There are many lies associated to the concept of beauty. We are being told that beauty equals happiness and love. We are being told that there is only one way to be loved and happy, and that is by being pretty. Actually pretty doesn’t cut it any more, we should be perfect.

Of course nobody is born perfect, so ( how luckily for us ) there are hundred of products that can help us reach our goal ! Oh wait, I forgot, our goal of beauty is unreachable, because it’s photoshopped and fake, but we can still spent our energy on trying as hard as possible , can we ? And if it won’t work, and if by comparing ourselves with hundreds of perfect body images that we see every day, we’ll get depressed, then there are other products that we can buy to help us feel better!

We are being lied to. The mass media are repeating the same lie over and over again :you need to be beautiful in order to be loved and happy. You need to be skinny, tall, young, and flawless in order to be beautiful. And if you’re not, then you failed. Nobody will care about you, love you nor hire you.

We are being told that by buying all these products, we will attaint the beauty ideal. The ideal that is unattainable. The ideal that is photoshopped and starved. The ideal that changes every couple of years. And every couple of years there are new products to correct our flaws. Fat. Cellulite. Wrinkles. Stretch marks. Freckles. And so on.

But there is a bright side to it: the economy. Girls, you substain it, bravo! If it wouldn’t be for your insecurities, for your fear of not being good enough and loveable, then the beauty industry would be ruined! If it wouldn’t be to women who believe in this vicious and cruel lie, than what would happen to so many hard working people in the beauty and fashion industry?

But I had enough. I don’t believe in it anymore. And I don’t care what will happen to the beauty and the fashion industry. Who knows, maybe if we would all stop believing , they would change too?

Because it’s not true that the only way to live a happy life is by being beautiful. The key to a happy life is being a part of a community, is being creative and being a part of something that helps others ( and there are researches that proved it). Happiness has nothing to do with size or age.

And it’s not true that there is only one way of being beautiful. If there would be, than we would all look the same, because in our evolutionary past only the prettiest ( and strongest) of people reproduced. But somehow we are all different. Somehow the researchers show that what both sexes find is attractive enough to reproduce, is totally different from what the media are trying to sell us.

It’s not true that by buying all these creams and serums we can stop time and be young for ever and always. Because we can’t.

It’s not true that by buying and consuming we can attaint the beauty ideals. Because we can’t. They are unattainable. And even if you try hard, and you spent all your energy and money on it, you’ll fail eventually. Because everyone gets old. And that’s a fail, according to beauty standards.

Oh. And there is one more thing. Even if for a couple of years of your life you’ll manage to be as close as possible to the beauty ideal, than you’ll still fail. Because you won’t be able to stay that way all your life. You’ll probably end up anxious about loosing your “perfect body”. You’ll worry about people loving you, wandering if you should try harder, become slimmer fitter and sexier, in order to be finally loved and accepted. You’ll waist your life. But you won’t be perfect. Because that is impossible.

Stop believing this lie. Accept yourself. Embrace yourself..

And if you’d like to learn more about how the standards of beauty are affecting our culture here is a must-read : The Beauty Myth !