Look At Me! I’m Pretty!
One of my favorite shows my daughter watches is Phineas and Ferb on the Disney Channel. It’s cleverly written and gives kids a good wholesome giggle that we can all enjoy as a family. Rarity on television in all truth. But, there was one episode I found to be profoundly subtle. I actually wonder how many people noticed the message it sent.
The episode starts out with a commercial for “Flawless Girl” cosmetics. When the commercial is over, Candace (the boys big sister) says she doesn’t know where she’d be without the advice and tips from Flawless Girl. Her friend is looking through a magazine and sees the creator of Flawless Girl is attending a competition seeking the new spokesmodel for the Flawless Girl line.
The Midsummer Festival is host to the competition. Where Phineas and Ferb are headed to help their friend Ballet win the biggest watermelon competition. In true to series form, Phineas and Ferb develop a way to make the watermelon gigantic.
Candace walks by a carnival announcer asking if she ever looks in the mirror and feels bad about herself. She scoffs him off saying she uses Flawless Girl cosmetics to make her feel good.
At the competition, Candace is shocked to discover she’s entirely too short to be the next Flawless Girl (she’s 5’ 8”). She is obviously devastated and thinks she’s never going to be perfect. Enter Phineas and Ferb’s watermelon growth elixir. Candace is suddenly a perfect height and the creator of Flawless Girl says she’s in the running.
What happens next is the real awesome. She doesn’t know the elixir isn’t fine tuned and actually doesn’t just stop at a couple of inches of growth. Suddenly she’s 50 feet tall. The carnival guy finds her perfect for his oddball attraction and tries to convince her to join show. She’s not interested. But her odd height makes her appealing to the Flawless Girl company as well. She’s “unattainable” and girls will never stop buying the products in hopes of looking like Candace. Fifty feet tall and perfect.
Something to be said about both a carnival and a beauty company desiring the same thing for very different reasons. While the carnival thinks she’s a freak, the cosmetic company thinks she’s a role model. Interesting.
The topic of photo editing has been around for a while. With digital capabilities becoming what they have over the past few years, it’s reigniting the conversation.
Honestly, I have fallen victim to obsessive nitpicking over my features and flaws. I have looked at pictures of myself over the years and become increasingly disgusted that I don’t look like Zooey Deschanel!
But wait! Zooey doesn't look like all those posters in the cosmetics department in Wal-Mart! Look how much they changed her mouth! Lightened her skin tone! Good grief!
Marilyn Monroe wore a size 10 dress. Not a 2 or 0 like most of the models touted as being perfect.
Gisele Bundchen is a size 2.
The more of these images I’ve looked at, the better I’ve started to feel about myself. Cameron Diaz has terrible skin. So does Britney Spears. Kim Kardashian has cellulite. Can you believe it?! Faith Hill has wrinkles! The audacity! These women have aged?
Well guess who else has? ME! I’ve laughed lines into my cheeks. I’ve worried lines into my forehead. I’ve stressed grey into my hair. I’ve had overindulgent dinners with my husband that show on my ass. I’VE LIVED. Living comes with proof on our bodies.
I don’t understand why such an image of perfection needs to be portrayed. The message it sends to our little girls in one thing. We mommy's have to fight that battle in our own ways. But let’s not forget that we aging women fret over every bump, freckle, line, dress size, etc. As if we don’t have enough to worry about; raising our kids, supporting our spouses, keeping our sanity intact through it all. Now we have to worry we don’t look the way L’Oreal thinks we should. It's enough to make us all take collective leaps of the Empire State Building.
Miss Blanchett went without any photoshopping for this magazine cover. Brave in this day and age and I commend her for taking such a stance and position on the issue. The magazine said, "She's real." Oh and she's 42.
This is my ‘Up Yours’ blog. My husband thinks I’m sexy and gorgeous. My daughter thinks I’m beautiful and wants to look like me. My son calls me pretty. I look a lot like my mother, and I still think she’s the most beautiful woman I’ve ever had the privilege of knowing.
So, to you fashion editors, photo editors, and others associated with shaping what is considered ‘desirable,’ Kiss my size 12 ass. :)
