Eyes Open

Self image. Let's face it, we all struggle with it or have struggled with it at one point or another. I'm not just talking to you ladies out there, I'm speaking to the guys as well. I'm sure at some point or another we have all stumbled across the children's pageant shows on TLC which, although provide entertainment to some degree, also make you nauseated. Why on Earth do we push ourselves to exercise, diet, buy the latest fashions, be on top of the newest "Southern Living" house makeovers or stare at ourselves in the mirror for hours each week? At an increasingly early age, I might add. I'm not the one typically to bring up a tough subject, especially to blog about it, but I was impacted in a great way by a photojournalist, Zed Nelson, who created an angle entitled, "Love Me". Please do not go look at his pictures without expecting to be reminded of the way our society has completely ruined beauty. Obviously, people have not been reading the dictionary as much as Ben Stiller lately. (Come on, where are my Dodgeball fans?)

If you look up "beauty" in the dictionary, you get:

1. The quality that gives pleasure to the mind or senses and is associated with such properties as harmony of form or color, excellence of artistry, truthfulness, and originality.

Let's focus on the last one for a second. Originality. As Nelson finds, it is a severe lack of originality that plagues this Earth. I was shocked to find out that the most Rhinoplasty surgeries (nose jobs) occur in Iran where women are forced to hide their faces behind veils in public, called "hijabs", on a daily basis as a result of Islam. This must point to an innate force inside of each and every one of us that wants to believe ourselves be more beautiful than we feel naturally. It saddens my heart that a limb lengthening surgery has become popular in Asian countries among the elite who want to appear taller to bring about a heightened sense of "status".

I mean think about it, some of the most iconic people in the world, professional athletes, are some of the tallest as well. As a result of this iconization, professional athletes feel more and more entitled to whatever they want be it women, money, exposure, guns, etc. Even the most advanced psychologists cannot help these athletes with their addictions because they feel entitled to what their actions provide for them. It isn't a lack of love, attention, etc. from a societal perspective that is forcing them into dangerous social behaviors. It is the abundance of all of these things that drives their erratic behavior.

It is also being discussed that in the Chinese job market, many women fresh out of school are choosing a surgery which can "round out" their eyes, making them more attractive to their potential employers. Again, promotion of a loss of originality.

If you do not want to look at Nelson's pictures (which can definitely be graphic at times--if you cannot watch Trauma:Life in the ER, don't take a look at these) at least read the introduction to his work. This is the part which stands out most to me:

"But who creates this culture? However much we may confidently point the finger at certain industries, we can't deny our own tacit, albeit culturally conditioned, involvement. Like it or not, we are judged, and judge, by appearance. Perhaps we are obsessed with the way our own bodies look because we know how instinctively judgemental we are of the bodies that we look at.

A recent scientific study reported that we make decisions about the attractiveness of people we meet in the space of 150 milliseconds. This superficial appraisal has profound implications. Those we consider most beautiful not only find sexual partners more readily but studies also show they get better jobs and more lenient treatment in court.

We have created a world in which there are enormous social, psychological and economic rewards and penalties attached to the way we look. Can any of us honestly say, 'I don't want to be attractive'? Don't we all want to be loved? But have we been brainwashed into believing that in order to be loved we need smaller noses, bigger breasts, tighter skin, longer legs, flatter stomachs and to appear ever youthful? Where does it end?"

--Zed Nelsen

Exactly. Where does it end? Will we all have sacrificed what we love (other than ourselves), care for and believe in for the end result of fitting into a mold of beauty which has been dictated to us over the centuries? As a Christian, I know the love of Jesus transcends all things, no matter shape, size or appearance. Next time, let's remember that those we see around us are loved by the Creator of the Universe as we begin to believe that truth about ourselves. If there is one thing I am beginning to take to heart lately, it is that we cannot genuinely love others until we allow ourselves to be loved first.

Thank you for indulging my passion on this topic :).