pollutes a little girl’s soul to hear the things that random men on the streets want to do to her, believing they have the right to, because she is a female with a body they like. To them, her body is not hers. It is theirs. From experience, I have learnt that being pretty is not easy or lucky. Instead, I learnt that I am not my body.

When men shout out on the streets at me, they’re not shouting for me. They’re shouting for the mask I’m wearing. When they flirt with me, undressing me with their eyes, they’re talking to their fantasy. I wear the mask of a pretty girl. I wear her face, her clothes, her makeup, but I am not her. I am not pretty. I am me and I hate being pretty.

Unfortunately, as young girls, society wires our heads to want to be pretty and to love pretty.

When someone beautiful passes you in the street, you can’t help but stare. Many people can’t help it, but at least I refrain myself from screaming across the street. At least I don’t intrudingly put my hand on her upper thigh or attempt to squeeze her tits. Beautiful people attract attention and in a society tailored to suit men, being pretty is the biggest and sometimes only advantage we have. Being pretty sometimes gives us the edge, even if it means suffering from the lecherous hands and wandering eyes. In short, other people think being attractive is a super power.

People say being beautiful has its advantages, but not in a way that you would expect. You see, when you’re pretty, people rarely expect anything more from you. If you’re a beautiful woman, you don’t have a brain, heart or personality, which serves as great use when you want to avoid acting like a real person. Wear the pretty girl mask and all is forgiven and forgotten. The conventions of beauty are handed to us and we are the ones who have the right to choose whether we want to accept these parts or not, or so they say.

If being beautiful is a super power, I would rather be powerless.