Recent studies have shown that the concept of having a “new look” has permeated societies the world over, thanks to the explosion of entertainment media that beams into the eyes of the youths via satellite signals and bootlegged DVD movies. The absolute reverence given to celebrities on behalf of media-consuming plebeians doesn’t culturally discriminate.
Everyone the world over seems to be running after the Next Big Thing in self-improvement. Images of ideal physical perfection burn into the minds of young men and women through video and glossy magazine photographs.
The prominence of the “before and after” pictures in celebrity media (often entailing highly “Photoshopped” images of the stars where each and every minute imperfection has been digitally re-mastered) has created a generation of youths whose self-esteem is pegged to artificially generated “utopian” images of the human form. This quest for physical self-improvement has led to a growth worldwide in plastic surgery and eating disorders. Our community is not immune to this.
Many of our youths have taken a cue from Narcissus, gazing in mirrors all the time, preening and sculpting their images like the superstars that they aren’t. Like Narcissus of the ancient Greeks, these youths can become so consumed by their own reflection in the pond that they lose out on the real life and love around them.
Symptomatic of this trend is the fact that plastic surgery is on the rise in Arab countries. Besides playing an increasingly important role in pandering to superficial self-image issues, plastic surgery clinics in countries with shaky regulatory standards can result in crippling or even life-threatening procedures. Even in the most developed countries, there have been nightmare scenarios of facelifts and breast augmentations, particularly procedures involving the use of silicone, that have resulted in horrible deformities. These risks, albeit statistically small, are taken for the sake of achieving impossible ideals advertised in the media.
And this process hasn’t just affected women. A popular term has emerged in recent years in the West: “metrosexual.” It refers to men who buy skin-moisturizing creams, get manicures and body waxing and generally preen in ways that have traditionally been associated with feminine characteristics. Men, for example, are increasingly having plastic surgery.
Star-making reality programs with provocative titles like “The Swan” and “Star Academy” have helped create a false hope that with a little body sculpting and fashion sense young men and women can join the ranks of the glitterati.
This desire to rise above the rest in wealth and stature causes the human form to become the standard measure of character above and beyond intellectual and humanitarian capacities. This desire can be a corrupting force, pushing youths toward material imitations, keeping them in a state of prolonged adolescence.
With the media and entertainment industries an undeniable fact of modern life, it’s important for all of us to be aware of these superficial qualities that they tend to promote.
