Oh man! I don't think I can compete against all these long comments lol. jks jks

i guess u already know my answers .. ah! Mark! xD

the only thing I think I'd add to this is that I think big boobs are kinda awkward xD ugh

j'te dis apres pkoi lol

bisou

Okay, here I am again, trying to write a comment on your blog – keep your fingers crossed that it won't get deleted again thaha I don't think I'll be able to remember everything I wrote, but I'll try my best :)

I really loved this blog, cause it speaks truth on such a high level and it's always a major issue in today's society. Every young generation will have the same problem. Several years ago the ideal of beauty was having curves and being corpulent, but this drastically changed and now you can see young girls starving themselves in order to be “pretty enough” to fit in. But I think that we will see this trend change again in some years – I'm convinced that the ideal of beauty will go back to curvy women and that everyone will try to fit into this ideal then. Actually, it will always change. So, imagine the following: A young girl is starving herself in order to be thin, then, after she finally reached her goal she'll be pretty enough. But after some years the trend will change again and then the very same girl will try to frantically put on some weight. You see, it doesn't matter what you do, you'll always have to change if you desperately try to “fit in” to what the society thinks is beautiful and ugly or thin and fat. Basically, I've learned pretty early in my life that it is important to only please yourself with your appearance. It doesn't matter what others think about your body, your hair or your face as long as you like yourself just the way you are. You'll never be able to please everybody and you'll never hear everyone say that you're beautiful, cause it's not everybody's opinion. Beauty has always been in the eye of the beholder, so, there will always be some people that think you're pretty but then again there'll also be people who'd say you're far from being beautiful. You could try to fit in and blame yourself for being too ugly and waste all your life with it – or you could just accept yourself and lead a happy life with the knowledge that you are nothing but beautiful in every way possible.

In my opinion, the media knows exactly what to leverage all he issues that young girls have. They take the beauty ideal and make everyone else think that they simply don't fit in. The media is incredibly manipulative and we all know that we can't always believe the words they publish. But it's not only words that the media knows how to use, but also pictures. Pictures that are fake and edited. Pictures that do not show the truth. Pictures that deceive every viewer. We walk along a street and see a big billboard picturing a slim and attractive woman. And automatically we compare ourselves with that woman and, honestly, what do we see? We see that she's slimmer and that we don't have such a beautiful face. We only see all the negative aspects in the beginning. Only a couple of people actually take the time to think about it more deeply - and then, those people happen to understand the strategy that is behind it. In fact, if we had someone professional to do our hair and make-up and then someone who knows how to use a computer program to edit pictures – we could have the very same result. But the human mind is easily manipulable. See, the media knows the weaknesses of a normal human being that strives for success, beauty and acknowledgment. And they use it just the way they want to.


1. What does beauty mean to you? Does perfection exist? If it does, describe it.
To me, beauty isn't measurable, it's not a particular hair color, shape and height or any special features. Beauty is a strength, confidence and a certain self-esteem that shines through the eyes. If someone's not feeling the beauty inside of themselves they won't be able to convince others of their beauty. Me personally, I've hardly ever seen someone that I'd have considered 'ugly'. Everyone has that fire burning inside of them, but sometimes the flame is just softly flickering in their eyes and people normally wouldn't recognize it. Regarding perfection, I don't think that there's a special stereotype that would deserve being named 'perfect'. But I do believe that perfection does exist – for example, your lover's face can reflect the representation of perfection.

2. Is inside beauty as important as outside beauty?
Inner beauty is by far more important. I recently heard a saying which went something like: “The appearance may decide who gets together, but the inside beauty decides who actually stays together”. And that's actually very true. After a while all that matters is how you get along with your partner and how well you can talk to each other – you gotta be on the same wavelength and connect with each other. Beauty is perishable and once you're older your beauty will only be recognizable through the light in your eyes.

