If you haven’t been on the receiving end of one of these sneers, then either:
a) You haven’t been looking hard enough or
b) You’re the one sneering at the rest of us.
If you apply to b), then I am seriously considering telling you to get the hell off of this blog right this instance because this is definitely not the place for judgemental people. However, I think that if we can learn from our own mistakes, then we can make the world around us a little bit better, so read on. Maybe we’ll all learn something.
Over the past few months, I’ve learnt one thing if nothing else;
First appearances are often, if not always, deceiving.
Look in a mirror, what do you see? Are you young? Old? Pretty? 'Ugly'? Thin? Chubby? Are you a conformist? Or are you 'out there'? You could describe your appearance until you're blue in the face, but it’s going to change nothing.
People initially see you as a face and a body, nothing more. If you start talking to them, if you start befriending them, then the only reason they would see you as a face and a body would be to recognise you. They don’t care what you look like. If they are a good friend, they will love you for who you are, whatever you look like and whatever your body shape is.
Yet, people are still insanely self-conscious. Dieting, plastic surgery and botox are common words in today’s vanity obsessed society. The new generation are exposed to these words daily, whether it’s on TV, in movies, on magazines covers or even the adults in their lives talking about it amongst themselves. Think about it, have you ever seen a fat Disney princess? No. Have you ever seen an ugly Disney Prince? No. Do they put ordinary people on magazine covers? No. Do the actors and actresses on TV/In movies give a good representation on what your average man or woman looks like? No. Children are being lied to every single day, when they didn’t even ask a question in the first place. We’ve got to the point where girls are prancing around in their high heels, wearing provocative clothing by the age of seven and boys are denying sweets so they can watch their figure. That’s not right.
What about us older generation? Why do we have such an obsession with diets, plastic surgery and botox? Is it because we aspire to be celebrities in our own rights? Is it because we attribute the perfect body to perfect situations (I.e. good job, beautiful partner, big group of friends) due to the role that the media has played on our lives? Or have we simply been misled that losing that three extra pounds will make you much happier than you were before? I wish I had the answers. I don’t.
The thing that truly sickens me is when brands discriminating against certain sizes of people.
Any company who influences extreme dieting in order to fit into their clothes either explicitly (which has been the case in the past) or implicitly (only offering certain sizes in their clothing) should be brought to a stop straight-away.
The clothing industry have an obligation to ensure that all their potential customers can find clothes that fit them, not just the skinny ones, because they would make good walking advertisements.
These same walking advertisements? The majority of them turn into the sneering people that I was speaking about at the very start of this post. They seem to only take people at face value, missing out what is truly important in life and seeing things in only monetary value. Vanity appears to make you bitter, hateful and judgemental If you can see the timeless beauty, the beauty that time cannot diminish or steal from us (our hearts, minds and souls) then you are already better than anyone who sneers you for being different, or not conventionally pretty, or poor.
Just remember:
- The modern definition of “Beautiful” exists only in Photoshop.
- “Skinny” is not a synonym for “happy“.
- To see outer beauty is a sense, to see inner beauty is a blessing.
- Individuality is not a sin.
