All young women, welcome to the world of adults! Let me introduce you to our beauty ideals. Step 1: Make sure you have no wrinkles, not even one. Get Botox early, you should probably start injecting it at age 19.
Step 2: The thinner you are, the better!
Step 3: Don't think you are off the hook because you are older than 40, even older women can have a face completely free of wrinkles, so don't you dare settle for anything less!
This morning I started
my day with a cup of coffee and the Toronto Star as usual. Today’s sad news was
an article in the Star that reported that Botox use among people under the age of
30 has gone up significantly. It’s becoming more common for Millennials to
start taking Botox early to prevent aging. The Toronto-based plastic and
cosmetic surgeon interviewed in the article explains that when the Millennials
start to see signs of wrinkles it freaks them out and they decide to start
taking Botox to prevent aging.
Toronto Star reporter
Azzura Lalani reports in the article called “Millennials using Botox to hold on
to young look, surgeons say” that the use of Botox has increased with 41 % among
Millennials. Azzura Lalani writes the following in the November 22, 2016 issue
of Toronto Star:
“The American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery reported that Botox
treatments for people between the ages of 19 to 34 shot up by 41 per cent
between 2011 and 2015.”
As I read the news I
was saddened by how beauty obsessed our society has become. What made me react to
the article was that I had those same feeling in my early twenties. When I was
20-years-old and started getting my first fine lines I remember freaking out
about them. I remember thinking that I wish I had more money so that I could
get Botox. Luckily for me I was a poor student and Botox was never even an
option available. I grew up and the more documentaries I watched the more convinced
I got that there was nothing wrong with my face. I finally realized that my
face and body wasn’t the problem, but that the beauty ideal was a real problem.
I learned that contentment doesn’t sell products. Advertisers want me to think
that I need to look younger, be thinner and that I need to update my wardrobe
constantly, contentment doesn’t sell.
It’s easy to read news
like the article about Botox and feel that there is no hope for a culture that
seems obsessed with beauty, power and money. Later in the morning I checked my Instagram
account and I was reminded that the obsession with money, power and beauty is
not the ideal everywhere. I checked the Instagram account for The
A21 Campaign and read about how these people had rescued a girl from
sex slavery in the US last week. The people who work for A21 have chosen to pursue
something different in their lives than the ideals we are sold. I also checked the Instagram account for Amazima
ministries and I was reminded once again that not all Millennials worry
about wrinkles and beauty. Katie Davis was 18-years-old when she decided that
she wanted to spend her life towards helping other people. Katie moved to Jinja,
Uganda one year later and started helping poor children get food and education
through her ministry Amazima.
Katie Davis grew up in
the same culture as me, surrounded by messages that tell us beauty, money and
power matters, but she chose a different path in life. Katie Davis chose to
give up her comfortable life in a wealthy Nashville suburb to live in a much
poorer neighborhood in Africa because she wanted to make a difference during
her days on Earth. In a world that tells us that we need to pursue
beauty, money, status and power Katie Davis chose something different. Katie
chose to spend her life loving other people, to serve the poor and needy in the
world. Today Katie Davis is 27-years-old and if you look at pictures of her you
can see that she has a few wrinkles around her eyes, but I don’t think she worries
about wrinkles or beauty. Katie Davis Majors is busy caring for and loving her
adoptive daughters, her newborn son, her husband and all the poor families she
is helping through Amazima. The A21
Campaign features a quote on their Instagram account that I like:
“What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of
difference you want to make.”
Jane Goodall
“People tell me I am brave. People tell me I am strong. People tell me
good job. Well here is the truth of it. I am really not that brave, I am not
really that strong, and I am not doing anything spectacular. I am just doing
what God called me to do as a follower of Him.”
Katie Davis Majors
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