And here's the image the designer created to accompany it.
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Apparently it's #EdBallsDay, on Twitter at least. For those of you who don't know, Ed Balls is an ex-MP, a politician who has since made a name for himself by appearing on Strictly Come Dancing and becoming something of a media darling. (He also did a series of documentaries about meeting Trump supporters and trying to work out why.)
I was in prison this morning and sitting next to a young (early twenties) man who is waiting for an operation for testicular cancer. So this message ties in rather nicely.
5 comments:
the perfect image. I think YOU are lovely.
everyone is judged in America by what I call the Kardashian Factor.
I despair. not that I don't measure up. even my butt! but that it's all so shallow and silly.
we have a high rate of suicide in our young people. it's sad in the extreme.
I loved your article in the Bay. and I LOVE even more your alter ego's big sloppy face and grin! I hardly think you're his equal. but I'd be proud to be just like a dog. LOL! XOXO
Great article, Liz! I enjoyed it. I will quibble with you about one point, however. It's not ONLY the media that trains women to believe these harmful lies about the role of looks and appearances. It's everything and everyone in our culture, as well, including people around us who reinforce these toxic ideas throughout our entire lives.
Droopy eyelids obscuring our peripheral vision! There's a medical name for this condition but I can't remember it. Here in Canada, corrective plastic surgery for it is covered by our universal healthcare system (i.e. there's no direct cost to us) because it is classified as therapeutic in nature -- it restores peripheral vision which is crucial for safe driving of vehicles. My Rare One had her eyelids done 2 or 3 years ago to correct this. It was a relatively simple procedure. This may be also covered by your National Health system for similar reasons, so you might not have to fear the expense of surgery as a reason not to get it corrected.
Thanks, Tammy. I may joke about it but as you say our young people are growing up with these ridiculous ideals. It is far harder for them.
Thank you, Debra. I shall investigate that eyelid possibility! I agree it's not only the media. I think I've written before about being told off for the words I use when i talk to my grandchildren. But they are beautiful!! In my eyes it doesn't matter what they look like: they are beautiful. It's difficult.
It seems like a human condition to strive for perfection - I don't think dogs have that. The bible is full of people who change and 're-invent' themselves - it was not a phenomenon invented by Madonna after all!
Ten years ago, just before they started my cataract surgery on one eye, I was asked if I wanted my eyelid done while I was at it. NOW I know what they meant. It hadn't occurred to me that droopy eyelids were a thing. (Thank you, Debra!)
Fortunately, I was raised in a family who would never have thought of judging anyone by how they looked - as long as they were clean. (Mom always said that soap and water were cheap, so there was no excuse for being dirty! She especially held parents to a standard of making sure their children were clean.) It's a shame that society, as a whole, thinks otherwise about looks.
(Kardashians? I couldn't pick any of them out of a line-up!)
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