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Perfection: we all just want to be perfect

5.801 / ~24 sternsternsternsternstern_0.2 Kai H. . 2014
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Fachbereichsarbeit
Englisch

Europagymnasium BGB

Fr. Prof. Hametner, 2013

Kai H. ©

0.76 Mb
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ID# 37862












PERFECTION












We all just want to be perfect…..


INTRODUCTION



This term paper is all about perfection. In the following pages, the definition of perfection, and how it is a main aspect in our lives, will be shown and discussed. Furthermore, I give some specific information about the health issues which the strive of perfection causes. So many people get lost as a person, can not enjoy their lives anymore, obsessed with the desperate seek for perfection.


The reason why I decided to write my term paper about “Perfection” is the fact that it is an enormous issue nowadays and I am influenced by it myself, even if I do not want to.

It is worth saying that doing this term paper for school was not just writing a text for me. It was a way for me to think about the sense of life and what I really want. Are choices and decisions I make in life based on what I want to do or on something someone told me to.


However, it does not even matter what I look like and what I do, there will always be another person who criticizes me for doing it wrong in terms of perfection.














This text contains quotations from various books and references to web sites as well as a lot of personal thoughts and ideas.


TABLE OF CONTENTS



1 Perfection in general

  • 1.1 Definition

  • 1.2 What is perfection?




    2 The perfect outer appearance

  • 2.1 Wrong idea of perfection through the media and social surroundings

  • 2.2 Comparison Barbie and real woman




    3 Health issues (physical & mental)

  • 3.1 Girls and dieting

  • 3.2 Girls and their low self-esteem





    + To see perfection in imperfection

    + To sum up..




    1 Perfection in general


      1. DEFINITION



    perfection (noun):

    ,,1; a state in which someone or something is perfect or as good as they can be: Dennis always seeks perfection in his girlfriends.

    1a; someone or something that is considered to be the best possible: The view from our hotel room was simply perfection.

    2; the process of making something as good as it can be: scientists working on the perfection of new techniques to perfection: in a way that could not be better, or done as well as possible: The roast beef was cooked to perfection”




    perfect1 (adjective):

    ,,1; as good, correct, or accurate as it is possible to be = FLAWLESS: Her English was perfect. / These recipes give perfect results every time.

    1a; completely suitable or right for someone: It seemed like the perfect gift/ + for: Their house is absolutely perfect for parties and barbecues.

    1b; with no parts missing, damaged, or spoiled: The equipment was in perfect condition. / The skin was perfect.

    2; [only before noun] used for emphasizing how much someone has of a particular quality = COMPLETE: He behaved like the perfect gentleman all evening. / I don’t want to share a room with a perfect stranger.

    2a; used for emphasis generally: What he said was perfect nonsense.”




    perfect2 (verb):

    ,, to make something completely free from faults, or as good as it can be: Gemma spent hours trying to perfect her technique.”

    Facharbeit: PERFECTION Resource: [Macmillan English Dictionary p.1108]







    perfectly (adverb):

    ,,1; in a way that could not be better: They are a perfectly matched couple. / He took a perfectly ironed shirt from the wardrobe.

    2; used for emphasizing a particular quality = COMPLETELY: It’s perfectly natural for parents to worry about their children.”




    perfectionist (noun):

    ,, someone who always wants things to be done perfectly perfectionism”


    [Macmillan English Dictionary p.1108]
















    Facharbeit: PERFECTION Resource: [Macmillan English Dictionary p.1108]






    1.2 WHAT IS PERFECTION?



    ,,A little boy is playing on the beach. He scoops a handful of sand into a plastic container, pats it down, holds his hand over the top and quickly flips it up-side-down. Very carefully he lifts the container off the packed sand and sits back to see the result. A piece of sand has stuck to the container and there's a broken corner on his sandcastle. Frustrated, he knocks it down, flattens the sand and starts again. “

    [Perfection a book by Steve Copland]


    Every day, all over the world, people subconsciously strive for perfection. There are no doubts, that human beings have an inbuilt desire for perfection which is manifested in many different areas of our lives.


    Is it the renovation of the house; spending hours pouring throughout wallpaper books and color cards? Do you spend ages imagine how may the perfect room look like?


