Wednesday, April 09, 2008

Real Beauty

Today I came across this video, which is just brilliant.  The irony is that today I have a RAGING pimple on my left cheek, the size of which I haven't seen since college.  I was feeling very self-conscious about my cheek, but the flaws on this model's skin actually made me feel better.  We're all flawed; some of us are better at applying makeup.

What most fascinated me was the elongating of the model's neck.  Is an Audrey Hepburn neck considered more attractive than a standard neck?  I have a longer neck than average... I guess I should be grateful?

It seems to me that all this beautifying is downright lying.  It's no wonder I have self-esteem issues when every magazine photo I see has been airbrushed and Photoshopped to death.  I can't compete with a computer program.

Nor can I compete with the women who have opted to spend thousands on plastic surgery.  This false pursuit of perfection is one of the reason I moved away from Los Angeles, but the perfection mentality has infiltrated and taken over San Antonio, too.  I see it every day at the gym, the kids' schools, even grocery shopping at HEB... ridiculously skinny women with silicone bowling balls on their chests whose hair is meticulously coifed and whose outfit cost more than my mortgage.  And then there's me, who right now is wearing non-designer workout clothes and an ill-fitting baseball cap because I haven't had time to shower yet.  (Hey, even I know better than to go out in public with a serious case of bedhead.  But throwing on a hat takes 10 seconds, while the coifed women postponed their errands until they'd showered, moussed, styled and sprayed.  And I don't have time for that.)  

So here I am, with all my perceived flaws.  I have cellulite, thick ankles, an unusually large posterior, a size 34-A chest, a huge zit on my cheek, and a spattering of gray roots.  And you know what?  I'm going to keep telling myself I'm beautiful because I'm REAL.  

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