I have been thinking about physical beauty recently, with all the media and societal pressure to be attractive on a physical level. What does that even mean? It's so ridiculous to even try to describe it since everyone has such a different opinion of what beauty is. Is it long hair or short or bald? Blond, brunette, or redhead? Muscular or thin or plump? Blue eyes, brown eyes, or green eyes? (I have no idea why I've listed all these things in threes!)
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder as we have heard a hundred times but it is absolutely true. As humans we seem to never appreciate what we have when we have it anyway. My dear friend Annie and I have lamented, that when we were young and hot we had NO idea we were, and thought we were ugly and fat, etc. Now we are older, wiser, and have a lot more self confidence and are content with who we are.
Yesterday I saw the movie The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, and it was a great movie, but one of the things that struck me is how beautiful the lead actresses were and not by Hollywood standards. The female leads are Judi Dench, Maggie Smith, and Celia Imrie. They are older and to their credit have not done all the plastic surgery to make them wrinkle free etc. and they are stunning! I wish that would catch on here in the US so people could relax and be themselves. And by people I mean women! Men are not as confined to the beauty myth that women seem to be in.
As long as I'm on this topic, another movie worth seeing is Miss Representation. A documentary speaking on what Hollywood and the media is doing to women regarding how they look. Some people are taking a stand and not getting "work" done on their faces even if it means not getting a job. That takes guts but I applaud them for it.
Rock on for aging naturally. Thank you Judi Dench and others for keeping it real.
To me, beauty is what a person brings to the world. Your beautiful jewelry, someones gracious eyes, a soft touch, a warm heart, the feeling you take a way from an encounter. Kindness. Simple things that make you FEEL. Not the size, hair, eyes, all of that. But then yet, I too have wanted to be smaller, and all kinds of crazy other things. To keep it real, we just need to take the time to talk and care about people, and LISTEN to them. Everyone has worth and offers something you aren't even aware of. The physical stuff is just the shell that houses all the wonderful pieces of each person.
ReplyDeleteOops. I guess I should have replied here instead of below. Still learning and not many chances to practice.
DeleteFirst off can I tell you how happy it makes me that you read my blog at all, and then actually take the time to respond. Thank you so much for that gift. And to your point, yes it's just a shell to house all the hopefully wonderful qualities we all have. So many times the prettier the person is, the uglier they really are. I think it's because they get everything handed to them and they don't have to develope beyond their superficial looks.
ReplyDeleteAgreed...and what you have to say is important, valuable, honest, and even funny. So please keep your blog going! Your writing make me think about things and people and my life and so I appreciate that you are doing this. Just a beautiful person expressing what's inside. Now how beautiful is that?
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