3. Do you think media have much influence on many people and encourage them to go through plastic surgery? For example, celebs are excessively judged about their physical appearance.
Yes, I think the media is the only reason why people feel uncomfortable with their bodies and looks. Without the media we wouldn't even have this competitiveness. Most celebrities pressurize themselves because they think they always have to look flawless since the cameras are practically glued to them and they don't shy at going under the knife for that. And the problem with that is that so many people watch them and only see the oh so perfect result without understanding that there's also a normal way to get a similar shape. Just a few celebs realize how important it is to just stay true to themselves and be the way they are in order to inspire their fans to do nothing but the same.

4. Do you think that plastic surgery has both advantages and disadvantages? Give examples of some.
If you consider the fact that, like I said, there's also a normal way to lose weight then I'd say a plastic surgery is totally ridiculous. There's a way of doing a healthy diet and exercising instead of paying for someone to remove your fat by surgery. Also, there are always risks that something could go wrong during the surgery and sometimes the result isn't the one you actually expected and wanted. If someone goes under the knife for a different reason like doing a nose or a boob job or something like that, then of course there's no other way that doing a plastic surgery – but, my personal opinion is that those kinda surgeries are absolutely pointless, since you should accept and, more importantly, respect what was given to you from your parents. It's okay to form your body with exercising and a healthy nutrition but I'm so against plastic surgeries.

5. People spend thousands of dollars on surgeries and sometimes, surgeries create health problems. Do you think it’s worth paying so much money for something that’s not 100% safe?
I think it is okay if you had something like a car accident and your skin got burnt all over or if you lost a lot of weight and your skin is hanging down. If there's a good reason then I think it is okay to take the risk. It's important to rebuild your self-esteem after such an accident or whatever happened, cause being intimidated like that can seriously be ruining for a lot of people.

6. Do people who go through plastic surgery have psychological problems rather than physical? By psychological, i mean being obsessed with their appearance and having troubles loving themselves.
I do believe that people who go under the knife have problems accepting themselves, cause I don't see what else could be the reason. It doesn't matter why people do it (whether they got influenced by the media or their role models or so), the reason why people do plastic surgeries is that they want to look prettier and more attractive, which means they don't like the way they do look now and so they desperately have the urge to change it. Most people don't even have PHYSICAL problems, cause they aren't fat at all or have small boobs or whatever, they just make themselves think that they have physical problems. So, basically, I'd really say that those people are suffering from psychological issues.

7. According to a poll, in USA 91% of the people who have plastic surgeries are women. How would you explain this fact? Why do men show less interest?
I think it could have to do with the Stone Age. Men were known as the hunter, they had to supply food in order to survive. Also, I'd say that men had to be a little more corpulent than women so they were able to fight and attack animals etc. Men have always had to be stronger so they could protect their women. And this attitude and way of thinking probably stuck in our brains and so men don't really care about being too fat or not fitting in. Women have always had to attract men (just like you said in your edited text) in order to ensure their offspring.

8. Do you think that those who have plastic surgeries are happier than others because they can finally accept themselves and be more confident?
I'd say that people who have had a plastic surgery, and are satisfied with the result, are truly able to love themselves more. They did it in order to look better and when they reached their goal they finally found a way to accept their look. But this doesn't mean that they're happier than people who have never had a plastic surgery, cause there are also lots of people who are actually satisfied with how they look.

9. Is plastic surgery related to religion? And does it go against religion since it implies going against nature?
It depends if someone's much of a religious person or not, but if someone truly believes in God then I'd say plastic surgeries are completely against it. God gave us a body and everything we need to live and we should be grateful for that. Changing our appearance by taking a hand in it through an unnatural way is against what God's actual intention was. It definitely wasn't his intention to create us all differently in order for us to compete with each other.

10. Finally, are you for or against plastic surgery?
I'm against it, cause I don't believe it's necessary, since beauty is in the eye of the beholder and everybody can see their own beauty if they just look closely enough. But like I pointed out before, if you have a genuinely good reason for it, like an accident and burnt skin etc., it is okay.

