Legitimizing Instances of Courtship Patterns - Essay Example

Imitating the striking colors and enticing odors nature endows on other living creatures for necessitating mutual attraction which is a prerequisite to sexual consummation, women have adopted sexual statements through their attire and perfumes. Even though men have also taken up this task eventually, the amount to which a female tries to attract someone from the opposite sex through ‘make-up’ is much higher. The most prominent aspect through which sexual suggestiveness is achieved is the use of lipstick. In psychoanalytical readings, the symbolic significance of lips is related to the genital organ, and how women try to highlight their lips reveal their subconscious longing to express themselves sexually. In every culture, a young woman with deeply colored lips sends the message of sexual desirability.

The innovations in women’s attire through the centuries had been amazing. The restricted innovativeness in men’s attire makes clear which gender is more interested in attracting the other through dress. While the innerwear of men serves a functional purpose except in very few exhibitionistic instances, women’s innerwear is under a constant flux of fashion statements. Likewise, the general dress patterns of women undergo much more changes than men’s dress could ever aspire to. There is not much scope for men to accentuate their body parts through their dress while women could choose from varying levels of suggestiveness and exposure through clever ways of dressing. The cosmetic products aimed at female customers abound supermarkets while there are only a few such products for men. The time an average woman spends on a hairdo or her skin tone is sufficient to explain the presence of so many women-centered cosmetics in the market.

The general grooming of a girl to become a proper lady takes place from the moment she is born, while boys are not generally trained to acquire as many qualities to attract the opposite sex. The concepts of manliness are more or less related to social needs and family structure, while the ‘feminine’ attributes are cultivated mainly to attract men, through a fragile, sensuous charm. Though this also restricts women to their domestic roles and thereby serves a social purpose, girls are constantly reminded of the need to gain a partner through these attributes. The depiction of women in popular literature and other art forms reveals how deep-rooted this culture is.