reading

This week I read an article in the May issue of Marie Claire which is worrying beyond belief.

It is about the mushrooming of child spas around the USA where children as young as three years go to have a cosmetic treatment.

What appalled me even more than the story itslef, which is shocking enough, is what girls from the spa the journalist visited said about their looks and being popular. One fourteen-years-old said that being popular is the biggest thing and that it solely depends on your looks. Another ten years old girl was lamenting over her body saying that she would like to get surgery and change it entirely.

My immediate thought after reading the text was to ask myself if our world has really transformed into a place where your looks dictate your whole life. Sadly, but true I hold that our world has become such a place, especially after being confronted with this article where young girls think of themselves as sex objects, as pieces of meat which have to be in perfect shape before being consumed.

Small wonder that in this world of ours anorexia is budding as well as depression. The more I mull it over, the less I understand why our society is so focused on the appearance, which is known, after all, to be deceiving.

Maybe because it is easier to change your looks than your inner-self. No, the reason has to be much more complex than that. Nevertheless, whatever the reason for our appearance obsession might be, I sincerely hope that people will come to their senses again and that this situation isn't past redemption. If it happens to be beyond redemption, then we are heading towards self-distruction and our future looks bleak.