How Do I Look? - Am I Beautiful?
We are living in an age that seems to be dominated by our appearance. I don鈥檛 mean am I dressed nicely? Do I look smart?
There is a clamour among certain classes of people to alter their facial features. This yearning to look like an Adonis or A-dianna (The Greek Goddess) is prevalent among people in the entertainment world.
Cosmetic surgery has become so accessible though still out of range of the average worker that there is a case for saying it is being misused.
Cosmetic surgery in its initial stages helped people with serious disfigurement most notably pilots in the Second World War with badly burnt faces caused by being trapped in burning planes before they could escape.
It has proved to be a blessing to people born with a disfigurement and others involved in car, train, and other disasters. Just recently we had the first .
However the vanity issue then comes in to the equation. Persons lucky enough to be born with nice looks, shapely bodies and all the things needed to lead a pleasant life in that area. Yet some of these people still strive to improve on what God blessed them with.
Breast enlargement for women is the biggest item but behind the scenes there are horror stories attached to this type of surgery. But in all departments a lot of people have ended up more disfigured after these operations.
Face lifts are another factor. I was watching T.V. recently and a top American film star was being interviewed - it was halfway through the show before I recognised him. In his early 70鈥檚 his skin had the appearance of parchment and it was obvious cosmetic surgery was the cause.
To be born perfect in the form of attractiveness is a lottery and no doubt in the future it will be possible to enhance people鈥檚 looks as they wish.
But until that is possible it is worth remembering that changing the way you look does not change you. Surgery will never change character. There are people who by no means could be called attractive, but they can have charisma, an unseen quality that makes those people stand out from the crowd and makes them attractive to others.
The man rated the greatest lover of all time , was also classed as one of the ugliest.
It's sad to think that some DON'T have surgery for things like cleft palate just because they're born in poorer parts of the world.
what do they say " beauty is only skin deep"?
Some of the most beautiful people in the world seem to have the shallowest of natures.
I heard recently that Sofia Loren baths in a bath of olive oil each day to keep her skin beautiful - that's a lot of olive oil to keep other people healthy if only they could afford it.
Marylin Monroe was considered beautiful and where did that get her?
They're all chasing rainbows!
Beauty is a two edged sword, ask helen of troy.
You do have a big point though, tv / films distorts peoples mental map of reality and they can stop looking at fundamentals, and just the surface instead.
TV = EVIL
long live radio 3 !
All valid points and all correct. I totally agree with you.
It's true people in the entertainment world have a higher standard of living, live on a different planet than the people at the bottom.
Radio presenters generally have voices that are beautiful to the ear. They don't have to be easy on the eye, let alone "eye candy". If they were to appear on television would they be as disappointing as have been the actors who play characters in the Archers?
On a different tack: When men's aftershaves caught on, my father (who was an "Old Spice" man himself) said "this is the thin end of the wedge - before long men will be perming their hair and using face paint because this is the start of a market in men's cosmetics!" He died in 1976 but he was only wrong in the detail - hair gels, highlights, face creams etc. rather than perms and paint.
The market will always find ways of helping fools part with their money.
I view the quest for perfect bodies,and excellent achievements, as a shadow of the old Roman Empire.And when one reflects on where that took its people, it is rather disturbing.
Dying, and death, are becoming taboo subjects. We live in an age where it seems essential to look young, behave young,and take extreme measures to maintain youth. Meanwhile, so many children are becoming mini adults because of the drive in the media and society to become sophisticated, sexual, and beautiful.
It is an age of narcissism.
I think that it should be the choice of the individual whether they have or not. I just hope that they are not being exploited by because they maybe vulnerable and that any one choosing to have have thier family and the right type of professionals around who can help to make an safe and informed choice about any surgery before they go into it.