    Is it our desire to go shopping which shows the pursuit of perfection? Hundreds of racks of different brands of clothes which are there because someone will buy them. Each one of us does have a specific idea of what looks best on us and we seek it out, try it on and reject it, until we are convinced that it completes our image we desire to create about ourselves.


    Do we use the word 'perfection' for something that may not be perfect at all? In fact, we demonstrate our limitations in the way we speak of perfection every single day. When we ask for a coffee to be made a certain way we may say “it's perfect”. Then the coffee gets cold and we recognize that what we were witnessing is not perfection at all. Considering all aspects and details, readers may think that perfection is impossible and therefore we lower the bar, we bring perfection down to manageable levels. However, despite the impossibility of us reaching anything like perfect appearance or knowledge, something drives us to head in that direction. In fact, it seems that we are almost obsessed with it. All around us, people try to create images of perfection. A good example are the media nowadays, which will be explained more detailed later on.






    Facharbeit: PERFECTION Resource: [Perfection a book by Steve Copland]





    Readers may get tired of reality and constant disappointment of how things really are.

    We live our lives wanting to feel what seems to be beyond ourselves. An inspiration and force within us to go higher, deeper, to experience what we can almost imagine could be. People strive for better; indeed, we seem to be driven to go faster, to hit harder and to look better. Only a few people living in contentment, even less would say that they are completely satisfied with their lives.


    When we are young, we dream of the future, we may believe that we will live forever and have the time to fulfill every desire. In our thirties, we are looking forward with less, lower expectation and begin to look back to find the point at which we took the “wrong path”. In the following years, we make some last attempts at realizing dreams we have compromised with, and after that, we simply are aware of the fact that we were just silly young dreamers. The image of a perfect live as wanted fades away.



    Moreover, people tend to always seek for perfection and along the way, they may lose sight of what really matters.

















    Facharbeit: PERFECTION Resource: [Perfection a book by Steve Copland]







    We all want to be happy.  But we have preconceived notions or beliefs about what needs to happen in our lives before we can be happy.  Maybe we need to get that dream job.  Or we need to have a million dollars in the bank.  Or maybe we need to have the body of our dreams.  Or we need the perfect relationship in order to be happy.

    The list goes on. Yes, these things may indeed make us happy. Or then again, they may not.

    When we set goals, we also have the tendency, once we have achieved them, to replace them with new goals.  So you may find that you still do not feel happy after you have achieved that “big goal” because you’ve just replaced it with an even bigger goal that you now need to achieve before you can be “truly happy”.

    But by doing this, we stack the odds against ourselves.  And if we play this game in order to find our happiness, then there is a good chance that we will spend the rest of our lives chasing down the dreams that may ‘one day’ make us happy.

    What if I told you that you do not need any of those things in order to be happy in your life and that you can be happy today?  The key to happiness is learning how to be happy right now, while you work on achieving your goals, instead of waiting until you have achieved those goals to be happy.







    Why do people try so hard to be their idea of the “perfect person”?

    We should all just try to be happy but then again people will never

    be happy with what they have. Instead of trying to be perfect just

    try to be the best you can be!

    Facharbeit: PERFECTION Resource: own thoughts

    Facharbeit: PERFECTION Resource: [Perfection a book by Steve Copland]



    The definition of perfection varies from person to person. To some, perfection may only involve outward appearance, while to others, it may involve personality, experiences, or even accomplishments. When striving to be perfect, keep in mind that, above all else, it is important to make yourself happy. Do not try to be perfect for someone else. To be the perfect girl, pursue the features you believe constitute perfection.




  • 2 The perfect outer appearance

    2.1 WRONG IDEA OF PERFECTION THROUGH THE MEDIA AND SOCIAL SURROUNDINGS

    The conversation about women’s bodies exists largely outside of us, while it is also directed at (and marketed to) us, and used to define and control us. The Conversation about women happens everywhere, publicly and privately. We are described and detailed, our faces and bodies analyzed and picked apart, our worth ascertained and ascribed based on the reduction of personhood to simple physical objectification. Our voices, our personhood, our potential, and our accomplishments are regularly minimized and muted....

