Transitory Psychosis

According to an article on the Advertising Age website, Seventeen magazine and Dove are teaming up to introduce the “Seventeen Body Peace Project” designed to help girls “appreciate their shapes and stop stressing over the beauty industry’s preferred standards.” The article quotes Seventeen’s editor-in-chief, Ann Shoket, saying, “We’re facing a teen crisis in teen body image. While it’s our goal to help girls look great, our mission is empty if they don’t feel great too.”

Part of the program involves encouraging girls to sign a “Body Peace Treaty” vowing to not blame their bodies for having a bad day, remember that the sun will still come up tomorrow even if they eat a little too much today, and reminding themselves that what they see on TV and in ads is not reality. In addition, 14 celebrities, including Ashlee Simpson and Fergie, have signed the treaty.
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As a postscript to this week’s discussion of true beauty, here’s a great poem written by my wife Dianna that offers encouragement to anyone who’s ever felt less than beautiful.

I may be short,
I may be too round,
I know I am slow at times
And in this day of worldly standards
I am considered of no consequence
Never to abound.
Oh, but in the Creator’s eyes
I am wonderful, beautiful
Worthy of love and attention.
For you see, my Creator
went to great lengths to make me.
And then He redeemed me
by shedding pounds, flesh and blood
And oh the suffering He went through
for Me – and for you!
So, regardless of what society tells us,
The God of all the Universe
not only created us,
He loves us with an everlasting love
And that makes us all worthwhile beings
Beautiful and acceptable
And oh so loved!

Obviously, the biblical concept of beauty (inner, rather than merely outer beauty) is quite different from the view of our culture. So how do we convey the biblical concept of beauty and maintain that view in our own minds? I don’t have an easy answer for that, but I do have a few suggestions.

1. Repeatedly tell the truth about the illusion of media. By its very nature, television, video, and print media alter our perception of reality. Parents and youthworkers need to constantly remind young people of the “unreality” of what we see. “Reality” TV isn’t real. Neither is the so-called “naturally” beautiful actress who appears after meeting with an army of stylists and fashion consultants.
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There is no doubt about what the world thinks is beautiful. “Beautiful” women and men are ubiquitous on the screens (small and large), in the magazines, and in a myriad of forms of advertising. Of course, anyone with eyesight soon learns that what our culture terms “beautiful” is far from the norm. The fact, as we have discussed previously, is that it is also far from reality–even for those we idolize.

Not only does the culture strive toward an impossible image of beauty, there is also a strong movement to cling to the appearance of youth, even when time and reality have made youth a thing of the past. (Have you noticed how many anti-aging products are out there?)
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Yesterday, the Dove Self-Esteem Fund and Seventeen magazine released the results of a nationally representative survey of 1014 young women (ages 13-22) that should give pause to anyone who cares about this age group. You can read the CNN story about this survey here. But consider some of the highlights:

More than 4 in 10 girls and young women only see their flaws when they look in the mirror.

More than half of girls and young women say they get ideas for the way they want their bodies to look from celebrities and media. (The average girl has the opportunity to see an estimated 77,546 commercials by the time she is 12 years old.)
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One of the greatest problems facing today’s teens, and many adults, is an unrealistic view of what it means to be beautiful. Both guys and girls have an unrealistic media-driven view of beauty. As this popular video (“The Evolution of Beauty”) illustrates, what we see on the screen and in the ads is a carefully doctored caricature of reality. That’s a message young people need to hear. (By the way, I have no control over any other YouTube videos, even the ones at the bottom of this one, so user beware.)

While you’re in the video mode, visit Keith Fletcher’s blog, DigiTrail Blaze, and view a more serious video from John Piper. It fits well with last Friday’s post, “Worse Than Jena.”