So, I'm sitting on my fanny, guzzling the nectar of the gods (aka coffee) and watching "A Baby Story" on TLC. Go ahead and pretend it's something not so lame and henish -- where are my bonbons and Kleenex? -- because it is but a mere piece to the greater puzzle regarding beauty.
Each episode of "A Baby Story" features a different pregnant mother and her family. You get a brief backstory, total TMI labor and delivery, and then the first week or so of motherhood in a neat and tidy 30 minute episode. For the people with their panties in a twist over whether the show features same-sex couples or concern over the ratio of white couples to non-whites, please eat my wake and leave this cynical party post-haste. Away with you!
For everyone else, I noticed something disheartening ...
I watched two episodes. The first episode featured an unattractive, extremely heavy-set woman (yeah she's preggers, but I'm talking large and in charge before she gets knocked up, like hmm ... I'm not going to congratulate her because, frankly, I can't tell if she's pregnant. Rule to live by: telling a fat woman congratulations on her pregnancy is dangerous territory. Proceed with caution.). Coupled with this ample woman is an equally unattractive, heavy-set man. The second episode featured a somewhat fit, attractive man and an attractive and only-heavy-because-she's pregnant woman.
Which couple held my attention? The attractive one. For shame.
I started thinking about other areas of my television viewing. What about the TV show "What Not To Wear" featuring women who are walking, talking fashion don'ts. When the final product is fawned over -- i.e. when the chickie struts her stuff in brand spanking new finery with hair and makeup done by pros -- and they still look ho hum (like this is as good as it gets!) I think to myself, what's the point? You are never going to look truly fabulous if this is the best you can do.
How sick is that?
Let's turn the boob tube off (yes, it's possible. Don't cry, dry your eyes.) and think about real life. What about unattractive people you encounter day-to-day -- friends, family, strangers? Do you unconsciously judge them? Do you like them less, like not going out of your way to help them, because they are unattractive? It starts at a young age. The beautiful people in school are popular. Everyone wants to be their friend as if their beauty will wear off, like a contact high from a sticky icky joint. Beauty is easy because it's visible. Beauties get the dates, the pleasantries of life. Would you open the door for an ugly person or a turbo-hottie? Maybe give up your seat on the bus or subway, help them fix a flat tire on the side of a busy highway ... or simply be nice to them.
Our perception of what is beautiful changed from being realistic to unrealistic because the people we consider beautiful -- "the beautiful people" -- are airbrushed and photoshopped. Even the ones who aren't digitally altered are not natural. They have work done (any area of the body is open season for the knife), workout with personal trainers, have their meals created by chefs. Pretty amazing workout motivation knowing you are gonna get a fatty paycheck to be in a movie or on a TV show if you stay thin.
You can't compare these people to beauties of the past because they have bigger and better tricks up their sleeves. We've created this false concept of beauty because, in many cases, it's not a real person. That's not to say there aren't people who are naturally beautiful but I think, especially in Hollywood, plastic surgery is often the rule and not the exception. The only difference is there are some people who go to extremes and some people who have a lift here, a tuck here. Also it's more prevalent with women than men ... well most men -- funny how Tom Cruise is lookin' 25 years younger. Very interesting indeed.
Beauty is the newish American Dream. We want to get rich and famous and we wanna do it now with the least bit effort possible! We want our fat sucked out, our boobs pumped up, and everything reshaped so we look beautiful. And why not? Beauties are movie stars (if you want em ugly they just ugly em up -- Charlize Theron in "Monster"), models, grace the cover of magazines and advertisements, are what your better half ogles or thinks about when he or she masturbates. Unless they're into UPP -- Ugly People Porn. Which, in that case, do your thing girl.
The biggest issue I wonder about is: when is enough, enough? When are you going to be satisfied? What happens if you get your fat sucked out, your boobs pumped up, your face cut up like a jack-o-lantern and you still look ho hum? Or, what if you get the full monty of plastic surgery and just aren't happy like you thought you'd be? People get old whether we want to admit it or not -- ding ding, the key to the fascination with plastic surgery. We, as a culture, fear death and despise the elderly so why not prolong it physically by looking like walking, talking perfection?
What are we teaching our children, the future of this country? You can buy perfection.
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