ffffFear

Fear is found in the hearts of even the youngest children.

I grew up in the shadow of fear. As far back as I can remember insecurity has held me hostage. Yes, insecurity is a form of fear.

For me, it was the fear of not adding up. It was the fear that I could not meet the expectations of others – the fear that I could not reach my own expectations.

What I later came to realize is that my own expectations mirrored the unrealistic standards of the media.

Even as a young child – no more than 5 years old – I wanted to be “perfect.” It did not matter that my own parents did not expect “perfection.”

It was the world that projected that goal – the media who continues to subconsciously engrain into little girls’ minds what they “need” to be in society.

As the years have gone by, the image that girls strive to achieve based on media’s version of “beauty” and “perfection” has only become more unrealistic; in all truth, it is, in fact, unreal.

Plastic surgery has become as casual as getting a tooth pulled; whereas, it was once known only as a means to repair and reconstruct damage caused by injury or perhaps to mend a child’s cleft lip.

How did beauty become synonymous to “perfection?” When did the viewpoint of others rule the self image of a young child?

Moreover, how do we repair the damage that has been inflicted upon our youths of today?


 Even better…do we want to, and will we???