Behind the besieged walls of Troy, Helen tore her hair and cursed her beauty. Men would blame her for the war today, and the day after, and for centuries to come. But is beauty really so terrible, so destructive, that it could be the catalyst of a long, bloody war, metaphorically or otherwise? And even if it is, why is Helen responsible for the choices made by all the men around her? Women are often unjustly made responsible for the thoughts and subsequent actions of men. For example, in the United States, many people are familiar with school dress codes that are discriminatory against female students. School aged girls are told to cover their bodies in order to not distract school aged boys, who do not have the same rules applied to them. Forcing girls to cover up in order to keep boys’ thoughts pure purposefully teaches girls from an early age that they are responsible for the thoughts and actions of men, and that their beauty and bodies make men unable to control themselves. This is particularly heinous because when women are made victims. The backwards logic is used to victim blame, because if women are responsible for actions committed by men, supposedly, then they must be responsible for bringing those negative actions upon themselves. I would argue that men are not animals. I have known men to be intelligent, empathetic, and kind, certainly able to control themselves, and able to understand that they should never hurt other people. But time and time again, women are told that they will always be at fault, that men simply cannot control themselves, that the way women look causes men to act vulgar or violent. It is insulting to men, who are capable human beings, and incredibly damaging to women, who are scrutinized and not believed or taken seriously when they need support the most. They will say Helen’s beauty caused the Trojan war. They will call her “the face that launched a thousand ships.” But let us drop the veil of misogyny. A woman’s face, just by being beautiful, does not launch ships. The desire that a man has for a beautiful woman does not launch ships either. Neither Helen nor her beauty incited war. Indignant men, insulted by Trojans, with a thirst for conquering rich kingdoms, used Helen as an excuse to spill blood. […] They would have you believe that beauty is a curse that, if you’re not careful and submissive, could bring about a fate as terrible as a decade of war. Do not buy what they’re selling. Men are capable and fully in control of themselves, and women are responsible for neither the thoughts nor actions of men. We never have been.
Sara Long, Reparations to Helen: On Beauty, War, and Personal Responsibility
