COLUMN: Have Some Pride

From Felix Rouse's "Still, I Rise" Fall '94 There are those times when you just have a bad hair day. This is also accepted. Sometimes you just roll out of bed, late for class, after a long night studying for a test the next day. You throw on a pair of sweats, put on that tee-shirt, grab that "scrunchie" and that worn-in UPenn hat, and you're off! This is also accepted. When that practice becomes habit, however ... this is not acceptable. At this university a phenomenon occurs at about the midway point of the first semester of every school year -- women stop caring about how they look. This trend can be compared to a disease that eats away at the very heart of social life here at Penn. Why does this happen? One can only try to hypothesize why it occurs and listen to feedback from women when this unpopular issue arises. Two of the main justifications of this phenomenon are as follows: a) Women here at the University of Pennsylvania have more important things to be concerned with (namely their education) than to be bothered with trying to impress every male that walks around this campus; b) It takes a great deal of time for a woman to prepare herself, and this would be too time consuming to do each and every morning. These reasons seem valid, but they are often responses that are indicative of female attitudes themselves. Every person at this university is concerned with their education, but is this truly an excuse to not present one's self in a reasonable manner? Is this any excuse for a woman to look as if she is suffering through finals six days a week? It is not what you wear, but how you wear it. Some people can wear sweat pants five days a week and look extremely presentable. Clearly, however, this does not apply to everyone at this school. It is obvious that most women require a great deal more "maintenance" than the average man, at least to conform to what society deems "acceptable" standards. Many women feel this is a time consuming ordeal that is not worth it -- especially since there are no men here which they wish to impress. What is important is not whether you feel it is necessary to impress anyone, what is important is that a person impress themselves. If you are able to get up every morning, look in the mirror on your way out the door and tell yourself that you are pleased with what you see, then this column is not addressing you. This column is concerned with those women who have no pride in their appearance, because they feel that it is no longer worth the effort. A great deal of women claim that they choose not to put a great deal of time and effort into looking good for a university filled with men who are concerned only with trying to convince them to have sex. The fact that many men here only want sex is highly debatable, but for the sake of argument let us presume that such a statement is a fact. Is there any reason why Penn men only want sex from Penn women and not long-term relationships? The answer is directly related to the issue of Penn women taking pride in their appearance. If a person looks terrible six days a week, but looks extremely attractive one day a week (usually late at night at a fraternity party), would you want to be involved in a committed relationship with that person? Many Penn men do not want relationships with women who only look good once every seven days. It is no secret that two years ago a survey was done by a national newsmagazine ranking national colleges and universities according to how attractive their men and women were. In the survey, Penn men ranked sixteenth. Penn women? -- four hundred and sixty something! Obviously these ratings are no coincidence -- they tell us a thing or two about how we view ourselves and the opposite sex. Pride in one's personal appearance would appear to be linked with gender at this university, although granted, a number of men also take little pride in how they present themselves to others. Ultimately however, it is important to try to look good for yourself, not for others. Felix Rouse is a junior Political Science major from Newark, New Jersey. Still, I Rise appears alternate Thursdays.