On Beauty

Such a great time-lapse video: before/makeup/photoshop/after (be sure to watch the high-res version)I think every 13-year-old should see material like this in their classroom. Of course, when I feel like being shallow, I binge by trash-talking about the "ugly" contestants on Canada's Next Top Model (I will marry you, Number Six) and even The Bachelor (yes, I admit, I've watched two episodes this season). When not watching TV I don't seem to have such a critical eye though, not sure why TV does that to people.

There's another video on that site (campaignforrealbeauty.ca) that shows interviews with teenage girls and their mothers, talking about beauty and pressure. One girl made a comment that stuck in my head:

The first time I ever heard I was ugly, at school, was in grade 3 or 4. It was like, the first time anyone told me that, so, I didn't know what to feel; then I just felt it all the time.

I wonder if everyone reflects on this and we just don't talk about it with each other, or whether they just interviewed some very self-aware girls.

For more before/after Photoshop fun, see Glenn Feron's Art of Retouching site (temporarily under construction at the time of this post).

Update: What a coincidence, I just noticed these stats on Numeric Life:

56% of women and 43% of men are dissatisfied with their physical appearance.
[...]
More than 290,000 women in the US had breast implants in 2005, up 37% from 2000.

So I guess men are almost as neurotic on average about their appearance as women are.