Like Mother Like Daughter

Like Mother Like Daughter

Like Mother like Daughter

‘I think that women are fighting back, and I think it’s really good that standing together can be done through social media.’

‘I think these days there’s so much more pressure on girls to conform, and I don’t think I could’ve coped with that, I would have definitely rebelled.’

Lisa & Lucy

Do you think the beauty standards of women have changed since you were younger and if so, how?

Lisa: Oh definitely, I was never into make up when I was younger and I think these days there’s so much more pressure on girls and I don’t think I could’ve coped with that, I would have definitely rebelled.

Does the sexualized beauty standards of women make you worry about your daughter’s sense of self identity?

Lisa: Yes absolutely, but I think Lucy has self awareness and self confidence most of the time, but if I had a 12- or 13-year-old now I would be so worried, I probably wouldn’t let them have a phone or social media until they could really show they had a true sense of self themselves because it’s just so damaging.

Do you think social media has had a positive or negative effect on how women are viewed and treated?

Lisa: I think there are some positives, the solidarity, I think that women are fighting back, and I think that that’s really good that standing together can be done through social media. But I think there’s a huge amount still to be done with the sexualization and the whole kind of tokenization of women. But I think it is getting a lot better.

Karen & Connie

Is your daughter’s style similar to yours at her age?

Karen: At eighteen I was wearing trousers from army surplus, band t shirts and hoodies, so yes quite similar. Connie’s more eclectic, however, I think people were more in pigeonholes in my era, you either hung out with the punks or the casuals. I hung out with the punks and the drop-outs whereas these days I think it’s more of a melting pot and people wear what they like and take inspiration from a bit of everything; you don’t feel like you have to be in one scene whereas I kind of felt like I did.

Does the sexualized beauty standards of women make you worry about your daughter’s sense of self identity?

Karen: Yes, its pretty hideous, I think what’s more worrying is the photoshopping, and making the waists really tiny. Not just for girls like my daughter but boys too. Things like ‘Love Island’ for example, you don’t see people on there with cellulite.

Barbara & Annette

Louise & Kezia

Do you think social media has had a positive or negative effect on how women are viewed and treated?

Louise: I think a negative effect on how women are viewed because people will comment not on what you think or what your attributes are and what a nice person you are but on what people look like.

Do you think the beauty standards of women have changed since you were younger and if so, how?

Louise: I think there’s more pressure to look good, and I think a lot of that’s down to social media. I think people are perhaps more aware of what they’re wearing, I think when I was Kezia’s age, I wore mostly jeans and trainers, and I had a scruffy coat and I didn’t really mind about that, and I didn’t feel any great pressure to have lots of clothes or to look particularly good. But I think these days people are more likely to dress up particularly for nights out or to have their photograph taken because they’re much more seen on social media and things.

Martha & Liberty

Is your daughter’s style similar to yours at her age?

Martha: No, I wouldn’t say so no, I think back in my day, your fashion sense was very much influenced by the music genre that you used to follow, and when I was her age, I was a goth and wore black clothes from head to toe and had holes in my clothes and fishnet tights and lots of jewelry with serpent rings and pointy shoes that I used to buy from Kensington market.

Do you think the beauty standards of women have changed since you were younger and if so, how?

Martha: I think there’s a lot more pressure now, because of social media, there’s a lot more influence from magazines and social media as to what the norm is and what’s expected and how women should look.

Does the sexualized beauty standards of women make you worry about your daughter’s sense of self identity?

Martha: Yes, it does worry me, but I think both my daughters are strong and quite levelheaded, so I don’t worry to a great degree, but for women in general yes, it is worrying.

Theresa & Rosa

Is your daughter’s style similar to yours at her age?

Theresa: I think Rosa is much more stylish than I was at her age. At 23 I was going through a bit of a fashion crisis, I had just had a baby, and I had changed my style quite a lot; from what I was wearing straight out of university which was vintage, secondhand clothes, to trying to look a lot smarter.

Are you a fan of what she wears?

Theresa: Yeah I am, I think she has a strong sense of her own style and I think she knows what she likes and actually I think that it makes me really happy to see her expressing herself through what she wears, particularly because I know that she’s had a lot of personal body issues, and I can see a lot of the anxieties that I’ve had, she shares them, so I can kind of empathize with what she goes through when she gets dressed in the morning and I think she’s actually managed to cut through a lot of that and carries herself really well and has a clearly defined style. And even when she often feels really uncertain about herself, she still sometimes overcomes all of that and still manages to get herself out of the house, which is sometimes the hardest thing to do in a day.

Do you think social media has had a positive or negative effect on how women are viewed and treated?

Theresa: Both, I think there’s more of a scope for women to express themselves in all kinds of ways, but I think there’s pressure on women to conform to stereotypes and I don’t think the sexualization has made it easier. I think its really difficult for young girls, but actually in some ways the stereotypes were more rigid about forty years ago in the 70’s. I think its really awful, the pressure on young girls on Instagram, and I think boys objectifying girls is probably worse than ever. I think its absolutely shocking that these are the stereotypes that both boys and girls are seeing, and there’s an expectation that girls feel they have to fulfil those kind of role models. And I don’t think that’s necessarily about them being able to define who they are, I think its them having to play up to what is being portrayed to them through music and media. I think there’s a lot of misogyny.

By Flora Butterworth