Today I read an article in the newspaper that more and more people are turning to botox to stop the aging process. Even teenagers are now starting to use the muscle relaxing substance, long before they start getting wrinkles. Its getting so popular that now the sellers let the product be injected by non-professionals, this increases the risk for complications. People are obsessed with looking and staying young, and you know what the sad thing is? All of that is created by money.
You may say : no, people just want to look good, it makes them feel confident, its natural look at animals etc...
Now using the animal kingdom as an excuse is pretty stupid. You can decide what you do and not have to blindly follow what you see happening in nature, if you know it is abusive and dishonest to do so. You know who you are, you see your thuoghts and feel your emotions. Either you follow it, or you direct yourself.
2nd of all, people only feel good because in the particular culture they are judged as pretty by others, and they use others judgements to feel good about themselves. Maintaining a very superficial society that does not value life, but values pictures and abuse instead.
This "beauty" is also not something universal and standard. If you look at our own cultural history - you can see that in every time period there was another form of fashion, or what was considered beautyfull. In some countries in this world, tiny crippled feet are considered beauty, or long necks, or disks in your under lip, or having wrinkles. In Mauritania for example, the fatter the more attractive. And if your divorced a few times then thats a bonus because it means your desireable. Even in our own culture there are different styles of what is considered to be beautyfull, although we always have 1 bigger mainstream style that most follow.
I am going to take our culture as an example, because I have direct experience with it. From when we are children we get bombarded with images on tv and newspapers about how we should look like. We see titles like "Get Summer-hot with your new beach body!" or "Become a guy-magnet with these killers shoes". The amount of commercials and advertisement is huge. From teeth, to hair, to clothing.... I mean your never good enough, 1 day your in and the next your out. There is always something to apparantly fix about you because, god forbid that you might suddenly be fine with the way you look and stop buying things and trying to be part of a picture of desire. God no, we cant have that now can we!
Because thats exactly whats behind it - MONEY. Beauty sells and thats why it is advertised without the consideration of all the beings that buy into it, without taking in consideration the children that are being brainwashed to be pre-occupied with their looks and forget about life itself.
And the adults reinforce this in their own children which is basicly abusing them. By treating them as less then who they are as life - and having them obey to the picture world, creating desires into them to constantly look for outside approval.
People who create these commercials, who create the adds and magazines and fashion industry, do it to SELL and make money. Because they know that people will buy into it. They make the commercials as appealing as possible, photoshopping and airbrushing, to have woman want to look like that, and write these trigger sentences to make them think they HAVE to get that. Many of the products advertised are also tested on animals and created by sweatshop workers. But thats ofcourse never shown to the consumer. Imagine seeing an add about make-up mixed with clips of animal experimentation. Man that sales would go down! See how images manipulate you? How you will only care when seeing certain things. Please dont let your desires direct you as a slave. Do your own thinking, investigate for yourself, find out what really drives you and if you really want to allow this in this world.
When I was a child my family constantly showed me off to others because I was "pretty" and had this big curly hair and everyone was like "oooooooo what a beautyfull child". What do you think that does to a child? What kind of message does it give a child to be constantly judged on the way he/she looked. It seriously fucked me up, thats what I can say. Because during my growing up, starting at a very very young age, I kept thinking about how others would see me. At 9 I remember in summer I was wearing short shorts and a tank top and I was thinking if the popular boys would notice me and that I looked pretty. WTF. I didnt even want to be with the boys I just wanted to be found pretty and seen. It got more extensive the more I participated in it and walked in this world. I was jealous about girls that looked more pretty then me and tried to fit in with the way I looked, my clothing, my hair, my face etc... At around age 14 I started to wear make-up to hide my so called "imperfections". The blue under my eyes, the pimples on my skin. I had a ritual were each day I would bring on brown foundation on my face, then blush on my cheeks, then eyeliner and mascara. I also dyed my hair and tried out different hairstyles that I knew would be seen as pretty. I were tight pants and most of my shirts showed a little bit of my belly. At age 17 I slowly started to stop that shit, I stopped wearing all make up and at that time I was a vegetarian so my family was like: you look pale, you look this and that etc... comparing it to my past, and also assuming it was because I was a vegetarian. But they never considered the fact that I simply wasnt wearing tons of make up to cover myself up. DUH! that I look more pale then. I always looked pale, from when I was a child. But now suddenly they have somethingto blame it all, and have this false image about me because I had worn make up for so long, presenting a fake image to them. I recently shaved off my hair to break through my fear of that, and to stand as a symbol against our superficial system, that places money and profit above life. It is unnacceptable to say the least. For that visit http://www.faceworldfaceoff.com/ . So as effect of that some family members freaked out, saying that I am the picture I am, not who I am inside and basicly that they dont like who I am inside.
