Introduction
Nowadays, the public pays more attention to the person’s final achievement than the struggles and hardships he overcame. It leads to the stigma of trying or desiring something better and an overvalued perspective toward effortlessness. Effortlessness is based on the idea that people are good-looking, thin, successful, or intelligent without seemingly putting in any effort. As more generations pursue effortlessness not to be shamed by society for the desire to succeed, people should reconsider this trend and eliminate their fears of being stigmatized for trying.
Discussion
The effortlessness trend is discussed in Amy Choi’s article “There’s nothing effortless about being a woman.” She argues that a woman’s life is never effortless as they try hard to look better, but they keep silent and hide their concerns. It happens because the public accepts that a person has natural skills and God-given talent to succeed in one sphere rather than his continuous efforts to achieve something (Mooro). Choi’s article starts by describing her experience in the spa, where she goes through excruciating procedures that cause physical discomfort more than pleasure. When the author comes home, she utilizes the best beauty tricks and applies numerous beauty products to have glossing skin that looks to others as natural (Choi). However, her main point is that nobody ever notices all these efforts since she pretends to look in good shape with healthy skin.
As a female, I agree that women spend time trying to fit beauty standards, but they rarely complain about their efforts to become naturally beautiful. Significantly, an example Choi produces about being thin but following the diet in secret is the general tendency occurring in most of my friends’ lives. In my own experience, sharing with everyone that I restricted my food intake most of the time but ate high-calorie hamburgers once in a while seemed too shameful. The reason is that people surrounding me were obsessed with the idea of naturally given body shape without valuing my sports routine and dietary regulations. This example hints at the idea that people are afraid of internalized judgment because the majority of people view hard work to achieve desirable results as destructive.
Although it seems that Choi’s article considers only females’ attitudes toward effortlessness, it is not valid. Her argument is based on inclusivity as she believes that Korean American women, immigrants, and people of color struggle due to Westernized beauty standards and unspoken efforts (Choi). Her argument still lacks some depth by not considering the efforts all these marginalized people put into becoming successful in a foreign market. For example, everyone works hard and spends many hours before succeeding as professionals and changing their lifestyles to comply with the host countries since nothing comes without effort. But they seldom show how much they try because their discrimination perpetuates even more. Thus, Choi could expand her argument by considering how marginalized people hide their efforts in spheres other than beauty.
In her article, Choi discusses how people try to hide their desires and efforts to achieve such dreams, but she overlooks why people do it. Choi’s suggested cause evolves around looking fantastic for society due to being naturally perfect. Apart from it and the fact that people believe there is a stigma around trying hard, another reason might be that they are scared of revealing too much about themselves (Mooro). It comes from the assumption that desiring something so much makes them vulnerable as they fear not having skin, body, job, or estate like others.
My suggestion about the cause of effortlessness also intertwines people’s worries as they fear losing or failing. When I paid for courses and spent three hours a day since I desired to gain some programming skills, I never shared with anybody the efforts I put into achieving this goal. After failing the course, I did not feel stigmatized for committing to it because nobody knew I was trying. Therefore, the social pressure people exert on each other results in such silence about working hard and trying.
The most prominent part of Choi’s article is the conclusion, as she encourages people to stop pretending to desire and strive for more. It is justified as sometimes hiding the truth about the results of the efforts an unbearable burden as lying (Choi). People should feel comfortable sharing their difficulties while trying to get a promotion, become a basketball champion, or lose weight. Such stories that consider mundane struggles inspire others to become more realistic and natural but do not rely on the mythologized concept of effortless success.
Conclusion
To conclude, most people deal with the problems caused by the effortlessness trend popularized in social media. Females spend money, time, and resources to look naturally effortless, and marginalized nations commit to work and hide it from others as they are afraid of being stigmatized for their trying. It often results in mental struggles and society’s illusion of effortless success. Therefore, people should stop pretending to impress others with effortless perfection, as nothing is effortless.
Works Cited
Choi, Amy. “There’s Nothing Effortless About Being a Woman.” Elle, 2021, Web.
Mooro, Alya. “The Damaging Myth of ‘Effortless’ Success.” Restless Network, Web.