So I tuned into the "Born this Way" Episode of Glee yesterday. The episode was about accepting insecurities and the pressure to look "pretty". It starts of with Rachel breaking her nose when Finn accidently bumps into her while dancing in "Booty Camp". This prompts her to think about plastic surgery when she is told that it will improve her voice, with Quinns nose as her "nosespiration".
What I really like about this episode is the fact that it touches on something that is always continuously overlooked within our society. The pressure to look "pretty" or "perfect, especially concerning women. These messages of perfection and changing the things that make you different to this day continue to be perpectuated in the media. Many messages subtly exploit insecurities in order to sell products. Pictures in magazines and on billboards are digitally retouched and enhanced in order to look "perfect" distorting reality and fooling young women into trying to achieve an image of beauty that is unhealthy and impossible. Another thing to consider is how this image effects many women of ethnic origin. Tina (she's asian) is called a hypocrite when she tells Rachel she shouldn't go along with the surgery yet she is wearing colour contacts. In the media there is a severe underepresentation of women of different races and ethnic origins. Living in Canada, the belief is that we live in a multicultural society that is accepting of many different cultures, races and other ethnic origins but if you look on the billboards and store windows you see the same monolithic images of beauty. Asian, Indian, black and especially native women continue to be underepressented sometimes to the extent of non existence. Tina then goes to say that since she does not see any asian sex symbols in the media that she's going to become her own, and I think that is a mind state that a lot of women should consider. Instead of trying to always look like what is acceptable because we don't see ourselves in the magazines and billboards we should become our own models and inspirations. Everytime we do something to change ourselves to appease others we only accepth that they are right, and we should indeed change the things that makes us unique and different. There are so many surgeries out there that try to enhance the way that we look, or change the way we look. Many asian women doing the eyelid surgery so that their eyes would "look like everyone else" many people bleaching their skin to look brighter. Why? Why do we live in a society that loves to make us all the same. Why can't we just except everyone the way that they are. No matter what skin colour, hair texture, shape of eyes nose lips etc we are all special and unique in our own way, so why change that? At the end of the day it's 2011 and it's time to take back the meaning of beauty that was stolen from us by the media. We should aim to love ourselves instead of running to the next plastic surgery office who won't hesitate to change us at for a pretty penny. Anyways watching this episode inspired me to the write this and moral is to love yourself and not buy in to what other people think we should change. Always think for yourself and remember to be the change that you want to see in the world.
I feel Pretty/ Unpretty from GLEE
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