See what a fake world we have created and what we do to our children? This is what we allow people to become, this is what we allow ourselves to become.
In an equal money system this would simply not be allowed. This is extensive abuse. The value of life would not be denounced to a superficial marketing scam. We want to do whats best for all - and this is clearly NOT what is best for all. It has to stop and the sooner the better. We will create an Equality system that places LIFE as the ultimate value and not profit and money. Profit above life will be elliminated.
So please join us in working on the solution at http://www.equalmoney.org/
Here is a cool article I found about this topic:
Influence of Media on Children & Beauty
There’s a scene in “Toddlers & Tiaras,” the TLC reality series, where 2-year-old Marleigh is perched in front of a mirror, smothering her face with blush and lipstick. She giggles as her mother attempts to hold the squealing toddler still, lathering her legs with self-tanner. “Marleigh loves to get tan,” her mom says, as the girl presses her face against the mirror.
- Children’s Perception of Beauty (Newsweek)
What do these shows have in common? “Extreme makeover”, “I Want a Famous Face” “Little Miss Perfect” “Toddlers & Tiaras”. These are shows centered around raising the bar of what is considered the norm when it comes to beautifying our children.
With reality TV shows, thousands of beauty product commercials, air-brushed magazine ads, and beautiful celebrities adorning every movies we watch, the norm of the importance of beauty has changed dramatically. In 2004, a survey by NPD Group showed that on average, girls started to use beauty products at the age of 17. Today that average is 13.
But even that figure could be an overstatement. According to a market research firm Experian,
But even that figure could be an overstatement. According to a market research firm Experian,
- 43 percent of 6 to 9 year olds are already using lipstick or lip gloss
- 38 percent are using hairstyling products
- 12 percent use other other cosmetic products
More Statistics on Beauty
- Cosmetic Surgery Procedures for Under 18 – Doubled last 10 years
- 14% of Botox injections given to 19-34 age group, seeking “preventative treatments”
- [American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery]
- 42% of 1st to 3rd Graders want to be thinner
- 81% of 10 years olds fear getting fat
“When you have tweens putting on firming cream… it’s clear they’re looking for imaginary flaws,” – Harvard psychologist Nancy EtcoffFull Article on Beauty
True Cost of Lifetime Beauty
Economy got you down? Trying to pinch a few pennies here and there? How about cutting out on some beauty products and enhancements! See the chart below.| Tweens | Teen/20s | 30-40s | 50s | Lifetime | |
| Hair | $1,260 | $15,761 | $23,640 | $169,274 | $209,935 |
| Face | $3,900 | $32,684 | $108,660 | $21,840 | $167,084 |
| Body | $0 | $10,586 | $17,820 | $16,366 | $44,772 |
| Hands/Feet | $2,010 | $6,834 | $8,040 | $10,452 | $27,336 |
| Totals | $7,170 | $65,865 | $158,160 | $217,932 | $449,127 |
| Tweens | Teen/20s | 30-40s | 50s | Lifetime | |
| Hair | $1,260 | $15,761 | $23,640 | $169,274 | $209,935 |
| Face | $3,900 | $32,684 | $108,660 | $21,840 | $167,084 |
| Body | $0 | $10,586 | $17,820 | $16,366 | $44,772 |
| Hands/Feet | $2,010 | $6,834 | $8,040 | $10,452 | $27,336 |
| Totals | $7,170 | $65,865 | $158,160 | $217,932 | $449,127 |
cool insights - thanks !
ReplyDeleteGreat research, thanks a lot Ann!
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