photo by me

On Saturday, I wrote about body issues and how I view myself because of what other people have said about me or described me.

This week, I’ve found that I’m not alone – not at all. I had a few people write and say that this is a problem for many people. It doesn’t matter if you’re overweight, underweight, average weight (for you) or not. It doesn’t matter how others view you or how you view yourself. It seems that many of us have issues with how we regard ourselves in the eyes of others.

Most of you have probably already seen the Dove Campaign for Beauty. Links and videos are all over the internet these days. Evolution is the newest one and chronicles the changes that a model’s face goes through before it is put up on a billboard. From a fresh-washed face to stylists working on her with makeup and hair products to photoshopping, she is transformed into a person entirely different from who she really is.

What strikes me about the campaign, however, is how they are reaching out to young girls. The images we give them every day in magazines and videos and tv are unrealistic and it is making them look at themselves in a way that young girls shouldn’t. I can’t imagine not liking my freckles. They are such a part of who I am. From the time I was a little girl, my grandfather would tell me that they were angel kisses and I was special to have them. I try to tell Willow the same thing as the freckles increase in number across her nose.

Should we be concerned with why Dove is doing this campaign? We know they are out to make money. Does that matter, though, if they are getting an important message out to the people who need it the most?

There are moments when I feel beautiful. There are moments when I feel dowdy and unattractive. I’m not someone who pays a lot of attention to a mirror or to buying the right products or wearing designer clothes. That’s not important to me.

I do, however, recognize that I make efforts to look good for certain people. I do realize that I will wear something because I know someone likes it or that I will pull my hair up or back because it makes me look a certain way. I also realize that when someone else thinks I’m attractive, I feel moreso.

Is this right? Probably not. I should feel it from within. But getting that acknowledgment is nice. It makes me feel good.

And while I hate that we, as a society, spend so much time and effort on the physical body and forget that beauty really does shine from within, I also realize that we are visually stimulated and what someone sees will mean that they assess me in a certain way.

If I can instill in my nieces that they are beautiful because of how they treat someone or how they react to adversity or what their minds create, then will this translate into physical beauty? I don’t know. But I think that both need to be nurtured. And I think Dove is on the right track. They are telling us something we already know but sometimes forget.