Brent and I snuck away for a bite to eat today ("eat to bite" . . .) because, for one, I actually felt like eating (I've been sick all week - today was actually my first day off the couch!). And for two, Bruce was still at the sitter's after Brent's class, so we got a mini date in. Wahoo!
Anyway, we went to this little deli around the corner from where we live, and they have a little magazine stand in the corner. As we sat and enjoyed our sandwiches, one magazine cover glared at me. Did I just read that right? "Teen Moms: Addicted to Surgery (Implants, Lipo, & Nose Jobs!)" It made my stomach turn.
Seriously? There are three things about that cover that disturbed me. Still disturb me, actually. Hence the posting.
First: "teen moms." Yet another instance of the media supporting, no, promulgating the idea that teenage girls can and should be mothers. Glorify those choices. Celebrate that they can handle being mothers when there's no talk about family responsibility. It's glamorous to have a baby. It boosts your image - and apparently your ratings.
Second: "addicted to surgery." I guess this just stems off the first. No responsibility. You can look exactly how you want to look without the work. All you need is some cool, hard cash and you, too, can have a cool, hard body. I think it's interesting that bodies are increasingly treated as those watches that we used to wear in the 80's - you know the ones where you could change out the strap to match your outfit - instead of
an incredible gift from a loving Heavenly Father to be treated with dignity and respect. Also, this supports society's mindset, or rather obsession with body image. We have to look perfect. No matter the cost.
Third, and maybe the most subtle: "Moms addicted to surgery" Maybe this is just an extension off the other two, but it struck me the hardest today. It seems to me that this statement is in direct contrast to what a mother should be. A mother is someone who learns to put the needs and desires of others before herself. These girls are portraying just the opposite mindset: " I can have what I want, when I want it. There are no consequences. " Mothers teach and shape their children. The lesson portrayed by these girls is that we live in an age when we can have our desires instantly gratified. We don't have to be grateful for what we have because if we don't like it, we can just trade it in. Upgrade. What a spoiled generation!
We live in an age when you don't have to be who you are. People who live like this are fake. Plastic. The thing is, yes, with money, a person can change the way he or she looks. But, in the long run, that doesn't change the way you feel about yourself. Six to eight months later, they're going to find something else they don't like about themselves, and then it's back to the chopping block. It becomes an addiction. You're always going to find something you don't like about yourself.
I find it interesting that I'm learning, as I posted earlier, that the real way to have self-confidence is to have self-discipline. I have a wonderful mother who helped to teach me this. I'm grateful for her example. I'm grateful that, to her, I wasn't just a status symbol but an
eternal inheritance. She understands and teaches her children that we can do hard things. That some of the best things in the world take honest, hard, sweat-producing work. And oftentimes, sweat-producing prayer as well. I'm grateful to have a mother that
knows her role, and who lives up to that role. I pray that I can live up to her example.
