He Who Trims Himself to Suit Everyone Will Soon Whittle Himself Away -Raymond Hull

Are you willing to die in exchange for beauty? If you don't want to go that far, what about a heart attack, stroke, tachycardia, paranoid psychosis, depression, convulsions, coma, fever, vomiting, neuropathy (nerve damage), myopathy (muscle injury), palpitations (rapid heart rate), hypertension (elevated blood pressure), memory loss, insomnia, nervousness, tremors, seizures, and respiratory depression?

I truly wonder what this world will be like 10 years from now. What will happen to the women [and men; let's be fair] with "Brazilian Butt Implants", Botox injections, and the diet pill abusers. I am adding the disclaimer {NOW} that I am not knocking anyone who chooses to go these routes, but I am knocking the manner in which these procedures seem glorified everywhere I turn.

I am a fairly confident woman. Yet whenever I open a mag, watch a video, or catch a glimpse at a commercial, I am subliminally being told that my hair is too kinky, my skin is too dark, my butt is too small, breasts too small, lashes not long enough, and lips not plump enough. It definitely takes a toll on me, and I will admit there are times I just don't feel "pretty". If I am going through those emotions as a 28 year old adult, I can only imagine the psychological warfare going on with the children and young adults who are being presented with these images daily.

I was sitting down with my 9 y/o daughter on Easter Sunday watching Spongebob Squarepants on Nickelodeon, and a commercial for Booty Pop Panties came on. You know we hit an all time low when the images of women dancing in their "Booty Pop Panties" is splattered across a network that predominately caters to kids and young adults. What is this telling them? Is this telling them that they are more appealing to men if they have a bigger "rounder booty" [their words not mine]? And what ever happened to the woman who put all of her goods out on display to snag the man of her dreams? They don't tell you that part. They just want you to buy the product. Furthermore, what do you think that does for men and their unrealistic expectations? How many women are naturally 38-24-39?

There is no money in pushing the "Love Yourself Motto", as plastic surgeons would lose money, cancer rates would probably dip [if only a little bit] which would take money out of the pharmaceutical companies pocketbooks [and you know we can't have that!], there would definitely be some monetary losses across the board. So believe me, I get it. I get it, and I think it's disgusting.

More importantly I know it is definitely time to start talking to my daughter about her self image. As the mass media will try to have a grip on these children tighter than the jaws of a gator.