    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------



    The sources of mass media, including advertisements, fashion industries, music videos all tend to manipulate society through unrealistic or unhealthy thin body images that paint the picture of perfection of what true beauty should be. Along with product marketing, the media tend to utilize various forms of media psychology to possibly influence a set standard of beauty. As a result of this, many young adults, especially young males and females, tend to idealize images of their favorite celebrities and/or models presented within media, into their minds. Ultimately causing a series of dangerous measures due to body dissatisfactions such as, eating disorders, excessive exercises and cosmetic therapy. Despite all this, many people tend to avoid or refuse to comprehend that many aspects of beauty influenced through media are vusually shaped through the extensive attributions of computerized photo alternations.

    Facharbeit: PERFECTION Resource:

    [ ]







    Also, images are presented through the use of extensive cosmetics such as foundation, lip stick, eyeliner, blush and many more to enhance and cover the original outlook of a model. To the more extreme, some undergo plastic surgery which includes such measures as Botox enhancements, lifting, liposuction, stretching of skin, implantation and many more, to support creating the ideal image media wishes to portray towards its prize audience. Thus, media influence upon our thoughts of body image have come to affect not only the young but also the older generations as well, to visualize and idealize unrealistic, even abnormal body images, from television screens and magazine advertisements toward themselves, causing them to suffer through the unnecessary pain of self-objectification and self-punishment.

    Missing: EXAMPLES FROM AD CAMPAIGNS

    Almost half of girls in a recent survey think the pressure to look good is the worst part of being female.


    The media show glamorous pictures of beautiful women, airbrushed, flawless, the work of the creative designer using computer programs to eliminate that which we perceive as imperfections. Smoothing skin and erasing wrinkles to enlarging muscles and slimming waists and much more is used to create the ultimate standard of perfection of how a person should look like. These images don't reflect reality, yet from a younger and younger age, people are on the pursuit of these biologically impossible ideals.

    We need full-time hairdressers, make-up artists, physical trainers, and dietitians just to attempt to keep up. The truth is that most of us are not “beautiful” according to the current media standards of beauty. And even models and actresses are outed as less than perfect when they are caught in their natural state by lurking tabloid photographers. Maintaining that standard of perfection must be exhausting and humiliating.

    Even though we know this standard of beauty is unrealistic and unattainable, most of us spend far too much time, emotional energy, and money attempting to keep it up. It does not matter whether you are young with enviable skin and a tight butt or beginning to see gray hair and wrinkles, you probably focus far more on your perceived flaws than you do on any aspect of your true beauty.








    Facharbeit: PERFECTION Resource:

    [ ]





    Moreover, advertising persuades females that wrong eating habits are right. In a discussion of the media and eating disorders, the [National Centre for Eating Disorders] argues: ,,the media doesn't make women feel a need to be thinner per se, but the media may assist them in feeling bigger than they already feel themselves to be." If girls do feel bigger than they are, they are more likely to want to lose weight or develop an eating disorder, turn to diet pills or steroids, or try cosmetic surgery and Botox injections.

    A poor body image continues to be a problem, and it is not just young women and girls who suffer from it. Some of us at midlife are vulnerable to disordered eating, anxiety, and depression, particularly if we see our body changes as deficits and sources of shame and guilt.

    These serious issues are not helped by the impossible visions of perfection everywhere in our visual culture.

    One of the biggest problems nowadays is the immeasurable effect the media have on a teenagers' body image. Each year, thousands of teenagers use diet and exercise to conform to an ideal that has been created by our society. For many teens, becoming a model is the ultimate goal. All they want to do is to show off and present the whole world how perfect they are. The “right” body shape pushes self-esteem and makes the girls feel good about themselves.




















    Facharbeit: PERFECTION Resource:

    [ ]




    2.2 COMPARISON BARBIE AND REAL WOMAN

    If we talk about perfection, the ideal we are indirectly referring to is a doll called Barbie produced in the year 1955 by the American toy-company Mattel, Inc.. It is the best known fashion doll around the world and an idol for many girls. They want to look like her which in fact is total nonsense because it is impossible based on her measurements.

