Woman Wednesdays: March 12, 2014

Insecurities

Hello, y'all!  This is my first attempt at blogging, so I'm not quite used to the idea yet.  I hope you can just bear with me as I try my hand at this.  :)

For Woman Wednesday posts, we'll discuss either the many issues facing girls today, advice on relationships, or just why it's fabulous being a girl!  For today's post, I'd like to consider one of the problems that girls face all the time.  Our insecurities.  Now, some of you might scoff at me and think of that one girl you know who is perfect.  Gorgeous hair, gorgeous eyes, looks like she stepped out of a model magazine, plus a personality that makes everyone just adore her.  She could be a girl you pass everyday in school or at dance, your best friend, or even that one celebrity that you've always admired.  But did you know that the girl you look up to struggles with doubts and fears, too?  It's a part of life.  As human beings, we all have our flaws.  Not a single one of us is perfect.  In fact, many of us most likely suffer from very similar insecurities!  But why are these insecurities caused?  Well, there's actually a pretty simple answer for that question.

Have you seen the magazines out there today?  When we step into any convenience store, we are bombarded with pictures of gorgeous women, such as this one:

Faith Hill, a gorgeous woman.  She looks flawless in that pictures, doesn't she?  Who wouldn't want to look like that?  Due to pictures such as this, we girls feel this pressure caused by society to look perfect, like we just stepped out of a magazine cover.  Since we can't ever attain this goal, we feel like we aren't good enough and that we won't be good enough.  Girls, please!  Don't fall for the sparkling lies of the media and society!  That girl on that magazine cover doesn't actually exist.  She's not real.  The real Faith Hill sits on the left; her photoshopped "twin" is on the right.

Look at those differences.  They removed the wrinkles on her face, bleached her hair, darkened her eye makeup, made her skin "glow," made her arms and waist thinner!  Girls, look at the one on the right.  She looks flawless because they removed her flaws.  But now I want you to look at the one on the left.  To me, she looks absolutely beautiful.  She's more beautiful than the one on the right, because she looks real, like a regular human being.  

Now, of course, we can't all look like the Faith Hill on the left.  But this is just an example to show us that we need to stop trying to look like magazine cover models because they don't exist.  We cannot be something that isn't real.  We see pictures of celebrities, and every single one of them looks perfect, and we wonder, "Why don't I look like that?"  Well, you know what?  Neither do they.  Do me a favor, please?  Watch this video:  

                                    

We are pressured by society to look perfect.  Since we can't, we begin to feel that we aren't good enough.  Thus, our insecurities.  Too big, too little, too short, too tall; our fears are endless.  However, we need to stop this.  We need to stand up to the media for ourselves and tell them that enough is enough.  We all have flaws, but these flaws don't define you.  While we should always try to be the best that we can be, we shouldn't constantly criticize ourselves because we don't look perfect. That is not what God meant for us to do.  You are all beautiful, each of you.  Always remember that.  

This method of photoshop that is used too frequently today not only affects us girls and women but also the men.  As men admire the pictures of these gorgeous celebrities, little thoughts begin to pop into their heads.  At first, they're just slight murmurings, but soon they begin to take a more serious effect.  "Why doesn't my wife/girlfriend look like this?  If they just dieted/worked out/ tried a little bit harder, I could have a supermodel wife!  Wouldn't I be the talk of the neighborhood?"  Of course, not all men have this train of thought.  However, it is unfortunately quite common.  As the men view the fake celebrities, their thoughts and ideas are twisted.  No longer can they be perfectly happy in their marriage, for there is that layer of discontent.  

Photoshop, while it is not an evil thing, is being used for horrible purposes.  Why can't we leave the models of magazine covers as they are in real life?  Why change them so that they are perfect?  Why inject this image of necessary flawlessness into the mind of girls, starting at an extremely young age?  We need to stop this.  We need to stand up, be firm.  It might seem difficult, but a little effort can go a long way.  We are the future generation.

Well, I hope y'all enjoyed my first blog post!  I'm still not quite used to the whole thing, but I'm trying.  ;)  If you have any comments, feel free to leave them below!  If you liked this post, please subscribe to our blog (you can enter your email at the bottom of the page), Twitter, and Instagram! Thanks bunches!  ~Mercy