the social order rather than in women themselves. This is reflected in the representation of her views on beauty, the female body, marriage, family and female friendship in her work. Leapor lived in a culture where women were expected to value themselves by their beauty. A great deal of money would have been needed to achieve perfection in beauty, which required creating an artificial appearance: "hardware" was fastened about the bodies of women to straighten posture, stays squeezed their waists, and faces were "caked and heavily coloured" with cosmetics. Leapor "attempts to see beyond artificial appearance to what she believes is more authentic femininity". Her poem "Dorinda at her Glass" exemplifies this as she describes a woman who has valued herself by the image she sees in the mirror, only to be devastated when she loses her youthful beauty with age: To her lov'd Glass repair'd the weeping Maid,And with a Sigh address'd the alter'd Shade. Say, what art thou, that wear'st a gloomy Form, With low'ring Forehead, like a norther Storm; Cheeks pale and hollow, as the Face of Woe, And Lips that with no gay Vermilion glow? Through the poem Leapor advises and warns women that beauty does not last and to improve themselves intrinsically. "In 'Dorinda at her Glass', 'Advice to Sophronia', and other poems, Leapor asserts that women should preserve their dignity by accepting the loss of beauty". Leapor herself is affected by standards of beauty, and wishes to escape her "plainness" and the vulgar comments on her appearance, and dreams of being beautiful. This wistfulness for mainstream acceptance and admiration is illustrated in her poems "The Visit" and "The Disappointment." Leapor's most extensive examination of standards of beauty in parts of fashionable society is "Corydon. Phillario. Or, Mira's Picture". This "self-portrait" attempts to break in some contemporary standards of beauty, by picking apart her bodily flaws openly, posing a challenge to a sub-culture which expected women to tuck away their defects: Corydon.But she has teeth -- Phillario. --Consid'ring how they grow, 'Tis no great matter if she has or no: They look decay'd with Posset, and with Plumbs, And seem prepar'd to quit her swelling Gums. Leapor also turned her attention to the marriage market: (From Strephon to Celia) Now, madam, as the chat goes round, I hear you have ten thousand pound: But that as I a trifle hold, Give me your person, dem