    If Barbie were a real woman, her head would be the same circumference as her waist, meaning she’d have room for only half a liver and a few inches of intestines, (as opposed to the usual 26 feet). The result: chronic diarrhea and death from malabsorption & malnutrition.

    To look like Barbie proportionally, a healthy woman would need to add 61 cm to her height, subtract 15 cm from her waist, add 13 cm to her chest, and 8 cm to her neck length.

    Because Barbie’s neck is twice as long as the average human’s, it would be impossible for her to hold up her head. Her legs are 50 percent longer than her arms, (the average woman’s legs are only 20 percent longer than her arms). She’d also have to walk on all fours (her feet are so disproportionately small, her chest would pull her forward onto her toes).

    REAL WOMEN
    Average woman’s height is 5’4″
    Their weight is approx. 140 lbs.
    They wear a size 14 dress
    Their bust is between 36″ and 37″ (B cup)
    Their waist is between 30″ and 34″
    Their hips average between 40″ and 42″
    Their shoe size is estimated to be between 8.5 and 9.5

    BARBIE
    Barbie’s height would be 7’2″
    Her weight would be 101 lbs.
    She would wear a size 4 dress
    Her bust would be 39″ (FF cup)
    Her waist would be 19″ (same as her head)
    Her hips would be 33″
    Her shoe size would be a 5







    Barbie does not seem so perfect now, does she?



    Facharbeit: PERFECTION Resource: were-a-real-woman/






    While doing research for term paper I came across a statement of a teenage girl talking about her enormous strive for perfection which makes every single day to a challenge for her:


    ,,I don't really know where to begin I guess. My entire life, I have always been told I was pretty girl, and I've always been very popular with my peers. In all honesty, my self-esteem in terms of my personality and confidence in the way I face and accomplish challenges is extremely high. I am very happy with who I am and my abilities, which I am very thankful for. My problems arise when it comes to how I view my outer appearance. I have become obsessed with it and it is always torturing me inside. I know this probably sounds really silly to a lot of you, but I really need advice on how to fix this so I can truly be happy again.

    Usually, I'll get ready to go out or go to class and I will feel really pretty. If I don't feel good about the way I look, I get really depressed and irritable and just want to go home and hope that nobody saw me looking so ugly. When I go to parties or sorority events I always try to dress and look my absolute best. I constantly check how I look to make sure I look as good or even better than the girls around me, and if I don't I get extremely sad and just want to go home and hide. I am always comparing myself to other girls. Like ,,Why can’t I have hair like hers?" ,,Why did I wear this outfit? ,,I should have dressed like her." ,,Why did I wear these tights? I should have worn my skirt, I would have looked so much better." And If I go out not looking my absolute best I get angry at myself and immediately regret it. I'll come home after going out and look in the mirror and think: ,,Oh my god did I really look like THAT?" and get depressed. I feel like I am always on a quest to be the perfect version of myself, and I just want to be as perfect as the girls I see around me. Until I feel good about myself regardless of what I wear and what my hair and makeup looks like, I won't ever be truly happy. I just want to be perfect, that’s all!”

    [ ]








    The only thing we might ad to this truly depressing post by this teenage girl is that doubtless many girls feel the same way she does. It is so sad that she cannot enjoy her life fully because the strive for perfection is stopping her from feeling good.



    Facharbeit: PERFECTION Resource: [ ]


    Furthermore, it is worth mentioning that at least one out of every four advertisements contains a message about attractiveness. For teens that are at the age where they are looking out for male contact, the attractiveness is often a reason for having the feeling that they need to lose weight. Usually, a female wants to enter a room full of guys and know that they recognize her as a potential good looking girl.

    Having a boyfriend pushes your ego again. It makes the girls feel adored because a guy thinks that they are beautiful and kind of perfect the way they are. It often helps them feel good about themselves and accept their body the way it is by the boyfriend letting them know that they are attractive. With the perfect partner on someone's side, with the 'soul mate', people then would know a feeling of complete satisfaction, that emptiness within would disappear, being filled with perfect love. The feeling of loneliness and uncertainty shrinks. In fact, I am convinced that the desperate search of a teenage girl to find a boyfriend is based on a low self-esteem and the fact that she needs someone to hold on to and the confirmation which she perhaps cannot find in family or friends. In other words, it does not mean that only “weak“ girls do have boyfriends, not at all, it just could be a reason for wanting/having one.



































