The media portrayal of unrealistic people isn't new. The fact is that we, the people who are criticizing the way media is portrayed, are the ones allowing it to continue what they are doing. As long as we keep buying into the marketing campaigns that aim to make us feel inadequate in beauty, we are making the campaigns work. We are worried about our outlooks and we feel incomplete without those "new-and-improved-life-changing" things that technology had made "the impossible seem possible". We are validating our worth in the society with just a lousy piece of glass, juxtaposed with excessively distorted advertisements. And as we buy diet pills, cosmetic products and expensive clothing to look like those people, we are showing the media that they are indeed giving us what we want. Believe me, because I regretted doing things to myself for the sake of 'beauty'.
To hell with the idea that beautiful is thin (or muscled) and white (or tanned) and flawlessly skinned.
The media is only a reflection of what will interest us most, what will make us turn our heads and pay attention, and therefore garner the most attention, income and (what else) power.
The people we love are the people who are most beautiful to us. Because beautiful does not have to be physical. Actually, if you ask me, inner beauty speaks infinitely more, and is so much more striking and powerful.
To quote from an article I read recently:
"So let me tell you what I think beautiful is, what real, deep, inner beauty is to me. Beautiful is he who keeps his head up and is proud of his body, just as it is. Beautiful is the man who has to hide his gay lover from his judgmental parents, but who loves him, regardless of what the world will think. Beautiful are the women who buy the jeans that fit them, not the ones they hope will fit one day; the people who wear what they want because they like it. Beautiful are the people who choose love. Beautiful are the people who allow their bodies to be their temples and canvases, and who create their outer beings to reflect their inner. Beautiful are the people who hurt and feel insecure and make mistakes—but rise above, and find confidence and admit when they’re wrong. Beautiful is you and me. Beautiful is everyday. Beautiful is the struggle and the triumph, and beautiful is the understanding how necessary the struggle was. Remember that the next time you feel hopeless. Beautiful is loving yourself enough to know you’re worth more than feeling inadequate."
In the end, I decided that as long as I am leading a healthy lifestyle and not harming myself while achieving what "beauty" is, there's really no need for me to get a pale skin tone and buy expensive clothing. And I'm quitting smoking. And reducing my consumption of alcohol.
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