Why Is America So Obsessed with Appearance?

Have you ever seen those Access Hollywood shows where the actors and actresses are on the red carpet, dressed to kill, posing for the Paparazzi, fans, and other interested observers? Sounds very cool, doesn't it? I used to think that I wanted to be one of these people, but over the years, I've come to learn that they've actually got it worse than the rest of us. Can you imagine having to get dressed up just to go to the grocery store or having to put your make-up on to go run an errand...every day? Unfortunately, that's the pressure that these folks feel from America. God forbid they forget to shave, or wear something that reveals a physical flaw!

They live in constant fear that one fashion or grooming "faux pas" will land them on the cover of the National Enquirer with unflattering body parts exposed for all of America to see. While it's crystal clear to us all that Hollywood has a definite obsession with physical appearance, the question is "Why is America so obsessed with it? Could it possibly be that Hollywood sets the standard for the rest of us, and we all just follow the trends as established by the "Rich and Famous" when it comes to fashion, weight loss, and appearance? I'm sure that there's a lot of truth to that one, but another question does beg to be asked and that question is "Why is this the case?" My firm belief is that deep down inside, we all want to be like them. We want to be rich, famous, and popular. We want people to esteem us, follow us, and do what we do.

Just think about your last trip to the grocery store. While you were waiting for your turn at the checkout counter, did you find your eyes gravitating to those tantalizing publications that we often see in the check-out line? Were you tempted to pick one up and peruse through one of them? Did you find yourself comparing yourself to one of the featured celebrities in one of these publications? What kind of thoughts did you have as you gazed at yet another celebrity "caught on film" doing something inappropriate, or wearing something that was clearly too big or small? Better yet, consider the sheer magnitude of celebrity-focused publications in the magazine aisle in the supermarket. The number is too large to count, but take a moment and think about why they're even there in the first place. If we weren't interested, there would be no need for any of them.

That then goes to show you that there's something going on in our culture that's not necessarily good for us and requires our immediate attention...It's our obsession with being someone we're not. If we're honest, we might even confess to wanting to live their lives as well. Living an average, ordinary life for us can seem boring at times, so why not put ourselves in the shoes of someone else? Why not do what they do? One of the most fundamental problems with this is that the lives of the rich and famous can tend to lead us down all the wrong roads. A clear example of this can be found through a quick glance at our celebrity-led preoccupation with being thin.

If "Thin-Is-In" Is Really True...Then Where Does That Leave Me and You?

Now, there's absolutely nothing wrong with being thin, nor is there anything necessarily wrong with wanting to be thin. The bigger question, though is "Why"? When this question can be accurately answered, it gives us more insight into what's really going on inside of us. Many Americans, when asked this question, might respond with answers that would reveal their relative unhappiness with how they look (ie, "I'm too fat!"), and might reveal how becoming thin might change how others feel about them (ie, they would be more popular or socially acceptable). Before I get into this one, I would like to first address this rather convoluted assertion that being thin equates to more happiness, better health, and an improved body image. This could not be further from the truth! I don't know about you, but I know a ton of "Thin" Americans who are extremely unhappy with themselves...and it has absolutely nothing to do with how much they weigh! I think that there has been too much pressure to lose weight from our culture as a means to a happier life, though that may happen. I'm convinced that true happiness cannot be found by doing what others do, or in our efforts to try to lose weight with the hopes that others will "magically" accept and esteem us.

As Americans, we need to be sure that we're attempting weight loss for the right reasons...not the wrong ones! As an example, there are many Americans who have poor diets, who are not as healthy as they need to be, and need to address weight loss as a means to that end. That would be a totally acceptable reason for wanting to lose weight. There are also Americans who would like to look better, and feel better out themselves but for strictly personal reasons (ie, they are motivated from within and are not giving in to societal pressure to lose weight or change in any way). This leads to better, more effective, and lasting weight loss strategies which also help to promote positive body image and improved health. Our reasons for wanting to lose weight or look a certain way can really tell us much about what's going on inside of us and what's motivating us. Unfortunately, we've been so brainwashed and controlled by the massive onslaught of negative messages from celebrities (via the media and our weight loss industry) that we've found ourselves so far from where we should be physically, mentally, and emotionally. So, is there anything we can do about this?

How You Can Take Back Your Life

Strangely, one of the best ways to get your life back is to give up trying to become someone you were not created to be. As I mentioned earlier, we are living in a culture where the messages we receive are always going to encourage us to be dissatisfied with ourselves, discontent with who we are, and an intense desire to live a life so very different from the one that we've been given. Please don't let that happen to you! If you want to take back your life and be rid of the controlling influences of our culture, then I strongly urge you to become very skeptical of every thought you have that produces discouragement, fear, anxiety, dissatisfaction, envy, and depression. These tend to arise in our lives when our eyes and mind are focused on something other than what we've been given. How many times have you found yourself on that emotional roller-coaster produced by spending most of the day comparing yourself to people around you. Not much fun, and very exhausting!