    DEFINITION OF PERFECTION ON FASHION BLOGS



    Furthermore, I decided to do some research on fashion blogs on the Internet to find out about their definition of perfection. A user on the website [ gave a clear statement of his ideal referring to the body shape of a girl. The following lines sum up what this male teenager thinks about it: ,,You have to be skinny, of course, and not have exceeding body fat where you can actually see it. As we all know, the breast is of importance especially for boys. You shouldn't have “basketball”boobs, neither a flat chest, in other words, normal, average sized boobs are good. No barbie-doll hips, no muffin-top (the roll of fat hanging out of the top of low-cut or too tight jeans) and no love-handles (a layer of fat around the midsection; also called “love-handles” because it provides a soft place to rest ones hand while ones arm is around a person, or perhaps because they can serve as place to hold on). Your stomach should be flat and the only acceptable “bump” is that small layer of fat you have covering your abs. You should not have an extremely defined core nor sculpted muscles, but when you flex, some muscles should be noticeable. No cottage cheese. No pancake butt. You should be able to stand up straight without arching your back and your butt should stick out least enough so you can see it. You do not have to have a gap between your thighs as a lot of girls want, because that's too much. You should be able to place your feet together and have at least some space between your knees.”



    In the end, the user wants to make clear that this should not be provoking against anyone. These are only his ideas and if someone does not match his idea of perfection, this does not mean that they are not good enough. Moreover, he is aware of the fact that some people might think of him as a cold and heartless perfectionist. However, this is his idea of perfection in terms of body shape even if everyone else may have a different view.













    Facharbeit: PERFECTION Resource: [ and own thoughts



    1. Health issues (physical & mental)



    3.1 GIRLS AND DIETING

    The strive for perfection is often a reason for girls’ cutting down portions or their calories intake to a minimum. Their goal is to have the “perfect” body shown by the media, size 0.

    Moreover, some girls start dieting as a way of coping with depression. Others become depressed because extreme dieting affects their serotonin levels.

    Adolescence, for girls, signals nothing less than a developmental crisis. At the time of life when boys start becoming proud of their bodies, girls become preoccupied with whether or not their bodies measure up. They have an idea of a perfect feminine physique that can never be realized. In our society it is all too easy for girls to develop a distorted body image. In an effort to perfect themselves they diet excessively and succumb to eating disorders. Some become depressed about their appearance, even suicidal.

    A study published by the Commonwealth Fund a decade ago found that 1 out of 4 girls are depressed. The information published in this government-sponsored report was appalling. An alarming 29 percent "reported suicidal thoughts, 27 percent said they were sad 'many times' or 'all the time,' and one-third of older girls said they felt like crying 'many days' or 'every day'."

    Adolescence is a time when girls begin to develop a huge emotional investment in the goal of "perfection". The idea of perfection allows girls to remain passive. Maintaining the illusion of perfection is how female adolescents defend themselves against taking the huge, impossible-seeming risk of doing - of becoming a woman. Psychologists have found out that their self-esteem peaks at the age of nine. This is when girls are the most self-accepting they may ever be. Most girls, at nine, still have an integrated sense of their bodies. And then, at ten and eleven, their connection to the body becomes fragile and self-esteem starts its precipitous fall. Suddenly, they're not talking about what they really think and feel anymore. They become preoccupied with size, they worry about looking "too big. Adolescence, for girls, is a time of frantic dieting. Many girls at 12 and 13, and even younger, are setting themselves up for uncontrollable eating disorders by the time they are 15 and 16. Scientists now know that dieting is the trigger for these illnesses, if not their cause. About 90 percent of the teenage girls regularly purge to control their weight. Minor dieting will not do it. But because their self-image is so precarious, girls restrict their food intake. Often they exercise compulsively as well. Nearly one in five ninth grade girls admitted to having binged and purged. (Bulimia is now known to be related to obsessive compulsive disorder. Anorexia is the perilous self-starvation disease connected with extreme distortion in body image.)

