Beauty

I find it hard to understand why these ads are actually controversial. What I mean to say is that, yes, they are controversial because they are challenging the media definition of Beauty, but media perceptions have long been skewed toward youth as ideal and scrawny looking models to push their image. But as my mother told me all those years ago, beauty is more than that particular image.

I prefer the look of the women in these ads. I find them infinitely more attractive than your average "super" model. Apparently I am the weird one. I hope, for my daughter's sake, that we can manage to impress on her the importance of beauty as an abstract not as an ideal that is defined by the mass consumer mind.

Beauty is in everything and everyone. (Except you. Yes. You there in the back row. I saw that. Stop it.) As she is all of six months old, I don't worry yet. But as you and I know, time flies, and in no time at all I expect that I shall have to worry about what clothing is popular and how she perceives herself.

I never understood the youth ideal that we have. Come on guys - is younger really better? Porn would have you believe so. I remember being 18. I'm having way better sex now than I was then. (Maybe because I'm having it now) Even if we ignore porn altogether (which is sort of a mistake - I'm not sure porn does not expose societies basest desires and perversions. A warped mirror of mainstream thought if you will) "beauty" and magazines across the board push younger and younger girls in our face. Look at the Brittney Spears phenomenon. There is no talent there, and yet, her album went.. What platinum? Multi-platinum? Who cares? Did she present herself as a naughty little schoolgirl in her video? Why yes. Yes she did. Did she dress in head to toe shiny red vinyl? Why yes. Yes she did. Did she work with Greg Dark (a porn director before he started doing music videos?) Do I really need to answer that?

Here is the kicker. I don't think she is pretty. I know a lot of guys who do. Yet if I pay attention to the marketing - She is the sex symbol that I should be lusting after. (Not so much anymore. She seems bound and determined to destroy her career. Let us pray.)

I know. I'm rehashing an old subject. The people that I know that read this are probably in agreement with me that society’s perceptions of beauty and what beauty actually is, are vastly different. I hope that dove succeeds with their marketing campaign. American Apparel, for all their other creepy faults, uses the same idea. Real people are beautiful. Let us hope that this idea creeps into the public mindset and refuses to go away.

Technorati tags: beauty, perception, fashion, pornography,porn, body issues