Homely means simple or unsophisticated. Which means, society wants women to be simple and not too fashionable in their tastes. They do not want them to be opinionated (especially if they have an opinion which is different from the opinions their spouse or in-laws have!), they cannot be modern, they have to know how to do housework well and respect elders. Basically, they want a woman who is quiet and who does things when asked.
When you see marriage advertisements in the newspapers you usually notice some characteristics that some people might want for their future daughter-in-law: fair, good looking, 25 years of age, homely. They do not want their daughter-in-law to be assertive or ‘loud’. They want a perfect daughter-in-law who respects everyone and is quiet. It isn’t the same with men! How come men are allowed to have personalities but women can’t?
This is the treatment society gives women. All of them claim to be allies and tell us that they will help us but do nothing about this. Society expects women to be simple and anything other than that is disrespectful.
Think of all the confident and assertive women who have been villanized by the media and society for speaking up and urging others too as well. They’ve been mocked and trolled for having valid opinions.
We need to talk about society’s double standards. When a man does anything, no one says anything. But when a woman does the exact same thing, she is mocked, insulted and scolded.
If we didn’t reduce women to the expectation of how women should act and actually respected them, the world would be better to and for women. Marriages would be smoother and the mental health of women would improve.