    Facharbeit: PERFECTION Resource: Inspirated by [



    What possibly could be the matter, here? Surely this epidemic of eating disorders can no longer be attributed to Twiggy and all the skinny models that came down the pike after her.



    Since Freud, the so-called "flight from self" has been considered predictable, and even inevitable, for female adolescents. What had so long been recognized as a falling apart time for girls was glanced at, taken note of, and dismissed as part of the "normal" development of young females. It is far from normal, and girls need all the help adults can give them in developing a relaxed appreciation of their bodies and themselves.

    -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------





    Furthermore, one really good example is the famous actress Jennifer Lawrence. First people say how many actresses in Hollywood look anorexic, and now they are criticizing her for looking normal. She has slammed emaciated actresses for perpetuating an unrealistic and unhealthy body image, insists she's not going to starve herself to fit someone else's aesthetic ideal.





    The 21-year-old star of the upcoming movie "The Hunger Games" made her comments in an interview published in the April 2012 issue of Seventeen magazine.

    "I'm just so sick of these young girls with diets," Lawrence told Seventeen. "I remember when I was 13 and it was cool to pretend to have an eating disorder because there were rumors that Lindsay Lohan and Nicole Richie were anorexic. I thought it was crazy. I went home and told my mom, 'Nobody's eating bread - I just had to finish everyone's burgers.'"


    [ ]







    Facharbeit: PERFECTION Resource: Inspirated by [ and





    3.2 GIRLS AND THEIR LOW SELF-ESTEEM


    Another issue is the influence the media have on body image and self-esteem. Researchers suggest that the development of self-esteem in young people is drastically affected by the media they are exposed to. The media portray a very unrealistic standard of beauty and body weight. Young people are highly influenced by images of stars and models in the media without understanding that images are often altered to enhance appearances. One report claims that at the age of thirteen, 53% of American girls are "unhappy with their bodies." This numbers grows to 78% by the age of seventeen. In a survey funded by the National, Heart and Lung Institute, 40% of girls ages nine and ten years old were reported have tried to lose weight.

    The depth of the effects of the media standard for body image on young people is yet to be fully determined. It has become an increased area of concern and is most certainly an area the where more study is needed to draw precise conclusions. It is popular opinion that the staggeringly large number of young people who suffer from eating disorders and engage in unhealthy dieting or take potentially harmful diet pills is a direct effect of media influence, but there is yet to be substantial hard evidence to prove this connection. In spite of this lack of evidence, it is apparent that young people today are under an extreme amount of pressure to achieve physical perfection.

    So one of the most likely reasons for an intense strive for perfection is low self-esteem. Based on their imperfections, it is hard to accept themselves as a good person. The problem of women and self-esteem has deep roots. Low self-esteem is actually something we are conditioned for, beginning when we are young. Studies show that girls, especially smarter ones, often have severe problems with self-esteem. They consistently underestimate their own ability. When asked how they think they will do on different tasks, whether the tasks are untried or ones they have encountered before, they give lower estimates than boys do, and, in general, tend to underestimate their actual performance.


    Good self-esteem comes from learning that one can accomplish by oneself, that one can rely upon one's own abilities, can trust one's own judgment. Girls are often not given enough opportunity to learn these things. Eventually they internalize the idea that they cannot succeed in meeting life's challenges on their own. Without this belief they eventually become women who have difficulty with low self-esteem. Working with a supportive therapist, a woman is able to engage in a process that allows her to unlearn the deeply ingrained negative beliefs that have made her feel she is not strong enough to stand on their own. Her feelings of worth and value get re-affirmed, and she finds she can let go of the old baggage and develop an entirely new sense of herself.

    Facharbeit: PERFECTION Resource: Inspirated by [





    Furthermore, the media makes girls think that those with ideal body images have perfect lives. The pursuit of perfection is all consuming. There is no doubt that the people with seemingly the least reasons to be self-conscious are the worst afflicted. There is a reason for this because perfection is unattainable. When others go to compliment them on their positive features, they cannot see it because of the tunnel vision set upon their imperfections.



