It goes without saying that every one of us grew up molded and groomed by the mindsets prevalent in our society. Some of these mindsets have stayed with us right into adulthood. Some of them were sold to us while we were grown or while growing up. It takes a lot of bravery and deep soul searching to free one's self from such a destructive cultural ethos.
One of the very harmful ones I would say is the need to be physically appealing. We grew up watching Disney movies, storybooks and even reading romance novels that beleaguered us with the physically "perfect" and picture-worthy people. People grow up believing that if they do not possess a certain body type or have a particular kind of facial structure, they were severely lacking. Beauty contests are held were size zero models with extremely long necks and legs were crowned queens and people hail them.... instilling in the minds of children and adults the model for beauty. For the men, washboard bellies, and the fictional tall, dark and handsome criteria has become a burden just too much too bear at times. 
While it is of paramount importance to be healthy and look it and to be well groomed, and appropriately dressed for whatever situation, I think it is morally and psychologically wrong for society to continue to propagate this notion that if you do not look a certain way, then you are not good enough.
Children grow up with this kind of mentality and either become bullies of those who are "less of what they are" or become preys to those who feel superior. It might not go as far as physical bullying, but it could be psychological and emotional. Some children are daunted by the fact that they do not look "cool enough".
The fashion industry and some pharmaceutical industries have latched on to this ideology and are ripping people off who will pay whatever the price for clothes, shoes bags, jewelries, fragrances, slimming pills, body creams and the likes in order to be as physically appealing as possible. 
It is so horrible that some people have gone to the extreme.... getting botox injections and even going under the knife for procedures like liposuction, breast and bum enhancement. Other people spend their days irrationally horrified about the prospects of getting old and wrinkled. Ageing is probably their worst nightmare! And then we have the ones who go under the knife to look like celebrities.
This is pop culture madness and needs to stop. When we look around us we see people who look exactly like dolls, some have been so altered that they are a far cry from their original selves. It is about time parents and the mass media begin to sell a more worthy mindset. One that doesn't rely so much on being picture perfect. 
It is important for people to know that is alright to be flawed. It is alright to have scars, it alright if you are born with noses which aren't straight. It alright if you aren't so curvy. It is alright if you are not a certain height. It is alright to be yourself and to look the way you do!! You know why? Because individuality is the hallmark of humanity. It is our uniqueness that makes the world interesting and wonderful. It is our individuality that does not make the world a monochrome of boredom and repetition. We all have something to offer the world just the way we are. Instead of trying so much to look like another person, we could cultivate our own individuality; work on our strength, work ethics, talents and mojo.
People who really care about you will love you more for more important things than what you look like. They don't need you to look a certain way to appreciate you. And if they do, then they are not worth being in your life.
You are beautiful, you are wonderful, you are perfect!
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(images courtesy of pixabay)
Maybe I missed it in the subtext but why does an article railing against the monetization of physical beauty and the unrealistic standards it forces on to women use only pictures that meet the standards you are railing against? My guess is that it wouldn't generate the same click rate and hence voting rate and monetization. Not a single picture of a woman that doesn't fit the media's idea of perfection or beauty. Money uber alles.
This post has been created by an AI program. I have all the evidence I need.
After carefully studying patterns in AI sentence construction, I have come to the conclusion that this work would best fit under the AI-author category. The photos are too polished, too publishery, and they lack the authenticity that real women have. I have caught you, I am a robot shepherd. I will show you the way.
Jeez, I thought so. I've come across a few posts like these that sound AI-generated. Can they be flagged?
If you take a look at some of msgiving's replies/comments, you'll note that the writing there is very different (casual, little attention to sentence structure or punctuation) in style from the writing in his/her posts. The blog posts are definitely written with a program.
My friend's daughter was just in a local beauty queen contest ... thought I had been sent back to the 1950's . They even had a wearing swim suits parade - unbelievable and sad!
I saw a program about child beauty pageants and the moms were so crazy obsessed like they had something to prove
Well the moms might be crazy, but little kids don't carry around all our baggage so its totally possible, and likely that as long as the kids weren't made to feel awfulthey hey had a great time while it was the adults who stressed themselves out.
No. It doesn't need to stop. Culture, that is me, you and everyone else promotes trends—much like you are milking the cow because you are famous. from shallow posts.
Good looking people with certain feautures attract more because biology rewards them. Inequality is part of life. Nothing wrong with that. This is how our species got to survive. Some feautures survived and others didn't.
