I was at the gym yesterday morning getting changed after working out…sounds impressive...but it’s just me sweating and groaning…and there was this young woman of about 16 changing to go to school. She walked back and forth to the mirror and kept looking at herself. Finally she turned to me and said ‘that’s the best I can do.’ I asked ‘the best about what?’ She said about how she looks and then went on to explain the pressure to look good in high school. This is what was worrying her. Remember when we used to go to high school to learn stuff? Oh sure there were always the absolute little jumped up cows who always thought they were better than anyone else but never for one second did I worry how I looked. Maybe that was due to my upbringing and a realistic mother who made me realize that while I was plain I also had a fast mind and a smart mouth and they outlived beauty any day.
I said to this young woman, “I would have killed to look as good as you in high school.” As I said to a good friend immediately afterward, who I vented with over this, the smile she gave me was dazzling. Ok, maybe it gave her a small amount of confidence but why the hell should girls have to feel this ridiculous pressure to be perceived as beautiful or whatever the hell society is trying to make them worry themselves sick over to achieve? What the hell do we want from younger people? Be good and smart and try or just worry yourself sick over being pretty enough? It’s fucking wrong.
Anyway, we went on to discuss my striped knee socks and scarlet python Doc Marten boots and I hope like hell she had a good day at school. Beauty is a myth. The reality is your thoughts make you who you are and we need, as a society, to value caring, intelligence and humanity over bloody lipstick and fashion labels.
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