"Let no one ever come to you without leaving better and happier."
-Mother Teresa
Sometimes I feel I have become numb to the way media portray women. Sometimes, as I’m sure many women do, I find myself overwhelmed by the images I am constantly bombarded with. I turn on the T.V. and there’s America’s Next Top Model. I stand in line at the store, and there is Kate Moss on the cover of Vogue. I turn my radio on and all I hear are plastic surgery ads. Granted, living in Orange County California does not help! But there are moments, I find myself surrendering. I say to myself, I will never look like that and I start to hate myself for it. I begin to think that because I don’t look like these frail women with flawless skin, I am not good enough. How pathetic.
How has society allowed this to get to this point?
Really, the entire subject can be so exhausting. I have friends who have lost many nights of sleep stressing about how fat they looked in a picture. There comes a moment, and I hope you find it soon, just as I have, when you can no longer fight the battle. You begin to accept yourself for the way you are, not the way you wished you were. I hope and I pray you find this acceptance. Otherwise you will wear yourself down and waste precious moments of your life.
As I mentioned from the start, I am an avid magazine reader. I love them. But I have come to a point in my life where I can be grateful, thankful and appreciative of the body I have. I look at these magazine ads and admire the perfection of these women, but I know it is a picture of desire, not reality. I guess as you get older reality becomes more attractive than desire.
As adult women we need to realize that young girls carry this burden of perfection on a daily basis. As mothers, you need to do everything in your power to instill POSITIVE reinforcement in your daughter’s life. Different is beautiful and we must stress that in everyway possible. Girls are going to face advertisement after advertisement. They are fighting to fit in, fighting to be liked, loved and accepted, and fighting to be attractive in the eyes of their peers. Understand how heavy that burden is.
Because most of us are older women, removed from adolescence, it’s hard to relive the pressures, but I assure you they are OVERWHELMING.
The Dove Campaign for Real Beauty has an amazing website for self-esteem. It’s called the Girls Only Interactive Self Esteem Zone. Check it out. The video wont post in this blog post for some reason. However I have posted the link for it below. It's called Amy
Amy
How has society allowed this to get to this point?
Really, the entire subject can be so exhausting. I have friends who have lost many nights of sleep stressing about how fat they looked in a picture. There comes a moment, and I hope you find it soon, just as I have, when you can no longer fight the battle. You begin to accept yourself for the way you are, not the way you wished you were. I hope and I pray you find this acceptance. Otherwise you will wear yourself down and waste precious moments of your life.
As I mentioned from the start, I am an avid magazine reader. I love them. But I have come to a point in my life where I can be grateful, thankful and appreciative of the body I have. I look at these magazine ads and admire the perfection of these women, but I know it is a picture of desire, not reality. I guess as you get older reality becomes more attractive than desire.
As adult women we need to realize that young girls carry this burden of perfection on a daily basis. As mothers, you need to do everything in your power to instill POSITIVE reinforcement in your daughter’s life. Different is beautiful and we must stress that in everyway possible. Girls are going to face advertisement after advertisement. They are fighting to fit in, fighting to be liked, loved and accepted, and fighting to be attractive in the eyes of their peers. Understand how heavy that burden is.
Because most of us are older women, removed from adolescence, it’s hard to relive the pressures, but I assure you they are OVERWHELMING.
The Dove Campaign for Real Beauty has an amazing website for self-esteem. It’s called the Girls Only Interactive Self Esteem Zone. Check it out. The video wont post in this blog post for some reason. However I have posted the link for it below. It's called Amy
Amy
-Kate
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