Hearing about the young Chinese singer [] who got rejected because of her looks really pissed me off. She may have accepted it very stoically because of her culture, but I doubt her self-esteem is going to recover any time soon.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/othersports/olympics/2545387/Beijing-Olympics-Faking-scandal-over-girl-who-sang-in-opening-ceremony.html

But… isn’t what happened to her being done to each and every one of us on a daily basis? Constantly we have to withstand the media telling us we’re not good enough. We’re not thin enough, we’re not good looking enough, we’re not feminine/masculine enough, we’re not tan/pale enough, we don’t earn enough money and the only way anyone will ever love and accept us, is if we buy THIS PRODUCT!

The media tries to make us hate ourselves to create a need. Would you buy make up if you thought you were beautiful enough? Would you buy high heels if comfort was more important than appearance? Would you have your teeth whitened if someone, once in a while, would tell you how beautiful your smile is?

But it’s a part of our world to hate ourselves. Hell, the whole emo subculture was created because of self-pity.

Try this activity today.

Count how many times you hear the following, or something similar:
 

“I really shouldn’t, I’m on a diet.”

“I have to start exercising/losing weight.”

“I’ve gotten so fat.”

If I had my way, I’d ban (or at the very least, frown upon) any conversations about weight loss, dieting and how much we hate ourselves for not looking like whatever air-brushed, plastic 15 year old model that’s gracing the inside cover of our mags today.

I read in a study  that skinny models make women love the brand, but hate themselves. What kind of a trade-off is that?

http://www.massogroup.com/cms/content/view/5110/312/lang,en/

Look at how many celebrities are chastised for gaining a few pounds. And applauded for losing half their body weight.

When people (especially women) criticise each other, the first thing they go for is appearance. “She is so fat! She is so ugly!” And if she isn’t wither of those things, she’s either stupid or a slut.

What they should be saying is: “I don’t like her, because she makes me feel threatened.” or “If I have to hate myself, she should too.”

People can be so darn bitchy, because they are not happy with themselves. Often, women see each other as threats, and will then make it their mission to break down every female around her. Sadly, it’s often for the approval of the men in the vicinity. Which is, truth be told, pretty damn sad.

So, all I’m basically trying to say is: nothing can be gained from hating yourself and others. And if you can manage to internalise that, then maybe the media will lose it’s brainwashing stranglehold, and people can learn to be happy again.