Beauty… today.
15 Feb
This video really got me to thinking about beauty in the modern era. What a strange world we live in when people’s imperfections can disappear with the click of a mouse. Unbelievable.
I remember seeing a news piece a few years ago about a makeup artist who was so concerned with what was being communicated to young girls via the magazines they were reading, that she started going around the country raising awareness, her message was something to the effect of “These people are works of art, they aren’t real. No matter how much you diet or apply makeup you’ll never look like them. When they wake up in the morning they look just like you!”
I really do think that the whole “Barbie or bust” (no pun intended) idea of beauty is extremely destructive. What are we communicating to our children when every person’s skin they see, on T.V. or the drive by billboards, looks like a freakin mannequin. I can’t imagine the types of conversations I’ll have to have with my kids in a few years. My little girl will say, “Daddy, look at that lady on t.v.! She is so beautiful!” I’ll reply, “Well honey, she isn’t actually real. See there is this thing called photoshop that allows you to make people look perfect. It’s weird I know, but it helps people sell things.” God help me.
I think all this hits a little to close to home because I’m in the design business. Just a few months ago myself and Charles (the lead designer in our business) were working on a project together. The client had requested that we touch up a picture of one of his family members. It wasn’t anything big. However, once we got started it was so hard to stop! After fixing the teeth, we noticed that the eyebrows were a little bushy, and the eyes could probably be a little bigger. Also, that chin could afford to be a little smaller. If we raised those cheekbones she looks older. All of the sudden one of us (I honestly don’t remember who- I think it was Charles) yelled out, “Stop! We have to stop this!” He was right.But there was such power in that mouse. Razorburn? No problem, “click”-it’s gone. Dirty fingernails? Click-gone. Bags under the eyes? Click. Hair out of place? Click. Nose to big? Click. Eyes too small? Click. Cheek bones too low? Click. Skin to blotchy? Click. My God this is out of control. Now some nerd sitting in his apartment loft is deciding what beauty is? Scary.
When I think of Jesus I think of someone who seemed to be saying “God believes you are beautiful. Hey you leper! God loves you and thinks you are beautiful. Hey you drunk, God thinks you are beautiful. All you outcasts and beggars, God thinks you are beautiful. It would be easy to pin all the blame on the advertising agencies of the world. But you know what this comes back to all of us, because who is buying the way they are selling? Me and you. So maybe the point of the video isn’t to think, “How could those people?!” But instead to turn that pointing finger back at myself and think, “Why don’t I live more like Jesus lived?” Believing that everyone is beautiful.
Very good post Brett. That stuff drives me crazy. It also leads to all these young (and old) people paying thousands and thousand of dollars to plastic surgeons, so they can look like people that are not real. It is a wicked cycle. So we end up with either computer manipulated images, or people that have had their physical bodies manipulated, setting the so called standard for what is beautiful.
I have a friend who is a graphic designer. He went to a graphic design workshop in which a big wig designer from Neiman Marcus was the instructor. This instructor said that the first thing she does to an image of a model, is to use the free transform tool in photoshop to make the skinny model look even thinner. Very sad indeed.
sorry, I did what you said was easy, and blamed a bunch of people
Thanks again Brett.
Hey this has been on my mind lately! Well in a sense. Recently, I’ve been taking the time to notice beautiful girls around campus! Haha, I know, I’m 21..but it’s not like that. I’ve been taking time to look at all the girls (honestly probably 98% of society) who have been dubbed below the “Worth Worshiping” list and finding the beauty God sees in them. Call me strange, but there is absolute beauty (mixed w/ a healthy amount of humor) to be found in those double chins, that crazy hair from another generation, mixed and matched clothes that just won’t mix and match, outy belly buttons, etc. And, I’m not speaking of an inner beauty..the nice Christian guy cop out answer. I’m talking about an appreciation of the physical and what makes people people. I’ve also come to appreciate my appearance more as well: but in a healthy way I think. A little less conceit and a little more discernment would do the world a whole lot of good.
While I agree completely with the spirit of your post, Brett, I would be careful about the Dove “Real Beauty” Campaign – they use their ads, for example, to sell cellulite-firming cream. Hypocrisy much?
Nevertheless, the “evolution” movie is enlightening. I like it muchly.
Oh! I couldn’t remember this, but now I do: The same company that owns Dove – Unilever – also owns the company AXE. Not to break out the feminist sirens, but the AXE commercials’ attitudes toward women are atrocious.
Brett- you say in the beginning that you are “thinking about beauty in the modern era.” Just for clarification, did you mean modern or POST-modern. I need to know which glasses to put on while reading it. Your answer will completely alter how I interpret this post
Josh: I love how you are beginning to “see” girls on your campus. Very cool.
Brittany: Great point about the dove “real beauty” campaign. I agree that is hypocritical.
Steve: I was using “modern” in the popular sense: meaning “current or up to date.” As opposed to the period in Western Civilization following the Enlightenment. Sorry for the confusion.
Yeah, I was just “joshing” ya.
I linked this post on my blog. If I was more technically savvy, I would have posted the YouTube video directly in my post…but, there is a good chance it would have taken up my entire afternoon figuring out how to do that. Thanks for bringing this to the forefront of my thoughts this week. It was a great reminder of how we so easily slip into the mindset of the world, looking at what is on the outside and deeming people acceptable or unacceptable based on how they measure up to our culture’s standard of beauty. I, too, can slide down the endless spiral of photoshop touch-ups and while doing so, am making the statement that the person I am “making-over” digitally is somehow lacking, less than, needs improvement, etc. I pray that my eyes, and more importantly, my heart, can be more in tune with God’s eyes and God’s heart for ALL His beautiful people.