The first story is about a girl mocked for physical appearance although she had no physical deformity or any apparent abnormality....
REALITY CHECK
Sometime back, I watched a documentary on plastic surgery addicts, which made me ponder upon different reasons people have for following the path of plastic or cosmetic surgery to look attractive. The most common reason is the inferiority complex people develop in their appearance due to snide and hurtful comments they endure from family members, friends and acquaintances. This humiliation compels them to follow the grave path of plastic surgery, as this is the only solution for such people. To live under the knife and find ways to change their physical appearance becomes less painful compared to the scorn they face by shallow people. Two stories that I came across impacted me the most and I would like to share them here.
The first story is about a girl mocked for physical appearance although she had no physical deformity or any apparent abnormality. She chose the path of plastic surgery to transform her looks. She underwent 48 surgeries and had numerous injections. Even then, she preferred to live alone for rest of her life. I felt deeply sympathetic towards the poor girl, and very angry at this society. Being the most ‘revolutionized’ animals living on this planet, how can we be so cruel? How can we judge a person on their physical appearance?
The second case I came across is of a poor lady, ridiculed not only by her immediate family members but also, after her marriage, by her husband and in-laws.
I had the following conversation with her:
“He doesn’t love me.”
“He does, dear. Why can’t you simply give your relationship another chance and get rid of these negative thoughts?”
“How can I? Since childhood, I was treated like an ugly duckling by my family and friends because of my complexion, features and physique. My mother, instead of boosting my confidence, kept on making me experiment with fairness creams and steroids to get a proposal. My dark skin tone was a joke for my siblings and friends. After years of torture, I managed to get an educated person’s proposal, but even he couldn’t stop himself from commenting on my dark complexion and average looks, as if I was responsible for the way I look. Can you imagine my agony over the years? I went regularly to beauty salons, had expensive treatments done and painted my face on daily basis! Yet, all my efforts were in vain. He never found me attractive. I rarely miss a day in gym for figure maintenance, but when I still failed to bring any charm to my appearance, I had to undergo various facial and body cosmetic surgeries.”
According to this young woman, she underwent surgeries nearly 44 times.
The application of knives to her face for cutting, shaping, enhancing and modifying her features was done so often because her near and dear kin criticized her looks. She was taunted and teased, and the rest of the damage to her mental health and self-esteem was done by her husband and the society.
These are just two scenarios out of millions of people who endure the knife. Two examples of how societal pressures destroy not only one’s mental, but also the physical health. How hard is it to only consider the positive aspects and true beauty of a person? How hard is it to compliment the people that we come across on daily basis? Such positive attitude would definitely transform our society. It’s not difficult to tell a chubby person that he looks cute and a slim one that he looks gorgeous!
Is it too much to admire someone’s inner beauty by saying that you find their soul to be pretty awesome?
And, if the aim is to honestly tell people you care about that what they are wearing - whether makeup or clothes - does not suit them, one should be careful with one’s choice of words.
You may tell someone that an eyeliner, mascara or a lipstick is not looking good on them, but stop telling them that there is a flaw with their eyes, lips or nose. Persistent criticism can make people hate the way they look, and make them insecure about their looks and affect their mental health negatively.
People have certain looks because of the genes they inherit. If obesity doesn’t run in a family, good for them, but they should spare a thought about people who have to walk an extra mile daily to get rid of those pounds they put on because it’s a heredity trait of their family.
It was believed in ancient times, that if people gathered around a tree and throw curses at it, within months that tree would wilt away and rot. If trees can’t withstand such negative attitude, how can a fragile human take it day in and day out?
People inherit the DNA that determine their physical and mental attributes. A tiger is not meant to look like a lion and a lion can’t look like a cat, although they are all cats.
In today’s era, talents and qualities of a person are ignored and thus, they rust out.
Will this surgery matter more in a few months or so? Not at all. So why not spend more time in appreciating and encouraging others so they can polish their talents and acquiring new skills that would leave a mark on this earth.
