Notes on Beautiful

Society has destroyed beauty. There seems to be a strange sort of paradox occurring in the world in which one can’t be beautiful and healthy at the same time—unless you’re an air-brushed actress who is seen with her clothes off relatively frequently. But at the same time, we do seem aware of this problem. Mind you, we do little to nothing in the area of fixing it, but we do seem aware. We are very aware that there are young people, mostly women, in the world who have a skewed body image of themselves. We give them diagnoses and put them into hospitals if necessary, teaching them to eat properly. The problem arises in the people who are never diagnosed because there isn’t technically anything wrong with them.

The problem resides in the people who are healthy but look into the mirror every morning with a slight sadness or disdain. They know exactly what they look like, there is no skewed body image and they are not changing their eating habits in any severely negative way. They may be dieting when they don’t necessarily need to, or running every morning in the hopes that their disdain may fade. These are the people who suffer from the horrible view on beauty yet who go unseen. The people who are pretty, and therefore unnoticed. The people who suffer not from anorexia or bulimia, but from a lack of self-esteem are the people who are suffering most in society today.

It’s a problem, and it needs to be fixed. Don’t ask me how, because I don’t know. I understand that the media may be the source—it certainly is one of the prime suspects—but which comes first? Is it really the media’s fault that as women on screen and paper got skinnier and skinnier, people seemed more and more interested in the people and mimic it more and more? Trust me, I would love to blame the media as much as anything else, and there is little doubt that the ugly progression of beauty was fueled by the media. But let’s face it; it’s not the media’s fault. The media cannot influence us unless we choose to be influenced.

I’m afraid I don’t really have much more to say on this topic. I know that my analytical inserts are usually at least 750 words long, and this one is barely over 400. What I needed to say has been said, so to say any more would be a waste of both our time. Until next time, and I apologize for the lack of writing (writer’s block isn’t fun); I will try to get my groove back as soon as possible.

Be careful where you step, young one; the water is only shallow for so long.