Quite a while ago, I came across a photo editing app called Perfect365. I'm a big fan of Instagram and editing pictures, and ya know, free, so I downloaded it. For a long time it just sat there on my phone, going unused. Finally, one day I decided to open it and try it out.
Turns out, it's an app that allows you to do your makeup in photos. I got a good laugh out of it. Especially when I found the settings that would do crazy makeup and even add wigs. Exhibit A:
Freaky, right? I thought it was pretty hilarious. That was, until last weekend when my husband and I took a picture on our Saturday afternoon adventure and I decided to play with the picture a little because I wasn't wearing any makeup and I figured it would be a perfect use for the app!
Somehow this turned into a weird obsession over the next couple hours. And then I discovered that the app can actually thin out your face and make your eyes bigger, among other things. It will even thin out your eyebrows for you. Essentially, it's the photoshop for your crappy Instagram pictures.
It wasn't until I was trying out the thinning face feature that I had an overwhelming sense of "What am I doing?!" After just barely learning about unrealistic expectations in the media, here I was turning what was actually a fine picture in to something that wasn't real so it would "look better." I was pretty disgusted with myself once I realized the destructiveness of what I was doing, so I ended it right there.
Media (and Satan) have the sneakiest way of making you think things are important when they just really aren't. Trying to look perfect all of the time is one of them. The app's tagline is "The easiest way to make you look great." Uhhh how about looking great by building self-esteem? Being happy? Taking pride in your unique features and what makes you you? Better yet, how about not caring so much about "looking great" and wearing sweatpants every day because you can and because you just freaking like it?
Sorry. I'm getting carried away. But this little app gave me a new perspective, and I'm so glad I'm more "media-aware" that I was able to catch myself on what I was doing. Needless to say, I won't be using that app anymore. Even over silly Instagram photos, it is just too easy for me to trick myself into thinking I need to "fix" my physical features in order to look good, and I'm just really not okay with that.
Last night as I tried desperately to find any source of procrastination I could find to avoid writing a paper, I stumbled across perhaps one of the most abhorrent things I have ever laid eyes on.
The 2013 Kardashian Christmas Card.
Bad: This thing even exists?
Worse: People actually care that this exists?
Computer Thrown Out Window: THIS.
To spare you clicking on that link, here is the Christmas card I am referring to (warning: you can't un-see this):
Side note: I do not watch Keeping Up with the Kardashians. Mainly because I have never had cable in my life (read: true story). Although my childhood self may disagree (where my Disney Channel movies at, amiright?), I don't feel like I missed out on much by not having cable or satellite. In fact, I think it's because of my lack of exposure that I have such a low tolerance for shows that feature people like the Kardashians.
Please don't misinterpret what I'm saying. I'm only human. I love stupid reality TV drama. Lovelovelove it. Dance Moms, The Bachelorette, and Say Yes to the Dress are some of my favorite guilty pleasures. Key word here: guilty. Guilty because they provide absolutely no other function than to turn my brain into mush after a long day. And let's be honest, who doesn't love the reassurance of knowing that no matter how crappy your day may have been, there are still people broadcasting their crazy all over national television, so obviously your life can't be that bad.
However, the Kardashians (and other reality tv celebs like them) are their own breed of reality TV evil. This is why:
They are famous for no. Reason. At all. And I hate it.
But I hate it even more that there are thousands upon thousands of women idolizing them, wanting to look and be like them. This is particularly infuriating to me because the first thing I noticed in the "Christmas card" (whoever decided this could be called a Christmas card should be punched in the face, just saying) was the absurd amount of Photoshop. Some may not recognize it at first glance, but as a well-practiced photographer and someone who spends their free time looking at before and after photos, it's pretty easy to spot. This shouldn't be a surprise. It is a pretty well-known fact now that just about every magazine cover you see is essentially fake. There is not a single celebrity that shows their face or flashes their abs that has not be retouched, airbrushed, or skinnied-up and filled-out in all the right places. How is that fair? These people are already rich and attractive, but now they get to have professional photographers airbrushing any trace of imperfection and enhancing (and creating) the very features that women wish and dream about for themselves? No. That is so, so wrong.
I know this is long, but I'm about to make my point here.
As I felt my brain leaking out my ears and I desperately tried to suppress the urge to beat my computer screen with a sledge hammer, I couldn't help but feeling just incredibly frustrated, and mostly sad. The tragic truth is this: glitz, glam, beauty, and here it is - sex - sells. Which is why it is such a miracle that a show like Duck Dynasty, that features a very openly religious and loving family, is the highest rated cable television show in history.
And yet, Keeping Up with the Kardashians remains. Even worse, Photoshop remains overused and provides our society with a sickeningly skewed view of what beauty is. People - mostly women - tune in and laugh and drool over the glamorous lifestyle of these random rich people and indulge in the beauty tips that will never achieve the unreal perfection portrayed on the front of a magazine. All of this ultimately amounts to one thing: a lot of people feeling really bad about themselves for an image that isn't even real. And that breaks my heart. It scares me to know that my children will grow up in a world where the idea of beauty is not even a real thing to begin with. My point is pretty much summed up in this:
I know there are a lot of people, like Dove, doing a lot of good in the world to try and adjust society's definition of beauty and what's desirable. I just hope it will have enough of an impact to keep the craziness at bay for a little while. I am hopeful that with the knowledge of the restored gospel, I can hold onto what worth really is. That I can teach my children that their worth is not defined by the world's standards of beauty or status, but that they are the children of a King on High who loves them more than the world ever could.
