Speech Draft

 

THE ILLUSION OF BEAUTY

BEGINNING

Am I ugly… Statistics show that over 330 people google this phrase every day, but what is actually beautiful? Are we stuck behind the illusion that we have to be a size 0 model to be “beautiful”?

Today I’m going to talk to you about beauty within our society. To be beautiful no longer means to see the interior of a person, instead, we focus the exterior persona they display but when did society become so absorbed in someone’s image. From the 1840s to the 1930s it was classed beautiful to be what we now call Rubenesque, plump or fat; A painter named Peter Paul has sold paintings worth thousands of dollars that feature women who are voluptuous, countless people have called the stunning yet they are unable to say that about themselves when they look in a mirror and it’s because of the standards that we see online and through media. When did it become not okay to love your appearance?

what I want to know is where did our perception of beauty come from? it’s only recently that we have been exposed to mass amounts of photoshopped images as technology has advanced, people of our age have started to critique themselves more than usual, we have begun to judge ourselves on whether or not our skin is clear or if our stomach is flat,  wishing we could look like that model that we saw on Instagram last week or the peers around us that we assume are perfect, we become so obsessed trying to make ourselves look like them with their perfect complexion this then causes us to turn to social media in the hope to find an answer, All we see are staged photos that have had hours of photoshop, countless of makeup and thousands of dollars worth of professional lighting and photography. We know that all of this editing happens, yet we start to believe that we have to be like them to become beautiful so we buy the overpriced cosmetics and clothing that those medias advertise. We are constantly chasing something that is at an unreachable distance but we don’t realise that if we continue chasing this one thing we so desperately want, we are going to end up with nothing. Yes, these models are real people but they aren’t an accurate representation of what we should be, what we should look like.

We are constantly chasing something that is at an unreachable distance but we don’t realise that if we continue chasing this one thing we so desperately want, we are going to end up with nothing. Yes, these models are real people but they aren’t an accurate representation of what we should be, what we should look like.

In the United States alone the average woman spends roughly a total of 8 years worth of her income which is around $600000 on cosmetics but only uses about $7 worth of the products a day so why are women buying 8 times the amount of makeup than they actually need? One word, media….. As well as makeup and cosmetics social platforms are also helping women and men hide their imperfections by creating filters, filters that make your face slimmer or blur any blemishes. Once people have used the filters they dislike their natural image even more so why is social media okay with this happening??

Take Emma for example, she is a 14-year-old girl who is struggling with acne, just like most of us in this very room Emma lays in bed at night scrolling through Facebook or Instagram. Ads begin to pop up one after another, all advertising the newest anti acne cream that will cause all spots and scars to fade, Emma sees this as a miracle so of course, she purchases it. Days go by and still no sign of the product, Days turn into Weeks and weeks into months until finally, Emma receives the parcel at her front door, Without thinking she tears open the box expecting to be transformed. The product is on and she’s getting ready to see her new self yet she stands up and looks into her mirror to see herself just the way she was before. That night Emma lays in bed on Facebook once again and what does she see? another advertisement of a different brand selling a nearly identical product for twice the price and of course Emma purchases the product because she wants to look like those models that have taken over our TV’s, Laptops and phones. WIthout realising Emma spirals into a cycle. it was her routine to buy these overpriced products because she thought that maybe one day one of these products would work

That night Emma lays in bed on Facebook once again and what does she see? another advertisement of a different brand selling a nearly identical product for twice the price and of course Emma purchases the product because she wants to look like those models that have taken over our TV’s, Laptops and phones. WIthout realising Emma spirals into a cycle. it was her routine to buy these overpriced products because she thought that maybe one day one of these products would work. Hundreds of dollars and hours of Emmas time later she is standing in front of the mirror to see the reflection of a girl she once loved, she began to question when did she stop loving herself and it was because of the people around her, they were the ones who had brain washed her and put these standards into her head. But truly she did love her self because she was unique, she was herself.

Just like Emma we are surrounded by the media every day and the images we see become our normal but truly, Beauty is Power, it’s not about how much makeup you wear or how clear you skin may be because in reality, we all have our flaws and the way you feel about yourself is the way other people will see you. Beauty is about perception, not about make-up, I think the beginning of all beauty is loving you for who you truly are instead on looking through the distorted mirror the society has constructed. Thank you

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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