My butt is the size of a third world country. My nose looks like a mushroom. My thighs are making the earth quake.
These are just some of the thoughts that enter my mind upon catching a glimpse of the paper-thin, absolutely gorgeous women in whatever magazine I happen to be trifling through that day.
Why can't I look like her? I bet her life is perfect. She has long slender legs, flowing brown hair, pillowy lips, and a bright white smile. She gets what she wants. Her life is surreal.
Maybe if I lost twenty pounds, I could be like that too.
Just drink some more water, eat lettuce three meals a day, and work out until I can stand no longer.
Then, that could be me in that Dolce & Gabbana centerfold, hair shining in the sun while an obnoxiously gorgeous, muscular male model positions his hands provocatively on my back. That could be me.
Don't you see what the modeling industry does? It compels us to feel like we will never be good enough. There will always be more we have to do in order to be beautiful. We need to buy more moisturizer, shave our legs more frequently, say 'no' to all carbohydrates and dairy products.
And yet, we can't look away from the ad. We can't say no. We are a slave to the ads that scream at us -- "you wish you could get even one handful of perfection!"
And while others claim that they aren't superficial, that they would rather have brains then beauty, I can't help but continue to speculate that this may not actually be the case.
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This is so true! The fashoin industry is very superficial and it creates a very unhealthy and uncheiveable image for so many people. Great Bolg
The ads we see in magazines and on billboards are so fake. There is a Dove commercial that you can watch on YouTube that shows the transformations and computer work they do to models to make them look perfect. It's sad that the modeling industry shows girls that are so thin. I bet those girls probably don't feel beautiful half the time because they are constantly being told they need to fix something about themself. I hate that society tells us to be something we're not. We are each made in a unique way, so why do we have to change and look just like everybody else?
I've never looked at those ads and said "I wish I was her...." :-/
I don't understand.
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You are the Voice of the Childwen of the Revowution! [Toulouse, Moulin Rouge]
You are really lucky then, or maybe just totally secure with yourself. Its hard for me to imagine even the prettiest girl to not feel a little jealousy.
I'm not overly lucky or outrageously secure. Generally secure, yes, but not anything more than normal.
I just realize that none of those girls are really real and those magazines and movie stars are more annoying than anything.
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You are the Voice of the Childwen of the Revowution! [Toulouse, Moulin Rouge]
You've honestly never looked at someone and thought to yourself, "Wow, I wish I could look more like that?"
I would sure as hell call that luck...
I have said that to myself before, but I think I'm becoming more secure with who I am as I get older. Though Im sixteen, I try not to take in the superficiality of it all, because in the end you wind up depressed and hurt. I've now accepted the way I am and I am really happy with myself. Whenever I feel those old pangs of jealousy when I see a gorgeous girl, I remind myself that I am a unique person and that I shouldn't compare myself to them. Great Blog, and good point. :)