She could use a little work, don’t you think?
Definitely a nose job. Plump the lips. And she sure could stand to hit the gym and lose a few pounds.
A woman today who looks like Mona Lisa is more likely to be skewered, not celebrated.
What a world—–that anyone could come up with Bridalplasty, the new reality show where brides compete for the wedding and plastic surgery procedures of their dreams. Says “E” network about its new show: Every bride wants to look her best on her wedding day. But for the women competing on ‘Bridalplasty,’ only perfection will do.
And they say we don’t believe in fairy tales anymore.
Years ago a friend told me his daughter was so desperate for a pair of expensive designer jeans like her friends—that in exchange, she offered to give up her pacifier. She was 5 years old. We laughed at the time, but somehow now it doesn’t seem so funny.
Reading the statistics is as scary as seeing pictures of celebrities sculpting and starving themselves.
In 1970 the average age of a girl who started dieting was 14; by 1990 the average age dropped to 8.
That’s where it starts… Where does it end?
It doesn’t.
Today I read that Sarah Jessica Parker is quoted in this upcoming issue of Elle Magazine: saying that at 45, she feels like a wilted flower.
Any day now, she’ll be walking the red carpet wearing flats and Eileen Fisher.
Seriously someone should tell Sarah Jessica this is one of the great things about getting older—you can cave in and get comfortable, now that we’re old enough to know better.
Or do we? Sometimes it seems as if the pressure towards perfection goes from birth to death. (Lucky if you’re Jewish; the coffin is closed.)
I’m all for looking good and taking care of yourself —for health and personal satisfaction. But really—who’s satisfied?
It took losing my breasts to cancer for me to learn to love my body as the miracle it is, no matter how it looks. There are people and organizations I admire, working to help women from being held hostage to standards of beauty, and instead put the focus on what’s important, including BlogHer, which is doing a year-long program called Own Your Beauty.
I try to shake it up by creating Boobalas and mirrors with words I wish every woman could think when she looks in the mirror: You’re Perfect. Actually all my mosaics communicate the same message, because they’re made of broken pieces, each imperfect in itself.
And I think that’s a better message—that true beauty lies in the imperfections— Mona Lisa being a perfect example.
I wonder what she thought when she looked in the mirror.
Great post. I hope this trend in society will dissipate…but I am not holding my breath. Dieting at age 8, that’s my little girl’s age and the thought is appauling!! Happy Hanukkah Darryle!!
Loved this post – but to reassure all older fashionistas out there, Eileen Fisher has a new designer and more trendy clothes, and flats are now OK too as a break from your Jimmy & Christian Whatevers.
Another wonderful post. I was raised by a mom who believed “you can never be too rich or too thin” and was rarely satisfied with my body. After I had mostly accepted my body (I fit in better on the east coast :), my mom told me I was “voluptuous” – like the curves were okay 🙂 She was nowhere near as bad as many of the stories I sometimes hear…a nanny telling a little girl she should not have cookie at 6 years old because she’s a little chubby. What is wrong with us? I’ve now heard about that show from several different people, and not one single person thinks it has any redeeming qualities. I wonder how the husband’s feel. I don’t think mine would have been thrilled with a new, “perfect” woman walking down the aisle.
Darryle,
This is so true …. still now, in my 50s, it’s impossible for me to look in the mirror & say I’m happy with my body. And society hasn’t changed at all. Even Minnie Mouse was too fat: http://jezebel.com/5697558/minnie-mouse-gets-leggy-and-glamorous-makeover-from-disney–forever21.
What can be done when the pressure doesn’t go away?
The scary part is that 8 is the AVERAGE age. Yikes. Thanks Ruthie, for commenting. You remind me how much I miss going into school and introducing Hanukkah to all the kids who aren’t Jewish. Happy holidays to you!
Haha, thanks for the fashion update from the Big Apple.
Thanks, Nicole. I think we can all relate no matter how or where we grew up, I won’t even get into how my father pressed me to lose weight as a child, but I always feel grateful I didn’t develop an eating disorder. And I feel horrified by comments I’ve heard mothers make to little girls about their weight. As for the husbands of the Bridalplasty contestants, if they go along with this whole concept, the bridegrooms are as crazy as the brides.
OMG Minnie Mouse as Barbie?? Then again, when I was looking for a Mona Lisa shot, I came across several sites who had photoshopped her into a Hollywood starlet.
So much of this ridiculous pressure is driven by businesses selling products ,and maybe won’t ever end until and unless we stop buying into the whole impossible dream. It’s so pervasive and foundational to our way of life, I agree it feels almost impossible to ever change. Still I’m hoping some of these campaigns like Dove and BlogHer make some headway since this state of mind is really “eating” into the physical and mental health of girls. I’d also love to see our generation take a stand —after all, we did manage to stop a war.
“that true beauty lies in the imperfections” I love this line. It sums up life so perfectly.
I agree; it totally expresses what life –and people—are all about.
PS Thanks for commenting; so glad to hear from someone named “Alli”; my daughter also spells her name the same way.