Okay, so, today I was watching television, as usual, when random probability struck. I saw ten straight commercials for beauty products, weight-loss sorcery, and products being advertised by persons waaaaaaaay to hot to be real. It made me think: "Have we become a nation obsessed with beauty?" I mean, sure, it's nice to be beautiful and whatnot, but give it a rest already. We can't all be perfectly-chiseled guys or barbie-beauty girls. Unfortunately, some of us don't realize that, especially children. Some people eventually come to think that because they're not advertising-level beauty, they must be hideous. I myself have battled with that notion, before realizing that it was ridiculous. However, some of us never realize that we can't attain that level of beauty. So we strive for it. And sacrifice for it. Often, too much.
And what's wrong with being average, or even ugly? People have many other facets that determine their worth: Personality, Intelligence, Perseverance and Ingenuity, to name a few. I lost my train of thought right here when I was called away to do the dishes, so maybe someone else can help me pick it back up. COMMENTS! MOAR COMMENTS!
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You are absolutely right Greg, this is a nation obsessed with looking good, and the beauty industry is making billions every year, and people are spending hoards of unnecesary dollars on these products. And it keeps growing, it just seems ridiculous how concerned with our appearance we are as a country as a whole.
ReplyDeleteI like the way you phrased that, "Love or Obsession." It seems we have a tendency to overlook the good, more 'loveable,' important qualities in a person because we are obsessed with certain images we have to look like.
ReplyDeleteI just came across this photo album of "ambush makeovers," which even just in name is pretty awful, because one assumes a person being ambushed doesn't really expect or necessarily want a make-over until they're convinced they need it by those offering it. To get to the point, the album is of people who are probably over the age of 60 and look perfectly fine the way they are because they look natural for that age. The 'after the makeover' pictures are horrifying. Bizarre wrinkle-covering make-up, de-aging hair cuts and dying, more trendy fashion... why can't people be told they're allowed to just age without making them self-criticize because they don't adhere to society's standards of having the old look young? The result sort of sickens me >:C Leave grandma alone. Creepy zombified old people ftl. Here's the link: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23694559/
And you make another good point about children even having to see themselves as inferior for being less-perfect-than-advertised. Advertisement seems to strive to make people feel bad about themselves. It sells products, but also makes America one of the most heavily-afflicted countries of anorexia and other eating disorders.
Miss Marinello: THATS WHERE I WAS GOING WITH THIS!
ReplyDeleteThe children... I was gonna rant about the children. I, myself was a victim or whatever you wanna call it. I used to think I was an ugly duck, still kinda do, because I'm not Gregory House, I'm not Johnny Depp, and I'm not *insert hot male actor here*
Thanks for helping me pick that back up.
Don't call me Miss Marinello :<
ReplyDeleteYou might like this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zl6hNj1uOkY
ReplyDeleteWell, that video shows what is going on perfectly. It is a genius representation of the real world. Also, the MSNBC link is really freaky. The way children look at this and strive to achieve the perfect look. I think the real problem here is not the children, but the advertisers that are looking at this and asking "How can we make more money?" and not looking at the consequences.
ReplyDeleteHow do you think this effects adults, since they to can strive for this perfect image? Like the MSNBC link, the old people said they were happy with the look but they actually looked like zombies.
You guys are all too funny.
ReplyDeleteGreg, I'm sorry that you have "not learned much from blogging." I hope you don't believe that it's just about practicing your informal writing skills.
I would suggest you spend more time on other people's blogs from all over the web, not just in our class. And maybe take a little more care in your composition with links, images, and research.
There was great potential in this post. Maybe you could blog about the other online activities you engage in. Do you "hang out", "mess around", or "geek out" online?