The Impossible Standard

UP Beauty Online

 “Boggie is a Hungarian singer who released this video in 2013 about what we do to the already-beautiful human body to sell an unattainable ideal. Even if you've seen this already, it's worth seeing again.”

What Are We Doing To Ourselves?

Models do it. Actors and Actresses do it. Marketing manipulators do it. Makeup painted on so thickly as to need a spatula to remove it; photos and images air brushed and photo-shopped to nearly unrecognizable status in terms of recognition and perceived perfection.

The Impossible Standard marches on, enabling those of us with lurking insecurities (almost all of us, on some level) to be compulsively freaked out, propelled into racing ‘round and ‘round on the hamster wheel of “not good enough”, until we collapse in a pile of self loathing, not only for what we can’t possibly attain but also hating on ourselves for wanting it so bad.

This not only goes for the obvious body images (weight & breasts, most specifically), but also skin conditions, facial attributes, tans, hair, fashion and anything else we can beat ourselves up about. I have a friend who is a rare male in the skin care (esthetician) field, and the #1 complaint women have about their skin, assuming they are not sporting an acne condition or older than dirt, is that their pores are too big.

The interesting issue here is that a huge majority of them don’t have big pores at all! It’s just that the examples they see on a continual basis are images of women with no pores showing due to the Impossible Standard of fake perfection. It’s like trying to compare your weight or physique to a ripped actress, model or sports figure – you lose, even if you are well above average in 
build and BMI (body mass index) ratios. Don’t do it!

Magnifying Mirrors and Fluorescent Lighting

Even when we think we’ve got it all going on, all we have to do for a quick dive into depression is to look at our skin in a magnifying mirror; or go try on some bathing suits in a department store changing room complete with the most anemic lighting known to man (and woman). Talk about seeing yourself in a horrible light, pun intended. Reality crashes down pretty damn quickly, proving that indeed, perception is reality. The point here is that if we want to, we can find a reason to find flaw with and dislike many aspects of ourselves.

So the easy thing here, besides simply loving ourselves for the imperfect creatures that we are, is to adjust our perceptions, since they lead us to our realities. Consciously register the hypocrisy of deception when inundated with images of the perfect people. If you need proof, catch an issue of People Magazine as they publish the ‘sneak’ photographs of the movie stars and pop culture icons out and about “on the street” without their team of marketing change agents. They don’t look any better than you or I. Whew!

Look Better, Feel Better, Live Better

A healthy self-image is the first pre-cursor to avoiding the pain associated with chasing the Impossible Standard, that of assumed perfection. Changing our perception and silly hero worship of the fake and bake perfect people is a great second step. Finding the positive attributes we all possess and concentrating and feeling thanks for them is also good step forward. Unfortunately, we as humans seem to be pre-disposed to focusing on the few negatives we can all find if we search hard enough, when in fact most of us are blessed with a plethora of positive bounty for which we should be eternally grateful. The glass is half-full, people!

                “I have more issues than Vogue.”
                             ~ LMAO, as seen recently on a T-shirt, Venice Beach, CA


PS: Have you been suckered into the false worship of the Impossible     Standard? Tell us your story...