Does Your Daughter Compare Herself With Celebrities?
I keep hearing about tween and teen girls who think they have to buy the latest clothes (which may not fit the family budget), slap on lots of makeup, agonize in front of the mirror every morning and do everything in their power to look as good as the models and celebrities they see in magazines.
They constantly strive to live up to an image that is just that: an image. Wouldn't we ALL like to have a team of hair stylists, makeup artists and photographers with flattering lighting at our disposal?
Fact is, many celebrities, when you take away all that stuff, look very much like average people. While I won't link to those awful "celebrities without makeup" sites (where they go out of their way to find and photograph celebrities on their worst days), I do think a fair comparison is a healthy thing.
On the left is Kelly Clarkson, certainly an attractive young woman, in an "after" photo. The hair and makeup folks have done their thing, and a professional photographer has made her look even better.
On the right, here's Kelly with no makeup. Still an attractive young woman. But this photo lets us see that, without all the glitz, glam and Photoshopping that make up a magazine cover shot, people don't looks like magazine covers!
It's important that we talk with our daughters about body image, self esteem and what's REAL in life — as opposed to what they see on the newsstand, on TV, etc. that has been created to sell, sell, sell.
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Tags: Beauty, Body image, Kelly Clarkson, Magazine, Make-up artist, Photographer
Kathy, I couldn’t agree more! A conversation about what’s real and what isn’t when it comes to media images of our bodies is one that should happen between every mom and daughter. I’d encourage moms to take a look at the magazines their daughters are reading and to watch their favorite shows with them. Not only will you get a sense of what she’s absorbing, but you’ll likely find those natural opportunities to chat with her about body image.
Great post!
Dara Chadwick
Author
You’d Be So Pretty If…: Teaching Our Daughters to Love Their Bodies — Even When We Don’t Love Our Own
Everybody, I was going to ask Dara to comment on this post, and she beat me to it!
Dara, thanks so much. I can’t think of anyone more qualified to talk about this. Your book says it all.
I love the idea of creating natural opportunities to discuss these things with our daughters.