Oracle Online

Unfortunately, my negative feelings about The Swan were not only solidified, they were intensified. This program is a psychological nightmare. Its very existence is a huge regression for women’s rights.

There are so many things wrong with this show that it is hard to know where to begin. I suppose maybe the best place to start is with the selection of the so-called ugly ducklings. Women chosen for this show must meet these simple requirements: First, they must be homely. Uneven skin, frizzy hair, discolored or crooked teeth, and overweight or droopy body parts are a necessity.

Second, the candidate must know that she is “hideous” and desire change for herself. She must also be willing to stay away from her loved ones for three months while the transformation progresses.

Every aspect of choosing women based on these criteria is offensive. Exploiting the flaws a woman has on national television will undoubtedly damage her self esteem, regardless of the progress she makes. I don’t care if they make these women look like a beauty queens. If it means showing close-ups of their stretch marks, cellulite, and protruding stomachs on national television, they’re going to be mortified.

Showing these flaws up close and in detail is undoubtedly a tactic to dramatize the difference between a woman’s natural state and the finished product. However, to show these flaws is telling the women (who obviously have self-esteem issues to start with) that they are ugly. This is not what women in a culture already fixated on appearance need in their lives.

Finally, it does not seem natural to me to take a woman away from her natural settings and support systems for a quarter of a year to do such dramatic procedures. Furthermore, the future swans are not allowed to look at themselves during the surgeries. Again, I can see the reasoning for dramatic television purposes. It is much more entertaining to pull back a curtain and watch this “new woman” see herself for the first time. But it cannot be healthy to completely reconstruct someone’s body and not let them adjust to it gradually.

Perhaps the most disturbing aspect of The Swan is the false sense of accomplishment that these women are given. At the unveiling ceremony, the former ugly duckling is brought into a room where all the doctors who helped remold her applaud “her” achievement. After she is allowed to see herself for the first time, the host gushes at her beauty and asks her, “How proud of yourself are you?”

Call me crazy, but I can’t see where these women have really done anything notable. It seems that they are individuals who have so little self esteem that they cannot deal with themselves how they were made.
They must resort to changing their bodies in an unnatural way so they can be better wives, mothers, and human beings in general.

I would think, and this is just me, that the women who can embrace their flaws and learn to deal gracefully with their imperfect bodies are the ones who deserve praise. If you cannot handle with your insecurities and you are willing to exploit yourself on national television, you certainly have my pity. You do not, on any level, have my praise.

The Swan treats women as Trading Spaces treats a trashed or boring room. If we all bend to meet the precedent that The Swan sets, women will revert back to becoming objectified, a treatment that has taken many years to overcome.

I myself favor the “ugly” ducklings, with all their imperfections. Our differences and idiosyncrasies make us interesting. Hopefully someday women will stop striving for some unobtainable goal of physical perfection. Maybe then women with horrible self-images won’t make such popular television.