So glad to see you are back with your brilliant thought provoking blogs! The subject of beauty will always raise debate – everyone has an opinion on it whether we want to or not because of how it is thrown at us every day in the media.  Your second question ‘Is inside beauty as important as outside beauty?’.  My answer would be that it is far more important.  In everyday life we can’t help but make a first opinion about someone by how they look – the fact is, that is all we know about them, in the same way as you mentioned initial attraction in the animal world.  But I have lost count of the number of times I have started talking to an attractive guy who almost instantly becomes the least attractive guy around because of their chauvinist attitudes, closed mindedness or arrogance. I get angry when people have mocked me for fancying in their words (and I’m even embarrassed to write this) ‘a minger’, when they haven’t even spoken to them to realise what interesting, truly beautiful people they are!  Looks will fade, but those who are beautiful on the inside will always shine.

As for plastic surgery, personally I think it is down to an individual whether they have it or not.  I’m not bothered whether it is considered ‘right’ or ‘wrong’, if it makes that person feel better and that’s what they want to spend their money on so beit. I know someone who had a boob job at quite a young age because they were different sizes and it was affecting her everyday life.  Yes, it was for aesthetic reasons, but how can anyone tell her she was wrong when she is so much happier now and has been released from the burden that was permanently on her mind. 

The media certainly doesn’t help.  We get Heat Mag sent to my work every week, I’m not kidding, one week Cheryl Cole was photographed and they were saying OMG she is too skinny she looks awful, and literally 2 weeks later they were saying how amazing her new body is! Talk about mixed messages!  I find it interesting when they put ‘before and after’ photos of celebs who have lost weight – not once do they look better thinner, so why are we so obsessed with being a size 0. Catwalk models don’t help either.  No wonder we feel unhappy when we look in the mirror, and younger and younger people are suffering from eating and health disorders.  Like you say, balanced diets and plenty of exercise are far more important and will make people look and feel much brighter because they are healthy, not gaunt, tired and mal nourished.

On a personal note of course there are things I would like to change about myself, but in reality how many people really notice, and if they do and they judge me by that, are they the sort of people I want to know?  I have had bags under my eyes since I was 10 yrs old – I vividly remember being in the lunch queue at primary school and the teacher asking what time I went to bed because of my bags!  If you look at my family we all have them, but I have never forgotten that, it does bother me and I wear make up to hide them every day, but I certainly didn’t need it bringing to my attention at 10!   I admit what bothers me most are my boobs - I used to cry myself to sleep about being flat chested and would try anything - stuffing my bra, doing weird exercises, I went to the dr to ask to go on the pill in the hope it would be a desired side effect! I stupidly even tried herbal tablets that were meant to make them grow (needless to say they didn't work but I was desparate!)  Nothing worked and I would be lying if I said it doesn't bother me now, with certain clothes, when I go on holiday and wear a bikini and most of all, the thought of a guy seeing me and being disappointed is always in my head.  But... I don't want surgery, this is how I was made, and look at the positive side - I can run and play sports with no bother, I will never get back pain because of the weight, and there are clothes that I can wear that people with big boobs can't.  And if a guy doesn't like me because of them, yeah it would hurt at first, but I would know deep down that they are not right for me.  Like I said above, inner beauty is what really counts and what will be with us forever and that's is what I strive to achieve.

Thanks for writing such a thought provoking blog, although sorry for the very long comment! lol. xxx

I think Beauty is such a massive subject!!!! There are soo many types of beauty. If we start of with outer beauty. People find different things attractive about different people..ie you might prefare a guy who is really slim and not like really built guys. Or you really like women with Long hair then women with short hair. Even race... Some people prefare a certain ethnic race. ie.... hispanic, oriental, Black carribean, black brazillian, mixed race the list is endless.......If go onto inner beauty... you might like someone who is , into the same movies as you, sports, music, funny, ambitious, intelligent, caring, romantic.......

