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| HELLO GORGEOUS! |
Today let's chat about the beauty industry for a few minutes.
I think every one of us has thumbed through a magazine and stopped to look at a particularly beautiful
woman on the page. We scrutinize her hair, face, skin, and clothes. We may even check out what the
page is selling - then sigh because we could never afford it.
If it were possible, I would demand that fashion magazines hold fast to truth in advertising. Unfortunately,
it just isn't happening.
It was the Dove company that showed an ordinary looking woman in a before and after advertising
campaign. (http://www.campaignforrealbeauty.com/flat4.asp?id=6909)
It was an astonishing thing to see and realize - that beauty can be that distorted. Check it out. It's
fascinating!
More than ever, advertising, movies, reality television, movie videos, etc., scream that we must look a
certain way in order to be perceived as beautiful. This has led record numbers of women into plastic
surgeon offices to change how they look. In teenagers, breast implants and lipo-suction are now
bestowed by parents as graduation or birthday gifts[1].
From 2002 to 2003, according to the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, the number of girls
18 and younger who got breast implants nearly tripled, from 3,872 to 11,326. Among all age groups,
cosmetic implants have skyrocketed in popularity, according to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons.
In 2004, according to the ASPS, about 247,000 women got implants for augmentation, compared with
32,000 in 1992. This is 3 years ago. I'm sure the numbers have grown phenomenally since then.
Some patients undergo multiple operations, acquiring smaller noses and bigger breasts, or have a tummy
tuck or lipo-suction. Other procedures that have become more popular among teenagers chin implants,
which are sometimes performed at the same time as nose jobs.
With those sort of growing statistics and readily available "buy now, pay later" options, women are
changing what they look like on the outside at an alarming rate. Problem is, if they aren't happy with who
they are on the inside, satisfaction with changes to the outside will be temporary.
While there is nothing wrong with changing our looks, the reasoning behind that change needs to be a
healthy one. It is vital to base your self esteem on something worthwhile and unchanging. Unlike the
beauty industry, God will never change and what He thinks of you will never change. He thinks you are a
good thing! According to the bible, everything He made (including us) was very good (Genesis 1:31).
We are the apple of His eye. We are valuable and precious to Him just the way we are and that will never
change. He loves us unconditionally and that will never change.
Today, I want you to look yourself in the mirror and say, "Hello Gorgeous!" Sure, you might snicker at
yourself but that's OK. Get used to looking in that mirror and liking what you see. Don't nitpick for one
day - just look and say what I told you to say. You are gorgeous in many, many ways!
See you next time, gorgeous! Follow your JOY!
Nan
www.joy-cafe.com
www.awm7.org
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[1] http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A62540-2004Oct25.html
