The pressure put on people to be perfect

What's wrong with the media these days? 
Lately I've seen how the media these days have portrayed women. It's worrying me. Nowadays, women are expected to look perfect and speak perfectly and wear perfect, expensive clothing and eat salad. Let me tell you something, we are not perfect, nor should we even have to strive for perfection. (But, there's nothing wrong with salad, just know that, we girls, can shovel food down.) Magazine articles and pictures tell us otherwise. There are creams and ointments and pills being sold by the gallon that have been "proved" to take away those spots or wrinkles or little gray hairs or extra pounds. Those spots and wrinkles are considered ugly by today's standards. But, it's natural! If God did not want us to have wrinkles and pimples then he would not have created us with those little imperfections. It doesn't mean that buying those creams and ointments makes you a bad person. But, there may be a problem if those creams and ointments become something you just have to have. I'm not saying makeup is something we shouldn't use. But, when makeup starts to define how you see yourself that's when you need to question why you're using it. 

What's with women's magazines?

I cannot begin to tell you how ridiculous women's magazines are these days. All of those pictures in those magazines are completely edited on Photoshop. Celebrities are not perfect. They are human. They have skin problems and imperfections. You just never get to see the "real" them because every picture taken of them is hauled into a lab of "experts" who edit every facet of their appearance. Magazine articles don't even talk about REAL problems. They just talk about things like how to "tone" your arms (whatever "toning" is) and make your skin perfect. Or, my personal favorite, "how to get a boyfriend". Just stop. They talk about guys like they're all the same, but they aren't. And vice versa. They talk about women like they're all the same. But we aren't! We have different body types and hair textures and personalities. 

So girls (and guys)…don’t pay attention to the media. 

They have changed the definition of beauty. You don’t have to be skinny to get a guy. You don’t need hundreds of dollars worth of beauty products. And, you don’t need tips from celebrities on how to look like a million dollars. Beauty doesn’t come in a bottle or a pill. As cliché as it may sound, true beauty comes from within, so don’t let anyone tell you different. 

~Amanda