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
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
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?
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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