I saw this today on a friend's blog:
"Me + the beach = Me in bathers+ Self Consciousness = very uncomfortable me+ being convinced that she is overweight = I either don't eat for two days beforehand OR try to make myself throw up"
I was so angry and sad at what we are doing to ourselves by promoting a beauty ideal that is false and mostly airbrushed.
I wrote this on Mulled Writings: its called Beautiful Me.
"I stood in front of the mirror, bathing suit, scrawny legs, small breasts, fat stomach, big bum - my ugly teenage body - and started to cry: how could I go to the beach looking like this? A gentle knock on the door and my dad looked in and asked what the matter was, so I told him. He sat next to me, gave me a big hug, and said: "You are beautiful, a unique bundle of you, who along with the rest of us, thankfully bear little resememblance to the scrawny airbrushed ideal in the glossy magazines you read." He dried my tears and kissed me goodnight sleep tight. I awoke the next morning, calmer, and went to the beach with my friends, still self-conscious but freer than before. I noticed Jim looking my way and realised that I am beautiful me."
7 comments:
This is the kind of thing Cassy was talking about in her latest post. Great minds think alike! :)
I need to post this on my morror.
Thank you.
I have been trying to make sure my preteen & teenage daughters understand the deception of beauty that is everywhere in the media and our culture.
Here are a couple of great videos I sent to my daughters last week put out by diet.com. There are two parts:
The Photoshop Effect - Part 1
Deception of Perception - Part 2
peace & grace,
brad
I think it a bit false to blame 'media' or 'Culture' for the female obsession with their looks.
This is inbuilt in them, and it needs to be controlled not stopped!
Folks blame the world for forcing women into a certain shape, but this comes from within, not the world outside.
A better study of history and scripture is required here!
Great and thought-provoking post. I loved your story.
This is definitely a real problem today.
And soundofasoftbreath,
I LOVED those videos. Thanks for sharing them.
This is so true. Teenage girls are under so much pressure. There is this "ideal" which is impossible to live up to without resorting to serious starvation, a personal trainer, diffused lighting, make up, image enhancement and plastic surgery to boot. Natural is always better and, as you say, more truly beautiful.
Not sure I agree that the obsession comes from within. ;) I think in our society these days it is so common it seems that way, but I can tell you women all over the world would get rid of this obsession in a flash if they could.
But on a more positive note, I am very glad you are raising children Robert, both boys and girls. :)
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