Accept yourself, Judge others
How come we are told to accept ourselves as we are but, so many judge others and expect them to change? We seem to spend a great deal of time complaining about portrayed body images yet not a lot of time developing our own. We expect them to change to fit in with our own ideals, don't we?
There is no such thing as the perfect body and there is no such thing as the most beautiful person in the world, if you think there is, you are making a judgement decision on your own preferences.
If you think that the models are too skinny, the hair to shiny, the clothes too tight, you are also making a personal judgement decision that is only relevant to you.
Granted, there is a lot of silicon and Photoshop involved but, if you truly are your own person, why would you ascribe to it. And, if you are upset because others do believe in it and chase it and want them to change, what right do you have to affect their wills?
This is the problem with it all isn't it? We want people to accept us for who we are even if they are forced to change to do so. We want to stop the tyranny by being tyrannical. But, how is this possible if you have accepted yourself for who you are unless, you have accepted yourself as a tyrant looking to shape the preferences of others?
Many will argue with my view on this but again, that is the judgement isn't it? Sure, I may be wrong, sure I might have ludicrous expectations but, that is the game isn't? How ludicrous is it to think that you can change a system that makes a massive amount of money from playing both sides.
For example, we all know the 'Real women' advertising campaign for Dove and how well it has done to empower women of all body shapes. Dove is a Unilever brand, Axe is another of theirs.
Feel empowered?
This is the problem with allowing advertising to dictate who you think you or, anyone else is meant to be. No brands care, they just want to make money and they will manipulate to do so. They do not care how you feel, they do not care about you at all.
The message to accept yourself for who you are is a good one but, do not expect that anyone else must accept you, that is their choice. And, if you or someone else have been told by the media to not like your looks, why would this matter if you have accepted yourself? Why do you think you must be attractive to anyone else other than yourself?
The surefire way to know if someone has accepted themselves or not is how they treat others and how they attack those who do not accept them. They claim to be comfortable in their own skin but, are unhappy when someone doesn't like how their skin looks, unable to deal with criticisms.
Like most things in this world, change takes acceptance of reality, and the reality is we all need to take a good, long, hard look into the mirror and work out exactly who we are without all of the manipulations, without being told what to see. To do this means to step away from any of the sides and rather see it all as a whole.
The entire advertising system has been set up to section and fragment society based on illusion and scarcity. They make all things they sell seem like it is rare, whether it be the product itself, or the concept behind it and most people buy into it in some way, whether it be an ideal behind a bar of soap or the latest Iphone.
How can one claim individuality or acceptance of the self when all of the desires are directed by global conglomerates? When it comes to attention, it is a free market yet, people continually and repeatedly look at what they have been directed to and make their buying decisions accordingly. And then... Complain when other people choose to purchase differently.
Advertising and its consumptive subscribers live in a land of hypocrisy with every tiny group claiming that the catalogue they are reading is the correct one. It is no different to any other brainwashing, whether political, religious or nationalistic. It is a process of authority-directed division and fragmentation to say, my position is better than yours.
Do you accept it?
Taraz
[ a Steemit original ]
EMPOWERMENT " We want people to accept us for who we are even if they are forced to change to do so"
We are creatures that need others to like us, to be part of the group / team . To be accepted .
If you are not not a member of these groups you are shunned , and not accepted for who you are .
What a shame !
Pity so many people base it on looks instead of working out what of skill value they bring to the group.
People that are constantly trying to convince others that they are happy with themselves are most sertainly not happy with themselves. Trying to convince others is their way of slowly convincing themselves while actually being insicure.
Yeah, I concur. The pursuit of happiness is endless. It is our life's aspiration. This topic reminds me of Beyonce's "Pretty Hurts" .
Blonder hair, flat chest
TV says bigger is better
South beach, sugar free
Vogue says
Thinner is better
Pretty hurts
Shine the light on whatever's worse
Perfection is the disease of a nation
Pretty hurts
Shine the light on whatever's worse
Tryna fix something
But you can't fix what you can't see
It's the soul that needs the surgery
When you're alone all by yourself
And you're lying in your bed
Reflection stares right into you
Are you happy with yourself?
It's just a way to masquerade
The illusion has been shed
Are you happy with yourself?
You know, reading your post I realized I'm not as comfortable in my own skin, as I thought...because I do want everyone to like me. I don't know why - actually, I do now!
Personally I think that a lot of the people who preach self-love and peace and acceptance are fakers, you know? People who actually do care what others think about them - they want to be perceived as cool and accepting. Most do, anyway....
Why do you always make me think? I mean, that's a good thing, but damn, some of those thoughts are quite mean ;)
Most people try to 'fake it til they make it' without understanding that the faking has to be real action. They are just fakers.
It is good to think through the horrible thoughts instead of letting them dictate behaviour thoughtlessly.
I know. That's why I like reading you. Besides, they're not horrible, just unpleasant...we all like to think we've got everything figured out and we're on top of it and then someone else says something (like this post) and shakes that illusion...
When we judge others it is just something in ourselves that we are actually judging. Accepting our true individuality means permitting the individuality of others :)
Well sometimes I am guilty of trying to force my "ideal" self on other people when I think I am helping them. Sometimes I stop and realize I am making a mistake.
Our lives are shaped by people's opinions and thoughts and rules. From our parents, to our guardians, to teachers at school, then the law, the society, it goes on and on. It is an uphill task to stop caring about what people think of you or say about you, but very easy to point out flaws.
yes, much easier to blame others than look at the self.
Do I accept it? Sadly so I guess....
It's completely ludicrous, and that's because we know nothing else. From the early stages in life we get completely brainwashed by advertisements. Young children watch TV and get overwhelmed by all the ads about toys, dolls, the newest technology etc etc. Our society is a consumption-society and it's almost impossible to remove yourself from that paradigm. Same thing happens with how we view the ideal man or female. The media gives us the truth and we act accordingly.
Trying to get away from that mentality is in my opinion almost impossible. It's like the guy from "Into the Wild" who wants to escape from everything he's ever known and wants to start all over again, take a dive in the unknown. But what does that look like when you talk, in this example, about a beauty ideal? Where are you gonna find a new definition? Can you really make up your own ideal when you've been indoctrinated by society-driven thought for your whole life? I don't think that's possible...
I think it is except the problem is that most just replace one ideal with another.
Yea, that's something I didn't even think about yet. But maybe the premise stays the same: it's almost impossible to free your mind from all the influences it has encountered throughout life. Maybe meditation is the only way to get as close to yourself as possible, but I don't know enough about that yet. It might be something worth looking into and experimenting with for me personally though.
Heh, I wouldn't.
That's so true. if you've already accepted yourself for who you are, then other people's opinions of you aren't going to make you freak out...because you're ok with you.
I'm not perfect, but I consciously try not to be as manipulated by advertisements. I'm not going out and buying a ton of new products to make sure my woman wants me. If your woman only wants you because of what you own, is that a healthy relationship? It could be. It's not my preference though.
advertising can only add to the delusion of people all zero big than in real life
Accepting ourselves the way we are shows a high level of contentment and appreciation to our Creator. This fact will help us to equally accept others the way they are instead of judging the.