Saturday, November 24, 2012

Real Beauty




I'm not the kind of person who argues that everyone is beautiful. As a friend of mine puts it, "Every person has value, no matter what. But no, not everyone is beautiful. That would defeat the very definition of beauty." I do, for example, think that it is possible for a 300 pound woman to have appeal. Of course. As can an overweight man. But I just don't see any physical beauty or sex appeal in extremely large people. (And yeah, there are fat fetishes of which I am aware, but that's an outlier to my argument. I'm speaking generally, excluding the rare circumstances. Obviously, some people are attracted to anorexic bodies too.)

I think that yes, there is such a thing as physical beauty. I typically find this beauty to be a blend of totally natural and a few highlights to make the thing astonishing. Great hygiene, a fitness regime, a good diet, and a joyful confidence and personality is the most attractive thing. Crooked teeth, curves, flat hair, stretch marks, love handles aside. This is why I'm posting the picture of these two beauty campaigns I found.

Some people will definitely disagree with me here. I've heard people say you shouldn't "body shame" people of different sizes. This is where everything blends together... because I'm speaking strictly of beauty and health, nothing of worth. I think if someone is healthy, they're much more likely to have physical beauty. You feel better about yourself when you exercise, your body feels cleaner internally when you're not filling it with junk, and when you care for your skin, hair, teeth, etc, you're more happy to show it off. I find that the more someone dyes their hair, tans their skin, layers on makeup, and wears ridiculous clothing that changes their body shape, the less attractive they become. Yes, I wear spanx sometimes. Yup, I have makeup (and I love putting it on and how it looks.) So what am I, a hypocrite? I don't think so. I think, like anyone, I'm kind of confused by the way our culture blends physical appeal and self worth. And I think there's a difference in wearing a tummy smoother with a certain kind of dress or to get rid of really unsightly bumps in your jeans if you have a purpose, like a nice dinner out or something. You want to feel your best. But I know girls who sport these things daily. It's like a mask for their own body. And the makeup thing... come on, it looks good in small doses, and I love color, but when I see eye liner and mascara caked on.. I'm just not impressed.

I definitely think the girls on the bottom picture with Dove are lovelier. Why? Mostly because they don't have hair that looks like wigs, oily looking skin, and a face that seems to be a mix of "I want to eat you for lunch," and "I want to kill you." Since when is THAT sexy? I would be terrified to touch these women! There is nothing soft, inviting, serene, or welcoming about them. They look breakable. And frankly, if I was with them, I'd be worried about all the flaws they see on me and how imperfect I am to them.

The joy on the Dove women's faces makes them look like someone I'd want to spend my time with and make breakfast for. Someone who could carry a conversation about things other than spray tans. Victoria's Secret has some great products, I'll admit that. Yeah, I have owned one of their bras before, and until it was too big for me (after losing weight) I liked wearing it. But I still don't understand why they deploy these alien-like fake looking models to sell their clothes... I'm serious when I say if I walked by Victoria's Secret and they had a size 8 girl in her bra and panties laughing in a pillow fight (like the 'angels' do) and you could totally see stretch marks on her tummy, I'd probably go in and by something. I honestly think it would revolutionize our culture. I hope that companies like Dove get the credit they deserve and keep making a positive impact on the way we all view ourselves and the people around us.

I know this is not an original post, necessarily. Countless people argue this same point... I'm probably beating a dead horse, but man I wanted to get it off my chest. That's about it.


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