No matter how "deep" you are you will pick the sexy one rather than the landwhale with the soaky armpits and the tiities hanging down the belly button. Stop lying to yourself rather than saying to others "stop". Nobody is going to stop. its like saying "don't get hungry". Appearance is about sex. it is a natural need and people will mod up for it.
What needs to stop is this sensationalist talk about what "we should do" and what "we should not" when nobody really believes this crap nor it is something viable. it sounds good while saying it and people get all sensitive and stuff but really, they will go home, make up, put the push up bra and go dating.
Life, the entire planet runs on deception. From the silly feathers of a peacock, to the stradegy of a chess player, an army general attacking, the expensive car and of a guy or the muscles he crafted in the gym even though he nas no real world physical fitness. it will still get you wet and no, you won't be thinking about how much "fake" is the physical appeal.
so please. I beg you. Stop shit-posting
This poster is a total fraud. Did you notice his/her previous post about beauty? It's a complete contradiction! https://steemit.com/beauty/@msgivings/beauty-first-brains-who-cares
Seems like your arguments for beauty contradict your arguments for shitposting. "What needs to stop is this sensationalist talk about what "we should do" and what "we should not" when nobody really believes this crap nor it is something viable."
It takes all kinds to grow a community.
it might take all kinds to grow a community but only some are trending. please touch base with reality. i see no contradiction in what i wrote
It is very unfortunate. Love a person who is just comfortable with themselves and wish the world didn't ask for all the... wrapping?
I don't think the problem lies in placing too much value on beauty, but in placing too much value on the false beauty that has to be painted on or injected. What isn't genuine isn't genuinely beautiful. My two cents.
You are beautiful the way you are :)
excellent post @msgivings
When a person is introduced boteks, I think it's against nature! But stupid people are willing to go for it. It is sad.
I think the problem is global in scale.
I've been wearing thoughts in yourself, thank you!
They say its a status symbol, showing the community what they are and what they had become. Yes you are right, to look good and appealing is important but there has to be some limit to it or it has to be nurtured unextravagantly. Yes, they can afford and thats the usual reason they gave but for me instead of wasting their riches why not share it to the needy ones.
I believe that we should focus less on how we "appear" and more on how we "feel". Looking and feeling genuinely healthy will always be more appealing to me. I find I feel much better about myself after I've ate a healthy meal, drank a fresh juice, and finished an intense run or yoga class! That is when I feel most vibrant and beautiful.
nice post.. i like barbie
Do you have any real convictions? Your posts often contradict each other. For instance, this post flies in the face of your previous comments about beauty here: https://steemit.com/beauty/@msgivings/beauty-first-brains-who-cares
It's written by a program, not a human being imo.
Strange, that's the impression I got. There's something a little odd about the writing. The sentences seem self-contained rather than flowing (from one idea to the next).
Oh! Is this a Turing test? If so, it looks like I failed the test.
lol wrong
No, the other post is about how things are and this one about how they should (or rather shouldn't) be.
Yes that's right!
The great thing about Steemit: You can make $600 by copying & pasting stock images from Pixabay.
Hi @msgivings
I agree with your view.
A persons appearance will not influence his/her work, as work performance has all to do with knowledge, skill, experience and attitude. It however happens that better looking people will get a job more easy.
Then there is the question of people trying to look better by plastering their faces with makeup. I believe that most men prefer ladies without make up. (Guys that differ please comment) But somehow ladies are convinced they need it to attract men. To me my wife looks the best just after she woke up, without any makeup.
I enjoyed reading your post.
great topic, totally agree with you
It is definitely the madness; there is a huge difference from being and looking healthy from being just a pile of the plastic and aggregated expectations.
Very good article. I have two thoughts that you brought up. The first is the plastic surgery fad. I hate this and it has become so prevalent today. My daughters, girlfriends, even my grandmother have been bitten with the bug of having to make themselves into something they are not. In fact, I have gotten into arguments with girlfriends because they let their desires of how they want to look take precedence over the face that I already like they way they look.
That leads me to my second point. God made you the way you are. I am balding on top, hair all over the rest of my body, wrinkles, scars, bags under my eyes and I'm short. But there is nothing I would want to change and I have found that there are people who like the way I am. Instead of trying to improve something you're born with, I'd like to see people work to improve the things they already have.
i up-vote u please do the same for me