From the time a female is about three years old, she's aware of how important beauty is in the world. It could be a commercial extolling the virtues of a princess dress, "makeup salon" or tiara, or it could be the media showing perfectly beautiful little girls in perfectly done rooms playing politely with their perfectly beautiful best friend while their perfectly gorgeous moms look on adoringly. It extends to the preteen years, where television shows have the pretty girls being pop stars, singers, or fashionistas. The average looking girl is left to be cast as the nerd, or the jock and the slightly chubby girl. (Well, she's known as the "slightly chubby girl" usually.) As a teenager, the pressure increases even more. Magazines, peer pressure, television and social media create stress on young women to lose weight, wear the latest fashions, and by all means….never look less than perfect. For this reason, young girls grow up with a completely distorted view on wh
at true beauty is. They can have their family members tell them they're "beautiful no matter what," but truth be told, it more than likely goes in one ear and out the other.
Enter the world of social media and real-time commentary. While social media is sometimes viewed as a detriment to society as a whole, it has definite advantages as well. Social media is far more than just Facebook and Instagram. There are websites devoted to opening up discussions about hot-button issues going on in the world. These discussions become places for people (aka young girls) to go to talk with other people in their situation and gain positive insight. As an example, a 14-year old girl with braces on her teeth, glasses on her face and pimples on her chin might feel that she is as "un-pretty" as it gets. She knows when she gets her braces off, she'll have a beautiful smile, the pimples will go away over time as long as she takes care of herself and hey…glasses can be hip! But she needs more than just her mom, dad or best friend telling her that. She wants to talk with others around the world to see what they're going through. So she logs onto an in
teractive discussion online and she finds out that …guess what? She is NOT alone. There are hundreds, thousands…even millions of girls out there going through the very same thing she is. The Barbie look is the exception to the norm and completely unrealistic. She learns that the so-called "pretty girls" have their own hang-ups about how they view themselves. She learns that there are a handful of girls that are really okay with what they look like, and she finds that she admires those who accept it, embrace it and live life seeing the beauty inside a person before seeing the external beauty.
The effect can steamroll. As she gains confidence using these open forums, she finds herself offering advice to girls like her. She finds herself saying wise words that she once heard and soon enough, she finds herself confident, content and happy...and you know what? That type of beauty eclipses all the rest in the end.
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Tamara Day is a writer that's living life in a northern town while dreaming of a southern one, while creating an online stir on social media sites such as http://www.tawkers.com
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