English: Bo Derek attending the “Night of 100 Stars” for the 82nd Academy Awards viewing party at the Beverly Hills Hotel, Beverly Hills, CA on March 7, 2010 – Photo by Glenn Francis of http://www.PacificProDigital.com (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Acknowledging female beauty has always been at the forefront of society. There’s a subconscious standard where women are rated on a scale of 1 to 10. Bo Derek was labeled a “10” in a film of the same name, co-starring Dudley Moore…a 4 or 5 by comparison. Yes, even women are guilty of judging whether a guy is a hunk or a dud…pun intended.
Mothers, and fathers for that matter, unwittingly expose their daughters to societal discrimination. It’s an age-old desire that they measure up to the standard set by others…be they relatives, friends, acquaintances or even complete strangers.
We allow ourselves to be bullied into thinking we should look like Angelina Jolie or Beyonce.
English: Phyllis Diller portrait (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
God help us if we look like Phyllis Diller, a comedienne of the psychedelic 60s and 70s. I can’t even think of a current media darling who looks as homely. There are none! Those folks don’t make the small screen, big screen or print. Unless, of course, they’re meant to draw attention to what we don’t want to emulate.
Whether we like it or not, we imprint our mindset onto our daughters.
Other adult females are also guilty of doing harm. A relative once asked her husband if he didn’t think I looked gorgeous swimming around in their pool. Wanting to escape his appreciative stare, I instinctively crossed my arms over my chest and tread water. While the moment quickly passed, it has never faded from my memory.
There’s no escaping the web we have woven for ourselves. It is embedded into the very fiber of our souls, I’m afraid.
My daughter is a ballerina…the quintessential embodiment of female beauty. At least that is what is presented to the paying public. It’s a different story behind the scenes. If you’re an avid fan of “Dancing with the Stars,” you know what I mean. The same is true for the reality shows about models.
It’s important we teach our daughters what’s true and what’s false. There’s no escaping the latter, considering our constant bombardment by the advertising and marketing world. Only a solid, moral foundation can help our youngsters maneuver life’s slippery slope.
Beauty need not be evil…if it shines from the inside out.
…perhaps we should…shift our focus to…our inner beauty…
………hugmamma.
hugmamma's MIND, BODY and SOUL 
Happy mothers’ s day hugmamma!
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Happiest of Mother’s Day to you as well, Marcia! With beautiful grandchildren to dote upon, I’m sure your day will be extra special. 🙂
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I completely agree…and it is important to start changing this, little by little. I will have an opportunity to try with my granddaughter.
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I’m certain your efforts will bear fruit, judging from the type of person you are. We do what we can…in big ways…and little ways. It keeps us moving forward… 🙂
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The male of the specie judges whether the female of the specie will produce strong, healthy offspring for him. His only method of judgement is her physical appearance. Good teeth, broad hips, long legs, prominent breasts, etc. The female looks for a sperm contributor who is also healthy and strong. One who is a good provider and defender. Nothing more, nothing less. Then, along came MAN. Man, because of his reasoning capacity, introduced the concept of love. Love created the need to posses. The more he/she possessed, the more secure he/she felt. This led to wars. Modern man took that one step further and introduced MONEY! The female of the human specie discovered that money bought beauty. And beauty bought man. The female of the specie WINS! Aloooooha!
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There’ll always be 2 points of view…a woman’s…and a man’s. Sometimes they intersect; sometimes they don’t. That makes for an interesting life…until one tries to hurt the other. That’s when interesting turns to…sad…and unacceptable. Neither sex has a monopoly on doing harm. Both are equally capable.
thanks for explaining what men might think…
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Lots of pressure on our young daughters. Inner beauty and being true to oneself are paramount.
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All we can do is take baby steps toward making changes wherever we can to influence the next generation of women…and men.
hugs for your comments… 🙂
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