Today I was grateful for:
1. My feet not hurting after walking as much as I did yesterday
2. Hubby announcing that the kid's transparent backpack was working -- when he picked her up after school, she looked at her bag and ran back to the playground for her forgotten jacket.
3. Sweet hubby plugging in my car to charge for me this morning.
4. The rain that fell today instead of yesterday while I was outdoors.
5. My singing teacher saying "you nailed it" after singing the song I learned last week
3. Sweet hubby plugging in my car to charge for me this morning.
4. The rain that fell today instead of yesterday while I was outdoors.
5. My singing teacher saying "you nailed it" after singing the song I learned last week
Something learned and a hope:
Reading about the prevalence of plastic surgery in South Korea, it occurred to me that perhaps the only thing worse than having impossible ideals of beauty in toys and media, is having the people around you turn into them. As I read about a friend's young daughter struggle with being called fat (even though she isn't) it worried me about how my own daughter might deal with beauty-obsessed society.
I've tried to impress on her that being a good person is far more important than looks. I bring up examples from things she knows like Beast vs Gaston, and ask her which she would pick. I ask her if she would love me less if I looked different. But also, that her own opinion of herself is more important than others' opinion of her. I ask her for her opinion on things constantly, to reinforce that.
I can only hope I've given her the tools she needs to protect herself before society tries to tear her down.
Because of the fact that Society often puts forward "first impression counts" marketers use that and push it up a higher level. Looking pleasant is important, and many times, how you look affects how people treat you. The truth is people do get controlled by visual perspective, and the right thing to do is to ensure that we reinforce the beliefs of "Beauty is skin deep" in our lessons for our kids. I may not go for plastic surgery, or encourage anyone to do so, but if plastic surgery can improve the psychological approval of oneself and can enhance a person's confidence, and that person may have a higher quality of life, then it is not wrong either.
ReplyDeleteI think there's a grey area between using plastic surgery for real and perceived defects. A harelip is worth correcting. The shape of a jawline, not necessarily. If the shape of a jawline is negatively impacting a person's confidence, plastic surgery will not address the root cause -- that person's poor self esteem. How do you think that person will deal with natural aging - wrinkles, etc? A poor self-esteem cannot be simply fixed by surgery.
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