Women Under Pressure: Beauty

I probably don't need to tell you this, but I will state the obvious anyways: women often suffer from low self-esteem because of the way they look. Surveys conducted by Dove indicate only 2% of women would consider themselves beautiful. The standards of beauty in society, from billboards to Hollywood films where women are overly made up, have gotten plastic surgery, and are then airbrushed or photo-shopped, one message is forced onto human consciousness: this is what real beauty is. The only problem is, it is not real.

The problem is further exacerbated by those who consume such products: which includes both men and women. Men, because of the visual stimulation, and women, because of their desire to know how to please men. 

I have known women who spend hours trying to make themselves resemble this idealized type of beauty, and at the end of the day they are anxious, insecure, and unfulfilled.So what? Who cares about such vain women as these? you may say. Allow me to suggest that God does.

In Song of Solomon, the Lover describes a certain kind of beauty his Beloved has: including her body, her hair, her eyes, her adornments, and even her skills. But throughout this book, beauty is appreciated in its appropriate context: between a Lover and his Beloved. He has singled her out as, "Like a lily among thorns  is my darling among the young women"(2:2). He is not appreciating the beauty of every woman that he sees and comparing them all, nor is he comparing her to the famous supermodels in his day. His love for her causes him to see the fullness of the beauty God has divinely created in her (as she, too, is made in His image). 

All this to say, an unnatural type of beauty has become a cultural expectation for women, and it needs to end somewhere. I would suggest that men and women alike need to rewire their minds to see others' inner beauty, and remember that each person is made in the image of God. When exposed to such media as above mentioned, remember that what you are looking at is not entirely human. It is somewhat graphically distorted or mutated, and repeated exposure to such material develops an appetite for more of the same. Men, please change the way you think about women. Women, please stop trying to live up to such ridiculous expectations that will not fulfill.

To clarify: I am not advocating that a woman cannot make herself beautiful, but rather that she needs to do so in a healthy way, and in the right context.