"Real" Beauty

I have no idea what's real anymore. People on TV, in magazines, in sports, in the local grocery store. We have become a society so altered by cosmetic surgery, Botox, Restylane and steroids I don't know who's real and who's not. That actress that I so admired for her natural beauty? Botox, tummy tuck and a boob job. That athlete that my son thinks is the greatest? Steroids. The dazzling mom from my daughter's school? Restylane and 5 hours a week in the salon.

Case in point, beauty contests, like them or not, have become plastic surgery contests. Years ago these contests were about poise, grace, intelligence and, yes, also beauty. But now contestants have ribs removed, eye brows lifted, breast enhanced. What are we really judging?

We have become a world of constructed beauty and perfection. It's not enough to have a lovely smile, beautiful eyes or a natural athletic ability, we now have to push all these things to their extreme. Your skin has to be smoother, your tummy tighter, your breasts perkier, you have to run faster, be stronger, look younger..... there is no end to this. You are never going to be good enough. And what messages are we sending to young boys and girls? In some cases we're dragging them into the insanity. Girls getting bikini waxing at age 12. Boys with personal trainers at age 10. What are we thinking?

I'm not opposed to people wanting to look good and strive toward an achievement. I am myself a Type A personality. But at what point do we say "ENOUGH"! The negative long term effects of this obsession with perfection are already evident. Many of our favorite "pretty" actresses don't look so pretty anymore. With their expressionless foreheads and pumped up lips, they look freakish! The athletes we so admired for their achievements have left us feeling disappointed and empty. In the future as we learn more about who did and did not use chemical enhancements, who will remain to honor in our Hall of Fames?

In my perfect world we would take this view on the things that really count. Knowledge, learning, exploring ideas, helping others. If we put half as much energy in improving our performance in these area, who knows what the world might look like. We might not be as "beautiful" but we might be more real.