Friday, April 9, 2010

AMERICAN BEAUTY

What is beauty? Is it having the perfect body or flawless skin? Could it be having long, flowing hair or perfectly round breasts? Like all things in life there is a price to pay, especially when it comes to our looks. The physical seems to be all that matters when in reality we are creating an illusion. Inside, there is a giant void that is momentarily filled by our false satisfaction of our reflection in a mirror staring blankly back at us. What happened to accepting oneself and growing from the inside out? Is it really worth harming ourselves to feel desired? Does pain equal happiness? Why must we suffer to feel like we fit in? The answer is because the media has convinced us that looking a certain way will solve all our problems. Apparently, being a size zero and looking like a mannequin will bring us wealth, the perfect partner, a job we love and immortality. Really? I don't think so. At a young age we are manipulated into believing that all our efforts should be channeled into achieving a Barbie-like exterior. Forget education, culture and character. No, these things aren't important. Unfortunately, they are. Think of it as a pie. A freshly baked pie right out of the oven. Your mouth waters when you think of the juicy fruit waiting inside. Maybe it's peaches or apples. You slowly cut a piece being careful not to ruin it's flawless shell and... there's nothing in it. It's just a shell. What's so interesting about an empty shell? I don't know... you tell me.
Till next time...

7 comments:

  1. This is great. I love it! :) Very cool.

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  2. "Charm is deceptive and beauty is passing..." So said the writer of the Proverbs. The analogy of the empty pie is thought provoking as it involves a visual, smell, texture, anticipation of a treat inside - then nothing. It is less than uninteresting; it is disappointing. Though charm and beauty are both wonderful gifts, they are in no way guarantors of happiness or spiritual peace.

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  3. « Comme t’y es belle ! » Merci, les oestrogènes. De grands yeux, des lèvres plus larges, les mâchoires fines, un petit nez… On savait déjà que les canons de la beauté féminine dépendaient du niveau d’oestrogènes, l’hormone sexuelle liée à la fertilité. Mais l'attrait d’une femme est aussi au plus haut durant ses jours fertiles. Des psys ont photographié 59 jeunes femmes âgées entre 18 et 25 ans et analysé leurs niveaux d'œstrogène. Ensuite, ils ont demandé à 30 volontaires, 15 hommes et 15 femmes, d'évaluer leur beauté. Résultat : les hommes comme les femmes ont jugé plus attrayantes les femmes qui avaient des niveaux élevés d’oestrogènes.

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  4. Beauty, apple pie, cherry blossoms, windy picnics, rustling cottonwoods, babbling brooks.

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