When my blonde haired blue-eyed daughter was in 4th and 5th grade one of her best friends was named Lisa. Lisa lived across the street from our house with her grandmother and mother. Her father was dead– killed many years earlier. He was a revolutionist in his home land of China and fought for the rights and liberties that American’s so often take for granted. He was a very well educated man and certainly someone Lisa could speak of and remember with pride.
Lisa was a very bright girl, part of a small group of children in the school district who were targeted for a gifted and talented program. It wasn’t a surprise. She came from a well educated and cultured family. Indeed, from all outside appearances Lisa had it all—smart, petite, cute, gifted. But, Lisa hated who she was. At least she hated how she looked.
I can recall my shock when this little girl told me she wanted to “fix her eyes” so that no one could tell she was Chinese. She didn’t want to look like her father, mother and grandmother—she wanted to look like Heather. She didn’t want people to see she was Asian. She wanted to look like the “beautiful women on the TV.” Even at that tender age she was full of angst that no one could love her and want to marry her because of how she looked.
Over the years I’ve met many girls just like Lisa. And each time I meet one I curse the movie, beauty and fashion industry that has sent the message to girls they need to be a certain size and look a certain way to be beautiful and “right”.
This message has created a frantic frenzy to change what people look like and how they live their lives. From invasive actions that change their eyes, their noses, the shape of their chin or brow or cheeks, the size of their breasts, rear ends—you name it surgeries are performed to change all kinds of physical characteristics. They get their skin dyed to become lighter or risk skin cancer sitting under tanning lights to make their skin darker. They get their teeth straightened and whitened. They wear contacts to change their eye color. The list is endless.
Jessica Simpson went around the world to discover what kinds of things women endure to become more attractive. I applaud her effort to heighten awareness about the extremes measures women take to become more attractive. Her expose was shocking. These range from homeopathic routines to improve skin care, hair and general body health to following dietary regimes and eating habits that are life threatening and abusive. It has even come to light there’s a dangerous surgery both women and men risk to cut their leg bones in order to add braces to their legs to make them taller.
I feel for mothers raising daughters today. The hype about being slim and beautiful is everywhere—the internet, the TV, the magazines. It surrounds them at school whispered in bathrooms as girls cluster together or openly talked about as they eat their lunches or engage in their daily activities. It’s in the clothing ads—in the food ads—in the perfume and cosmetic ads—even in the sports and active lifestyle ads. Girls and women are bombarded with messages on the global trends to be beautiful and slim. It’s time to kill that message. It’s time to tell the world it’s about being intelligent, leading an active lifestyle about being unique and individual. It’s time to have another revolution one that saves the women and girls. It’s about time don’t you think?
dianeswords.wordpress.com 