Oresai
01-06-2009, 07:06 AM
:D
According to an article on the morning tv show, people are depressed because, of course, of the recession, the flu epidemic, etc...not to mention the weather!
So what are they doing, to cheer themselves up?
Buying wigs.....
Yes, apparently, buying and donning a wig can cheer you up, by making you feel `new`, and different. :D
On a serious note it did make me wonder how much our appearance influences the way we feel, and, in turn, how we act in everyday life.
I`m genuinely not a shallow person...mainly because I`ve met, throughout life, various gorgeous looking people who are `empty` inside, or who have nothing to offer other than being a pretty accessory. In fact some of them have been downright horrible people. This is because of their looks, directly. Feted and lauded throughout their lives, pandered to, spoiled, simply because they looked pretty, they developed weak characters and got so used to such treatement, became quite demanding and childish people.
On the other hand (yes, using extremes as example here ;) ) I have met those whom society normally shuns, called `ugly`, sometimes disfigured or born without any saving graces by way of aesthetics, who have been lovely, kind and honourable people.
I guess the bulk of us fall somewhere in between....average, fine looking, not especially beautiful nor ugly.
Women, especially, are very hung up on the way we look. Conditioned to believe that unless we retain youth and beauty we`ll be ignored or worse, treated badly, this is perpetrated by our own selves most of all.
I think it`s a fact that we do actually feel better when we look our best, it genuinely does affect our mood, and concern over the way we look is part and package of our whole being.
Sadly though, it can be taken to extremes, which is where issues like eating disorders or even rape etc come into it.
I read a disturbing article in a magazine lately, that those who dress well and look their best actually receive better treatment from doctors and hospitals over those who are too ill to care about how they look. That, to me, is appalling.
The world is a visually led place..we actively seek out beauty. In our surroundings, in clothes, in the way people look most of all.
We are drawn to it, for many reasons, including the sometimes mistaken (imo) subconscious view that beauty automatically equals health.
And that`s fine. The shame is in shunning or reacting negatively to those folks not naturally blessed with an abundance of beauty.
The cult of beauty has been with us forever. From ancient times to now, men have sought, fought and died for, the most beautiful women.
Women have gone to ridiculous lengths likewise, for the most handsome men.
It`s human nature.
But it can be harmful. Think of the lead painted ladies in Elizabethan times, dying to have white skin...
or, at another extreme, the Chinese ladies with childlike feet, tortured and disfigured to get such tiny appendages.
Nowadays, it`s children as young as six or seven becoming bulimic, fearing being called `fat`, or wearing sluttish clothes before their young bodies are even fully formed, teens starving themselves to look like the ever popular stick insect despite the research showing most healthy men prefer curves and a womanly shape...
endless plastic surgery resulting in women in their sixties with the faces of a thirty something but the body fitting their true age...(yuck...)
and worse, the cult of the plastic, Barbie like woman, where the blonde, smooth faced, pouting girl with fake large breasts, impossibly tiny waist (normally large breasts comes with a naturally curvy figure) and no hips at all.
I genuinely think there is nothing wrong with seeking beauty, for ourselves and in others. Where I think it goes wrong is in placing it on a pedestal which becomes unattainable for many folks, in valuing it over and above other, more lasting qualities, and in actively despising or dismissing those not naturally or unnaturally blessed with youth, smooth skin and pretty features.
So, how shallow are you? ;) Brave enough to admit to it?
And, I think it`s more fun to buy a wig and wear that on occasion, than go for another facelift or implants. :D
I`m as fluffy as the next woman when it comes to girly things like hair, clothes and makeup. Just like to think I`ve got it in perspective. :D
According to an article on the morning tv show, people are depressed because, of course, of the recession, the flu epidemic, etc...not to mention the weather!
So what are they doing, to cheer themselves up?
Buying wigs.....
Yes, apparently, buying and donning a wig can cheer you up, by making you feel `new`, and different. :D
On a serious note it did make me wonder how much our appearance influences the way we feel, and, in turn, how we act in everyday life.
I`m genuinely not a shallow person...mainly because I`ve met, throughout life, various gorgeous looking people who are `empty` inside, or who have nothing to offer other than being a pretty accessory. In fact some of them have been downright horrible people. This is because of their looks, directly. Feted and lauded throughout their lives, pandered to, spoiled, simply because they looked pretty, they developed weak characters and got so used to such treatement, became quite demanding and childish people.
On the other hand (yes, using extremes as example here ;) ) I have met those whom society normally shuns, called `ugly`, sometimes disfigured or born without any saving graces by way of aesthetics, who have been lovely, kind and honourable people.
I guess the bulk of us fall somewhere in between....average, fine looking, not especially beautiful nor ugly.
Women, especially, are very hung up on the way we look. Conditioned to believe that unless we retain youth and beauty we`ll be ignored or worse, treated badly, this is perpetrated by our own selves most of all.
I think it`s a fact that we do actually feel better when we look our best, it genuinely does affect our mood, and concern over the way we look is part and package of our whole being.
Sadly though, it can be taken to extremes, which is where issues like eating disorders or even rape etc come into it.
I read a disturbing article in a magazine lately, that those who dress well and look their best actually receive better treatment from doctors and hospitals over those who are too ill to care about how they look. That, to me, is appalling.
The world is a visually led place..we actively seek out beauty. In our surroundings, in clothes, in the way people look most of all.
We are drawn to it, for many reasons, including the sometimes mistaken (imo) subconscious view that beauty automatically equals health.
And that`s fine. The shame is in shunning or reacting negatively to those folks not naturally blessed with an abundance of beauty.
The cult of beauty has been with us forever. From ancient times to now, men have sought, fought and died for, the most beautiful women.
Women have gone to ridiculous lengths likewise, for the most handsome men.
It`s human nature.
But it can be harmful. Think of the lead painted ladies in Elizabethan times, dying to have white skin...
or, at another extreme, the Chinese ladies with childlike feet, tortured and disfigured to get such tiny appendages.
Nowadays, it`s children as young as six or seven becoming bulimic, fearing being called `fat`, or wearing sluttish clothes before their young bodies are even fully formed, teens starving themselves to look like the ever popular stick insect despite the research showing most healthy men prefer curves and a womanly shape...
endless plastic surgery resulting in women in their sixties with the faces of a thirty something but the body fitting their true age...(yuck...)
and worse, the cult of the plastic, Barbie like woman, where the blonde, smooth faced, pouting girl with fake large breasts, impossibly tiny waist (normally large breasts comes with a naturally curvy figure) and no hips at all.
I genuinely think there is nothing wrong with seeking beauty, for ourselves and in others. Where I think it goes wrong is in placing it on a pedestal which becomes unattainable for many folks, in valuing it over and above other, more lasting qualities, and in actively despising or dismissing those not naturally or unnaturally blessed with youth, smooth skin and pretty features.
So, how shallow are you? ;) Brave enough to admit to it?
And, I think it`s more fun to buy a wig and wear that on occasion, than go for another facelift or implants. :D
I`m as fluffy as the next woman when it comes to girly things like hair, clothes and makeup. Just like to think I`ve got it in perspective. :D