Uptight and too serious. That’s the oft-proliferated image of women wearing glasses. The root of this stereotype remains unclear. Perhaps her glasses are indicative of perceived defects that go over and above that of having bad eyesight, like being a nerd for example? Glasses wearing women in movies and in pop culture are in general portrayed as being ugly inside and out if they wear glasses.
We begin absorbing this imagery from an early age. Just take a look at the popular cartoon Dennis the Menace. Dennis’ sandbox friend, Margaret, is designed to be a stuck-up clever clogs. She is the quintessential stereotype of a female in glasses: up-turned nose and in general, not very pretty. Not only that, she is really mean and spiteful.
These images are not reserved for childhood either. Imagine the typical scene in chick flick movies where a woman with glasses is finally alone with the man she loves. How often does this involve her taking down her hair and removing her glasses. From duckling to swan, women with glasses seem to magically transform into different-looking, and supposedly better-looking, people when they take their glasses off in pop culture.
So, how do we encourage women to love their specs? Women’s glasses have come a long way over the decades. They have evolved into many different styles of frames and colours that complement all face shapes and sizes. Women can select from a wide variety of glasses as a result, and choosing the right frames for their faces can compliment their face shapes and styles.
On trend glasses can even aid women in getting that fashion “edge” that can help them feel even more attractive. After all, there’s nothing more attractive than having a sense of self-confidence and personal style. When you are confident in how you look, with or without your glasses, you gain a certain allure.
Kooky metropolitan types will often assume a pair of thick rimmed black frames to compliment their retro styles whether or not they need glasses. In some spheres they are an essential accessory – the “geek” in geek chic. This should encourage us ladies to take pride in our specs and relish them as a key element in our wardrobe.
Ask someone whose fashion opinion you trust to help you pick out your next pair of glasses if you have to wear them to see properly. Consider your glasses as a clothing accessory you will wear every day, and you will look gorgeous.
Mandy Waters writes regularly on eye health and eye wear related topics such as womens glasses.