Melanie Martinez has a song that speaks to todays female youth called "Ms Potato Head". It is about how girls are learning that in order to be beautiful, they need all of these surgeries and brands and hairstyles and how dumb it is that we are sending that message to girls. One of the lyrics go:Don't be dramatic, it's only some plastic
No one will love you if you're unattractive
This line is showing us the darkness that society makes us feel. We see famous people all over getting their face redone, liposuctions, lip injections, crazy things that make us "beautiful"
All for what? More Instagram likes? More attention? What does that even give you? People aren't liking a picture of you, it is not your body anymore. Not only does these surgeries change your appearance, but they change your personality. You will either walk out of that more confident, less confident, or some other emotion, but you have artificially changed yourself.
Another lyric goes:
Oh, Mrs. Potato Head tell me, is sit true that pain is beauty?
Does a new face come with a warranty?
Will a pretty face make it better?
The last line goes deep. Because, is it true? What is a pretty face going to do that will make your life better? We, as people, have gotten so wrapped up in what it means to be beautiful and that's all we care about. What makes looks so special? We need to pay attention to the beauty on the inside. It is disgusting to see what people will go through in order to feel like they belong somewhere. What have we done to todays society?
I believe that one reason that people become so wrapped up in a type of false beauty is because a lot of people are not the most happy people and they don't have the best self-esteem or self-confidence. When you see celebrities do it, you feel inclined to also adjust to that. People want to be noticed and loved, that's something I noticed (It might be wrong though) so if a lot of people like pretty celebrities, shouldn't they also go along with that? I totally agree that you shouldn't have a "pretty face to be beautiful," and I believe that if we can look past this plastic (that wasn't intended) then the personality of the person will go a long way. But why do you think people aren't willing to change it? Does it have something to do with being comfortable with how things are? Or are people scared to change?
ReplyDeleteChio,
DeleteI feel as if people have this comfort and feel as if they have something to strive for when it comes to beauty. In a way, I think we are afraid of change; we are afraid that if we begin to change, then the majority will cast us out. We, as humans, want to feel like we belong, and we have made "being pretty" a way to fit in with a crowd. We can change that, but we won't, not because we can't, but because of the fear of what will happen to us if we do that. There are two outcomes: either people will agree with you and follow your motion, or people will think you are stupid for even trying and THAT is what holds us back from changing. We do not want to feel judged.
I completely agree. It horrible how the combination of media and social construct has created the disgusting demand for a perfect body/face. It doesn't help that these demands have become near inescapable. I think that we will never really change.
ReplyDeletePart of the reason that I love this song is because of the message it puts out about how media portrays unrealistic beauty standards, but it does bring yup some questions. For example, how did this standard of beauty come about in the first place? Has the same sort of idealistic body persist over multiple generations?
ReplyDelete