    Of course, whenever we see a beautiful person walking down the street, we imagine her having a rich, handsome, successful husband, a marvelous house, and a life happily ever after. But just because everything seems to be perfect on the outside does not mean that it actually is. It has been proven that actually these people are the unhappiest maybe even depressive and may have the deepest problems.

    So do not get blinded by the beauty of someone. All that counts is what a person is able to do in life, what they can do themselves without the help of money. Therefore, I would say that real beauty comes from the inside and then may affect the outer appearance.



    Although physical attractiveness can help you get a foot in the door, it has very little to do with sustaining relationships and even less with developing real self-confidence. We’ve all seen beautiful people who open their mouths and become instantly less attractive, or unattractive people who become more and more appealing because they exude something special.





















    Facharbeit: PERFECTION Resource: own thoughts


    TO SEE PERFECTION IN IMPERFECTON



    You can go comparing yourself to other people. There is lots of pretty girls in the world but there is only one beautiful you, so embrace her. If everyone could become their image of perfection, they would find something wrong with it and dream up another. People should not focus on what you are not and start to love you who you are because no matter how long you stand in the mirror and curse yourself for being you, you won’t change. Even if you could, I bet you would find that most people saw nothing wrong with you in the first place and actually preferred you the way you were. The truly perfect are the ones who know they are flawed but accept themselves anyway, despite the rest of the world’s warped perception of beauty. Your flaws make you who you are. So forget about having a perfect personality or perfect body or perfect grades, etc. You do not have to love your flaws, but learn to live with them. They are part of you. They are what make you an original and not a copy. No one else is like you.

    Facharbeit: PERFECTION Resource: own thoughts


    TO SUM UP…



    Readers may share the opinion that everyone has the right, whatever size, shape or form, to feel happy about themselves and diversity of body shapes and sizes needs to be included in magazines, advertising and broadcasts and on the catwalk. Another really important aspect is the move away from our appearance-obsessed culture towards giving teenagers or even children at young age positive examples of using their bodies, as well as bolstering their resilience and self-esteem with media literacy and body confidence lessons in schools. Though some people dismiss this issue as trivial, they are ignoring what is, in fact, a growing public health problem. It is vital that we take steps now so that members of the next generation will grow up learning to accept their bodies in a culture that celebrates health and confidence over false ideals.



    Buying into the unattainable world of perfect does a number on girls’ self-confidence and resilience. Girls slowly become disconnected with who they are at their core. One girl describes the stress as “like falling down a big hole.” It is not a bad thing to want our girls to do well and achieve, but when the message becomes “be perfect at literally everything in your life,” the pressure can be overwhelming and the cost to achieve a girl’s well-being is high.



    We have to consider, when will we stop putting pressure on girls to be perfect? When will we stop judging them based on their looks rather than their abilities? When will we stop expecting every girl to embody a perfect blend of sporty, pretty, popular and smart? Will we ever let girls be good enough?

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    To put it in my own words: Society is so “fucked up”. We grow up with these ideas and images of how we are supposed to be. Girls are supposed to wear dresses and play with dolls where boys instead are supposed to get dirty and play with action figures.

    When it comes to body shape, you are either called anorexic or you are not skinny enough. Our minds are so vulnerable, we just take in all this information and think, “I have to be this, I have to do that to be accepted”. But how are we supposed to know what is right when everything is looked down upon? No matter what you do, what you look like, which choices you make, there is always someone to tell you that what you do is wrong. Society messes with our heads. Our perception of perfection is always changing and if we do not comply, then we are considered as outcasts, different, strange..

    It seems like whatever perfection might be, we can never reach it and it stops us from being happy and satisfied in our lives.

    Facharbeit: PERFECTION Resource: own thoughts





    RESOURCES


  • Macmillan English Dictionary p.1108

  • Perfection a book by Steve Copland

  • were-a-real-woman/










  • Books which I read and inspired me during the writing process of my term paper but aren’t mentioned specifically:


  • The Cinderella Complex: Women's Hidden Fear of Independence by Colette Dowling


  • Being perfect by Anna Quindlen


  • The Cult of Perfection by Cooper Lawrence


  • Outside in by Chrissie Keighery


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