In the end, the celebrities who you are trying to become like don't even know you exist, so you know they have absolutely no interest in being like you. And, those around us who we strive to emulate with our lives, have many flaws that you don't even know exist...they're just good at showing you what they want you to see. That should give you a clue that maybe you should begin minding your own business, and not care about what they're wearing, how much they weigh, and how they looked at the last "Emmy Awards" show. That should be a lesson to us all, really. We should not trouble ourselves with what others are doing, what they look like, or whether they've gained or lost weight. The truth is that we all have "warts" and the sooner we can accept this, the better off we'll be. With this in mind, let's talk about what we can do to improve our body image and ultimately our lives.

5 Strategies To Improve Your Body Image

Strategy #1: Beware of "Comparison-itis"

This one is very important to our overall success in ridding ourselves of societal pressure and minimizing the amount of pressure we can put on ourselves to look a certain way. If we're all different and unique anyway, then why do we insist on comparing ourselves to others? The next time you find yourself in a situation where you're comparing appearance, weight, or something else, take a moment and ask yourself "Why?" The answer to your question will give you a "heads up" that you are probably heading down the wrong path. Also, consider the history with this very destructive tactic...what does it usually produce? Anxiety? Fear? Depression? And the list goes on. If that's where you end up, then it definitely makes sense to get rid of it, plain and simple.

Strategy #2: Focus on Your Positive Attributes

Though we can sometimes make ourselves believe that there are no good qualities that we possess, we all know that when we take a little time and think about it, we will find much to celebrate. One great bit of advice I heard lately and was encouraged by went something like this: "Accentuate the positive, eliminate the negative, and don't mess with Mr. In Between". This can be a great reminder for us all to begin training our minds to focus on only those things that will encourage us not cause us despair. After all, what good will despair and discouragement do us anyway? How will they enhance our lives one bit?

Strategy #3: Dress Your Body for Who You Are Today

That means, no more longing for the days of old, when you were six sizes smaller and could fit into those "Designer Jeans" (whatever happened to the Jordache brand anyway?). And, no more buying clothes that are a size smaller as "motivation" for you to finally begin that weight loss plan. We need to focus on dressing ourselves for who we are right now and do the best that we can to improve ourselves with the right weight loss, nutrition, and motivational strategies...not those which only help to plunge us into deeper despair and even hopelessness. By accepting who we are today, we will begin to lose the mentality that who we are is not enough...of course it's enough! Otherwise, what reason would we have to live? We can really beat ourselves up when it comes to our appearance and weight loss, but is that really helpful? Will it really produce any positive results in our lives?

Strategy #4: Seek Personal Success One Small Step At A Time

One great way to improve your body image is to focus on improving one lifelong destructive habit of your choice. For many of you it might mean a focus on improving your diet. The key is that it usually means that we will spend time implementing small nutritional changes over a long period of time. By using this strategy, you will begin to experience success at eating well and exercising self-control, which in turn, helps accelerate your weight loss efforts and gives you a greater sense of empowerment. You will begin to take control of your life, and feel good about yourself again. You start to understand that it's about you becoming your best...FOR YOU...not someone else! Imagine starting to see some of those self-destructive eating habits begin to die a slow death as you begin to see those unwanted pounds begin to melt away. That can be extremely encouraging, and can skyrocket your confidence and self-efficacy. You now become the master over your food, and it no longer controls you anymore.

Strategy #5: Be As Unique As You Were Created to Be

Uniqueness can be lost in our day and age, especially when it comes to fitness, weight loss, and appearance. Everyone one wants to know what "so-and-so" is doing. The problem is that what works for someone else may not work for you at all. This can contribute to the failure mindset that we adopt. When we do something that someone else has succeeded with, and do not see the same results they do, we can tend to take it personally and beat ourselves up - condemning ourselves as failures. Perhaps, if we had taken our own path to our desired goal, success would have been ours. Maybe, if we had just taken the time to find out what worked for us and listened to our body when it told us that the low carbohydrate diet we were forcing on it was not the best thing for our health. I think you get my point, here. It's very important that we do what works best for us...nothing else will work as well as a custom-made plan geared toward us and only us. That's what being unique is all about.

By applying what you learned in this article, you will begin to experience a wonderful "freeing" effect as you improve your body image and start realizing that it's about you being your absolute best...not about what others think about or expect of you. You will also be able to utilize effective strategies and feel a great sense of empowerment to take back your life so that you won't be controlled by what you're reading, seeing, or hearing in the media. You'll be able to understand that the "Thin-Is-In" mindset is just a myth that is perpetuated by those in our culture who want to make money off of women by exercising control over them through harmful mental manipulation tricks and tactics. Lastly, you'll begin to feel good about yourself and will see how you can be different from the rest of America by losing your obsession with weight, appearance, and food while they continue on with this perpetual cycle of dangerous pre-occupation with all the wrong things.