It is very true. But in the same sense it isn't. I have access to the library, as many people do, but I do what most do not. I buy old issues of magazines to read. The library sells them for about a quarter and the articles are still good. I read something inside one of them, something that I found interesting. I am unable to find the exact article in my stacks of magazines to quote to you, but I can give you the jist. This particular article talked about size plus models. One model was particularly proud of her body image, and being able to show others that not being a size 3 doesn't mean that you aren't beautiful.

But the truth is, many articles do portray "perfection" as a tall, shiny haired, thin model wearing expensive clothing and makeup. This isn't always the case, but I have to admit it usually is. I read a lot of magazines, but none of the pictures or tips or dieting secrets bother me. I know that I am healthy. I guess that is what a person has to think about before reading these things.

"I believe that beauty magazines promote low self-esteem."
--Savage Garden, in the song "Affirmation"

In truth, do you really think that getting that perfect message from Christina Aguilera in her song is going to help anything? It is the perfect message, saying that beauty is only skin deep, and that it's your personality that holds the true beauty. But I would have seen WAY more truth and emphasis if Christina had sung this in her video without all her makeup or all the fancy things that she had. The other people portrayed in her video had so many differences among them, yet she kept her look of makeup, fashion, etc. The reality is, no matter what the message and how powerful it is, as long as the people giving it to us are the ones that we feel we must be like, it's going to make a lot of people upset with their own image.

I know what it's like as well. I use to feel that I had to wear a bunch of makeup, the expensive clothes, the brand name perfumes, all glitter and glamour in order to be pretty. I felt I had to die my hair, I had to do something with my glasses, I had to have fancy nails or pretty shoes. Then I realized... none of this was making any difference. The people that I thought were my friends before only had more respect for me when I played "Barbie" and changed myself. But why wouldn't they have any respect for me before? I realized that they couldn't have really been my friends. People even said that I was anorexic or bulemic. How else could I eat so much and never seem to gain anything? It hurt, it really did.

So what did I do about it?

For starters, I stopped wearing all the makeup. In fact, I wear none now, just gloss for my lips. I wore the clothes that I liked, even if they don't come from GAP or any place like that. If I wanted to wear nail polish, I did it MY way, every nail a different color, or whatever I felt like doing that day. I wore my glasses proudly, like my secret identity, knowing that behind them there was someone like a superman. Really, Clark Kent had glasses, and he's Superman. So why shouldn't I wear my mine proudly? There is no reason.

I stopped worrying about what others were saying about me and started worrying about what I was saying about me. My whole self-esteem went up. And when mine went up for myself, everyone else had more respect for me. The key to beauty is respect for yourself. And when you see someone else that isn't the same as you, congratulate them all the more, for they are being themselves. Now, I am not saying that you have to go and throw out everything you like, your makeup and all that. I'm just saying that the best way to dress to impress is to be yourself. It took me a while to realize that, and I feel obliged to tell everyone the same.

So what I guess this article is trying to say is that you should be yourself. You are beautiful. Literally in every way. Don't let the magazines push you around. I read them and laugh, because I wonder how much makeup they needed to make that photo shoot look just right. They have all the special technology that keeps the light perfect and the camera angles right. I don't have any of that. And yet, I like what I see when I look at myself. I hope you do too.

"We are beautiful no matter what they say
Yes, words won't bring us down
We are beautiful no matter what they say
Yes, words can't bring us down
Don't you bring me down today."
-Christina Aguilera

~bettyjoe