Wednesday, October 18, 2006

Dove. The Perception of Beauty

So.. we had a sick day here at this residence. My oldest was/has been under the weather for a few days. Within minutes of waking up this morning I could just tell she was headed for a "bad" day. So I pulled the plug on work and school for us.. and we just spent the day together.

When I tell you what she told me here as I tucked her in bed tonight .. you would just have to believe me.. b/c this is the most tender child I have ever met.

She said.. "Mommy, you are such a blessing to me." I kid you not. Out of the mouth of a 6 year old.

...

I watched some of the TODAY show this morning. They featured this You Tube video.. and I thought it was interesting enough to post.

I know what is out "there" about the definition of beauty. I do not know how I escaped some of the peer pressure out there.. maybe b/c my parents (read mom) limited the television I watched.. but even 1 -1.5 decades later.. the pressure for girls is that much more intense.

Oprah has this "link" discussion.. I do not know where it is.. somewhere on the site.. it lists upcoming shows or possible shows.. and one of them is entitled:

"Do beautiful women have it easier?"

Loaded Question. Any thoughts?

4 comments:

lisagh said...

Although we don't want to admit it, I do think that beautiful people have it easier than others. It's a sad comment on the state of things.

However, there have been studies which explain this phenomenon as being traceable to waaaay back in the caveman days when beauty signified health and therefore desirability to have as one's mate. Creating strong, resilient offspring was an instinctual quest for survival and perpetrating the species. (of course the standards of beauty were different then).

Whatever it is, cute girls get more perks and attention than their plain counterparts. I've seen it happen a million times.

hot potato said...

isn't it obvious? of course beauty wins---initially. sometimes i wish the people who put tv shows together would stop saying the same thing as if it's a new discussion. something like "born beautiful...now what?" or "born beautiful...what is your responsibility and how can you contribute in spite of yourself..."

but beauty can be the beginning of the end too. often times beauty paralyzes that person from developing themselves on the inside. they show up as emotionally delayed. we've all seen this. there's just not much there--they've bought into their own hype--they aren't as interesting as someone who had less attention for how they looked and in so doing had more time to figure themselves out---it's rare to find a beautiful person who has more layers to them than just the one. one who is equally fabulous inwardly and is motivated to see themselves as a "work in progress" like the rest of us.

also beauty attracts both good and bad. not always a good thing if you aren't strong deep down and you don't know your own limits.

Shell in the City said...

Have you seen the show Ugly Betty? It deals with beauty/society issues. Betty is not physically attractive, but her inner beauty/personality makes you forget what she looks like. (Although she should lose the glasses & braces!)

jennifer m. said...

I have yet to watch the show Ugly Betty... but I have heard good things about it.

I do think cute girls get more perks for sure.

I have even seen my own girls respond to "pretty" people differently in situations such as a "church nursery" setting ... where the person in charge was not attractive.. they would cry more... when I left.. or on other occasions.. starting when they were very, very young..too young to have been persuaded by pop culture..

it is interesting though.