By- Kalkidan Asmamaw
In the “Official Handbook for Womanhood: How to Be Appreciated 101,” there’s a golden rule: You better look the part! It doesn’t matter what your job is – be it an astronaut, a CEO, a የቤት እመቤት (housewife), or a supermodel – the first checkpoint is your appearance. You could be untangling Ethiopia’s telecom issues with one hand and saving malnourished babies with the other, but what’s going to grab attention? How you flaunt those curves. Because that’s the most crucial contribution of womanhood, right?
Every part of us is scrutinized: our eyes, eyebrows, nose, hair, lips, waist, hips, breasts, legs, even hands and feet. የአፍንጫችን ጸጉር ራሱ አይቀርም እኮ … አረ የት እንሂድ??? It’s as if we’re on the operating table, with society wearing a white coat, ready to dissect every nuance of our looks! It begins when we are in diapers and keeps going till we are six feet under. There is no break for us, no time off, not even when we have a bad day or even a baby. ቆንጆ ሆኖ መገኘት ነው፡፡ Being a female is a full-time job and You better look the part. So, if you don’t exactly fit into the beauty, standards, people around you will make sure that you don’t forget it. It can be as blatant as some guy catcalling you “UGLY”, or low-key as everyone pretending you’re invisible. And TikTok? Oh, GIRL. Make a video there, and I bet that the most comments will be about how you look. Reject a guy? Watch as he instantly targets your appearance for a hit below the emotional belt. “ድሮም ቆንጆ አይደለሽም” Do you have confidence and feel good about yourself? That’s when you anger society. “ማን ነኝ ነው ምትይው?” Sure, some might argue it’s about gender roles, and guys get judged on their bank balance or whatever. But come on, when was the last time you saw a TikTok comment like, “Hey dude, how much do you earn?” or “What do you do?” Exactly. Never. በባትሪ ራሱ ቢፈለግ አይገኝም፡፡ ታድለው ግን፡፡ Over my 27-year tenure on Earth, I’ve noticed that ‘pretty’ ladies often get VIP treatment while the ‘not-so-pretty’ ones tend to get the short end of the stick. And if you’re bold enough to speak up? Brace yourself for some ‘ሽሽሽ’ tactics. Seems like our script mostly says, “Stay quiet, please.” ለኛ ማንም አይዘፍንልንም፡፡ ማንም የዘፈኑ ክሊፕ ላይ አይከተንም፡፡ ማንም የቴሌቪዝን ሆስት አያደርገንም፡፡ ቦታ የለንም፡፡ We hardly have any value, honestly. No one celebrates us. Be it in movies, music videos, or advertisements, there’s always the same type of look that’s glorified, leaving many Ethiopian women feeling sidelined. It’s like the camera only zooms in on those fitting a certain standard, rendering the rest of us invisible or ‘ugly’. What’s heartbreaking about all this is how it slowly chips away at our self-esteem, eroding our sense of worth. We start to question our value, sometimes feeling thankful for just a smidgen of attention from guys, as if their interest is some kind of charity, not a real bond. አይ የሴት ልጅ መከራ፡፡ So, all this ranting might be because I saw an ad for a pad called ቆንጆ “pretty”, and it got me thinking. Are they seriously implying we need to be ‘pretty’ to even buy pads? Sure, they might say it’s for everyone, (everyone is pretty) but the model is sending another message. I know a lot of ads sexualize women’s bodies to attract male buyers, which is not OKAY. But hey, can we at least get some ‘regular’ looking representation in pad ads? It’s like women real women like myself, who are real customers. ተንከባከቡኝ እንጂ፡፡ እንደምታዩኝ፣ አሳዩኝ፡፡ Just a thought!
አስቡበት፡፡
