Everyone has things about themselves they would like to change. Even the "beautiful people" spend their fair share of time in front of the mirror wishing something about the iamge looking back at them were different. It is not abnormal or wrong to look at ones self with a degree of criticism. But the extent to which you let the "imperfections" you find control your self image is where problems can arise. It isn't easy to ignore the soft sell in the media of perfection as easily attainable with a few minor adjustments. But if perfection were easily attainable wouldn't we all be perfect? If we were all perfect, wouldn't we be so very boring?? In accepting our appearances we become better able to appreciate true beauty.

Naomi Wolfe had it wrong, beauty isn't a myth, perfection is. The truth is, the kind of physical beauty that makes it on to magazine covers isn't as rare as you would think. On any given day, at any given school, at any given mall, you can find hundreds of examples of physical beauty. Each and every one of those examples of physical beauty would be flawed in somebody's eyes. But with eyes closed the flaws disappear and, instead of hundreds of examples of physical beauty, there are thousands of examples of TRUE beauty. True beauty is in a voice, in the words being spoken, in actions and in choices. It is a shame that so much of the value of beauty is placed on images of physical perfection. In reality, beauty has flaws. Even the faces on the magazine covers don't really measure up to the standards of perfection that they sell to you. They are retouched and re-imaged to such a degree that the most human qualities disappear all together. There are many beautiful faces, and few if none of them are perfect!

It is time to look beyond the air brushed photos and personally trained bodies of celebrities and see the true picture. How can you be expected to hold true to a standard of beauty that is marred by perfection? Physical beauty is not the most important thing in the world and it should never be the most important thing in your life. While it is healthy to want to be the most attractive "you" possible, it is not healthy to do whatever it takes to see that "you". The media images should not be seen as targets or goals, but as works of art. Like Michealangelo's David or the Mona Lisa, media images today are nothing more than artistic stylings of our age. In most cases the models themselves are airbrushed and retouched to be flawless - the flaws of humanity stripped out of their faces in order to sell and seduce. Sure they are beautiful to look at, but they are not realistic images of beauty. We are so caught up in living up to these images that we don't stop to think that perfection and beauty aren't at all the same. No body is perfect - no body should want to be!

BODY IMAGE & BEAUTY LINKS

* Since 1959 the average weight of Miss America has decreased by 25 pounds, while the average height has increased by only 3 inches. 40 years ago the average Miss America wore a size 10 dress, today the average size is 2. (SOURCE: MODE Magazine, June 2000)
** SOURCE - Joint poll by Seventeen Magazine and WFTV in Orlando, Florida. See complete results for more information.

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