I think both outer beauty is as important as inner beauty...... im really equal on this because the first thing we see in a person is their looks! I think when people say looks isnt important...they are lying because when they first met that person it was thier looks that  drew them in the first place.....you might have like his eyes, hair, clothes, hair style....or maybe that wasnt it...it was their personality....ALLot of people say that..but theres no denying that you can meet people with amazing personalitys but they dont have the outer beauty, this can make that person attractive but on the other hand you  can still have outer beauty and have an amzing persona!! it's just that people dont think it can exist..you can be blessed either way

Me personally I woud'nt say Iam perfect.....but to other people when they meet me.....I look it ,........Im 5ft 7, size 8/10 wihich is a 6/8 in the usa. I have a mixed hertiage background from the carribean/ indian and french so my look is different regarding my facial  features... ie nose, lips, eyes and mouth..my skin colour is not dark and not too light ( a big thing in the asian and black culture! the more lighter you are the more beautiful)  I get told I should be a model...why am i not a model? but i don't have the best skin in the world.. i.e on my face..... for the whole world to see...I started getting acne from the age of 14 and it got really bad when i was in my late teens..... im 24 now and i still have to take medication from the doctor to control it otherwise it would all come back again. !!! But it can be depressing when you wake up with an outbreak of spots all over your face and you dont wanna go out...But  when your told your beautiful but shame you dont have good skin hurts. If society  accepted people the way you are then i wouldnt have to worry about my skin.... beacause if I lived in the amazon I wouldnt wear any make up... i woudlnt care if I had acne.! I love wearing makeup beacuse its like im painting a canvas and its nice making an effort everyday.  when you see magazines of girls in vougue, elle, cosmo, glamour.... i dont look at girls weight etc.....i skip wieght loss pages... , i wanna gain weight! But i do look at how flawless the skin is on models....,even though it is airbrushed. So i just look at celebs who have perfect skin on tv... but you know that they have probably payed ALLOT of money to have facials and face treatments... But their are days when my acne was bad and i didnt wanna put make up on .....just to let my skin breath but I would be self conscious of what people would think about my skin if they saw it bare ......and it can make your self confidence low... I always think if i had ALLOT of money would i have cosmetic surgery to improve my skin i.e... laser treatement......acid peels.... Im 50 50 on this but honestly i think i would.....i remember having a boyfriend who said to me that 'your soo beautiful but its a shame you have spots but i don't see them i just see you...and i look past it'.... that meant sooo much to me and i realized that your inner beauty is really important aswell.

I think with plastic surgery i only agree with it if you health issues or people who have burns or disfigurement....... i think when women get their nose done, botox,,etc .....i dont agree with it. i hate it... its not natural beauty,,,, its FAKE. you wasnt born with a perfect face so deal with it. c :)

 But in my opinion I think that you need to be attracted to someone physically...in some sort of way....but equally you can have a person who is beautiful and have an amzing persona.... they are out there. i just think its a bit of both...   :)

good topic :)

I have always struggled with beauty for love and acceptance.

My thought path has always been that if I was slimmer I will be found more attractive and someone will want me and love me. I found this to be so far from the truth. When i was what is deemed as culturally acceptable as slim I had very few real friends, I wasn't bad looking and regulalry got asked out on dates but it was just with people who were shallow and not actually interested in me. Once i put weight on those people were nowhere to be seen and this is when i had my lightbulb moment. I was still me,stil the same old loving caring thoughtful Emma. I found when i was bigger that people actually got to know the real me.I love women of all shapes and sizes and no longer fight to be socially accepted on what the media's scale of approval is.

its a sad fact that the media is able to influence the minds of men and women everywhere,its a very sad but true fact. Women get labelled stunning at a certain weight, to skinny and anorexic if they get thinner and then called fat if they put on a few pounds when infact they just are the weight of average everyday people. Beautiful people are used to sell products every single day to make them more attractive and alluring and until we stop buying into this it will continue to happen. Magazines constantly tell us how to lose weight quickly,how to look like our favorite stars,and their portrayal of beauty. This has made an impact on society in such a negative way, people are wanting to look like their favourite stars,getting surgery,doing extreme diets because they are trying to fall into the socially acceptable categories that media blasts at us 24/7 365.

It has taken me sometime but i am me and yes there are a few physical changes i need to make about myself..but purely for HEALTH reasons, i dont want to die before i'm 40 so I need to have a more healthy lifestyle. I'm doing it for ME and not to be accepted by anyone or anything.

Love this topic Xtina xoxo