It's called Girl Perfect: Confessions of a former runway model.
It's written by a christian woman named Jennifer Strickland who used to model for Vogue, Teen, Cosmo, etc. She describes her experiences in the modeling industry and just everything she went through. I'm only a few chapters in, and it's already breaking my heart. I think people need to know what really goes on after the lights and cameras are turned off, so read it if you get a chance!
The other reason I think people need to read this is so they can reflect on our humanly pursuit of perfection and acceptance.
Just today, I found myself straightening my hair in front of the bathroom mirror. Only, I have nothing planned for today or tonight. I have no one to impress. It occurred to me then that I do this a lot. I get ready, I do my hair and makeup, not just for other people...but for myself.
This is how girls are wired these days.
I don't consider myself especially concerned with my appearance. At least not as much as other girls. But sometimes I still feel the same desire to look good. And it's not just a desire to look good, it's a desire to attract. It's actually a very animal-like instinct. We fluff ourselves up to attract a mate.
But at what cost?
I've had enough experience with acne products to know that the only ones that really work are the ones that dry up the blemishes until they scab up and fall off.
When blemishes lose the juice and moisture, they die.
Sometimes our faces clear up, but in the process, our faces fall off.
I wish I could send a memo to every young girl's desk saying "Note: once you look good enough for him to like you, just keep in mind that it soon won't matter. When you two have a mortgage and three kids, he won't have much time to tell you you're pretty."
Looks may spark a love, which will lead to marriage.....but I don't think looks are what hold a marriage together. But then in Monument, I've seen tons of married women constantly flock to nail salons, hair salons, gyms, and spas. That desire to look good never goes away. I'm not saying it should, but how much to we really want men's approval?
Apparently a lot.
It's too naive of me to say that the right guy will love you no matter what you look like. I can't honestly say I even believe that. Humans are humans, and one big way we relate is physically.
But somewhere deep down inside, I want to believe that what we look like isn't that big of a deal.
My roommate Jessie once said "I have never met anyone that I couldn't call a beauty."
If only the world saw people that way, instead of putting us in this caste system. If you're sexy, get ready to have men hold doors for you and wink your way. (But also expect them to take advantage of you.)
If you're not sexy, well, expect your friends and family to nominate you for some makeover show. THEN life will be grand.
A quote I liked:
"We are born wanting to be accepted as we are. We are not born comparing ourselves to others. But somewhere along the line we begin to mark our value along the scale of what other women look like or how they perform." -Jennifer Strickland
A quote I may use for my Vision 139 organization:
" I don't think the world really wants to know that the girl in the magazine poster in the store window was just attacked by a bum in the street or followed by a faceless man in the night. The world feels better thinking the girl in the picture is as happy and secure as she looks.
Unfortunately, the world treats the girl as if she is just as disposable as the paper she's printed on.
...But I believe it's my job to tell you about the girl in the picture, because I was the girl in the picture and I lived with girls in the pictures."
I dunno.
Anymore thoughts?
2 comments:
I think looks do matter, but they are not the end all be all in a relationship. Or, they shouldn't be, because if they are it will only last as long as the looks last. I love my friends and think they're all beautiful because I KNOW them. As a stranger on the street would I pick them out? No clue. Because once you discover the real them, what makes them full of life and personality and silly quirks and flaws it becomes irremovable beauty. I'd almost rather date someone I didn't think was cute until I got to know him, heh.
From an ad perspective, "perfect" proportions and modern aesthetic appeals are what sell. Sad but true. Personally I think that perfect faces are boring after a while, but that in turn makes me sad because I automatically dismiss what could be a truly beautiful individual.
Anyway, rambling. You're almost too thought-provoking sometimes! :D
this is so ironic because just today when i was getting ready i turned my straightner on and was like 'what the heck am i doing? im doing absolutely nothing today' and had basically the same thoughts you did
Post a Comment