Hello, barbara here again. I was reading through the Times and wonderfully got inspired. A lot of articles were on beauty and fashion. I have two thoughts in these categories.
Fashion: Though fashion plays an important role in my life, I can't
help but think back on the L. A Times article on how most of Whyville's
population is fixated on making their faces instead of playing the games. Now,
I don't think that's such a bad thing. I'd like to agree with whoever stated
in the Times (I'm not exactly sure who) that we are learning by making our
faces. Unfortunately, what we are taught is that if you don't look exactly up
to date, you are ridiculed and hated. Fashion should be how we express ourselves through what we wear, not how well we can mimic others whom we think look good.
On to Beauty Contests. Most people who enter a beauty contest do so in
hopes of winning. What on earth does that give you? A higher self esteem that soon you'll forget about? 10 seconds of sunshine? Or maybe you'd like to stretch it out and run to everyone, annoyingly saying, "I won a beauty contest! How many have yooou won?" Or maybe someone gave you clams for winning. So you get clams for spending clams. Get more clams so you can buy more things to enter another beauty contest and start all over again. But this isn't all... what about those who lose?
For those who lose, instead of their 10 seconds of sunshine, they get a week, maybe more, of living in the shadows. Their self-esteem lowered quite a bit as they try desperately to change their face so they can be dubbed "beautiful".
Thing is, the people in these beauty contests usually are what society would call beautiful. They only put all their trust in a citizen of Whyville to be the new fashion censor and god.
"Beauty is in the EYE of the beHOLDeeeer, maaaan." You don't need to
prove to everyone that you're beautiful. I have friends that love me, I don't
need to spend hours making my face. Usually I trot around in a moose costume
or as a zombie, sometimes I'll go around with no idea what I am. But that's
how I express myself. And yes, I have been in beauty contests before when I
was but a mere fledgling (well, not so much) and though it never hurt me to
lose, it never did anything for me to win. When I look around, I see other people
get very hurt from these beauty contests.
So as a public service announcement, to save yourself from either pain or wasting of time, don't enter beauty contests, and come talk to the moose you see sitting in the corner. I don't care what you look like. =P
