What is Beauty?
A social worker from hospice told me that older people think
a lot. She said that with so much time on
their hands, their advanced age provides them with a lot of time to think
about—and deal with—their past. She
explained that when people are young and busy, they sometimes do not have the
luxury of processing the events or circumstances of their life, so they revisit
painful things sometimes.
I thought this was pretty insightful, and although I am not
of that age group yet, I have spent a little time thinking about things, and
one of the things that pops up that makes me crazy is how young girls of the
60s and 70s (and probably most decades) have been dealt a false ideal in terms
of their body image.
This is harmful to men and relationships as well, but I’ll
get to that in a minute.
I know this is nothing new, but I am just beginning to
process it. Just think, an entire
generation of women have had put before them a ridiculous ideal to which they should
aspire.
From magazines to commercials to crazy machines that jiggle
away the fat, women are given the idea from a very early age that “model”
beauty is real, natural and the way women should look.
To that end, I believe we have many women that think they
are not pretty because they have spent a lifetime comparing themselves to what
they were told represents beauty.
I wish we could save the next generation of little girls
from this problem. It not only leads to
poor self-esteem, but to relationship problems as well—which is where the male
issue comes in.
While women were striving for the ideal beauty image—nice
tan, long lashes, beautiful nails, flowing hair and a trim figure—I wonder if
they realized that men were also having this image held up to them as an
expectation for their future mate as well.
Put these two together and you have a big problem. Two people with a false image of beauty, striving
for a healthy relationship while having unrealistic expectations of themselves
or their significant other. This can be truly harmful.
I know this is a simplistic description of an otherwise
complex cultural reality, but I bring it up because I see it continuing today.
I’ve read about older women spending their days striving to
get a bikini-ready body and others continuing to worry about their weight, and
all for what?
I think we have more important things to concern ourselves
with. As St. Paul said (1 Corinthians
9:25)—athletes are disciplined so they can win a “perishable crown, but we an
imperishable one.” Physical beauty is transitory;
we need to be striving toward that which is lasting.
In my humble opinion, I believe we have been sold a bill of
goods that claims that physical beauty is most important, and that it should be
THE focus of one’s life, but, I really don’t want to be 85 years old and look
back on my life and discover I have spent—wasted really—a lot of time and
energy trying to reach a number on a scale or match an image on a poster.
So I am waging a war against all that. I am taking up arms to fight for good health and
realistic body images—for both men and women.
It starts with forgetting about what you have been told for decades
about beauty.
I am all for health.
Exercise. Eat right. Do what you
can to keep your body flexible and strong, but let go of a generation of
advertising that offered a false image of beauty.
And most importantly, help your sons and daughters ignore
all of it, because the exploitation of our children at a very young age is a
real problem, only today, it is not only a false image of beauty, but
the sexualization of them as well.
Can I get an Amen?
(I would love it if you shared your thoughts about beauty today.)
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