The River of Culture has its own set of values that determines how we live. Coming down from the 60’s , when the ‘new morality’ became vogue (or the old immorality), young women have been told that
“their true source of power depends on maximizing their beauty and sex appeal and marketing it to compete for acceptance and popularity.”
Anyone watching young teenage girls in their school or social environment would have to admit that this value has been sold and bought utterly. The saddest part of this state of affairs is that only 13% of girls are reasonably happy with their size and shape, and only 2% think they are beautiful. What becomes of the other 85%?
In his book “Bringing Up Girls”, James Dobson makes the case that a great majority of girls are getting caught up with self-hatred and depression because they cannot compete in the beauty stakes.
This makes me mad. Who gets to say who is and who isn’t beautiful?
We should be asking ourselves the question “Who is profiting from the unhappiness of our girls?”
The answer is obvious with a little thought:- anyone who has a beauty product to sell.
Eg. cosmetic and hair, clothing, beauty treatment companies; gyms; magazines; diet programs; jewelers; and of course, advertisers.
It’s time we leveled the playing field for the sake of our girls, and ladies, it’s up to us to take the lead.
1Peter 3 clearly sets out the Biblical culture of true beauty and it’s free and available to all.
‘Your adornment must not be merely external—braiding the hair, and wearing gold jewelry, or putting on dresses; 4 but let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the imperishable quality of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is precious in the sight of God.
I have many very attractive women among my acquaintances. They are the sort of women you just love to be around and whose friendship you greatly value. They have the inner beauty that Peter speaks about, and it definitely shines out to the outside in a way that makes them, well…. ‘beautiful’. I might add, they are all shapes, sizes, ages and personalities.
If we want to ‘sell’ this inner beauty to our girls in such a way that they want it, we first of all have to spell it out clearly, and then we have to live it out consistently.
Here is my attempt to spell it out…..
Inner beauty looks like…
- Eyes that sparkle and look at other people with genuine interest
- Lips that readily smile (closely linked with point 1)
- Grooming that is careful, clean and fresh
- Clothing that is modest yet modern and doesn’t scream ‘look at me’ or “I’m available’
- Posture that reflects confidence and self-respect
- Good health that comes from proper rest, diet and exercise
- Conversation that is Intelligent and interesting and others-focused.
Let’s live it out : Inner Beauty is CAPTIVATING
No comments:
Post a Comment