from Anne Montgomery
A
preoccupation with beauty, fueled by 24/7 internet postings, has many
young women obsessed with their looks.
I’ve been working out in some form or another all my life.
Though I used to be more of a gym rat, today I primarily swim laps, a habit
that leaves me with goggle-eye indentations, smudged make-up, and wet hair
spiking in all directions. Often, due to the insanely short life span of some
of my Speedos, my suits tend to lack the elasticity required to hold my
68-year-old physique in place. I know what you’re thinking. Not a pretty
picture.
But for the brief, big hair, sparkly spandex, workout era of the
80s, the health club has mostly been a place where pretty wasn’t important.
Perhaps that’s why she had me so nonplussed.
The attractive young woman, probably in her early twenties,
stared into her phone. Tight black shorts and a crop top encased her frame. She
pursed her lips and lifted her chin. Then, looking over her shoulder at the
mirror behind her, she snapped a series of selfies, shots aimed to highlight
her, um, posterior.
I tried not to stare, but as I dried off after my shower and
dressed, I couldn’t help but sneak a peek, now and then. The camera clicked
away. She turned her hips a fraction of an inch and the snapping resumed.
Barbie’s perfect proportions created a generation of women with body-image issues.
I grew up in the world of Barbie, a perfectly proportioned piece
of plastic that, no doubt, led to a generation of women with body-image issues.
And while there were also magazine and TV beauties to contend with, our
experience was relatively benign compared to the image assault young women must
deal with today: a 24-hour stream of internet images highlighting impossibly
beautiful, often photoshopped, people. Sadly, approximately 91% of women in the
U.S. are unhappy with their bodies.
I’m a high school teacher and I worry
about the pressure that’s being placed on our young people. Those unhappy with
their looks can suffer from low self-esteem, which can lead to eating
disorders, early sexual activity, substance use, and suicidal thoughts.
I was approached by one of my
journalism students recently. She was writing a story about body-image issues.
“Ms. Montgomery, when do women finally become happy with their bodies?”
“Never,” I said, without thinking. Her
face fell. “I mean, when you get older, other things become more important.” I
scrambled to put a positive spin on my answer but could see the damage was
already done.
A week after I first saw her, the girl
at the health club reappeared. This time, she faced a different mirror and,
after lifting the edge of her shirt to reveal solid abs, she began taking
pictures again. After myriad photos, she slumped onto a bench and scrolled
through the images, all the while frowning into her phone.
As I gathered my things to leave, she
walked in front of another large mirror and paused, staring at the floor,
wanting, perhaps, to just pass it by. But something compelled her to stop and
lean in close, turning her face one way then the other, as she batted long
false eyelashes and tossed her hair.
Pretty can certainly be nice. In fact,
studies have shown that, fair or not, attractive people are more likely to get
hired, receive promotions, and have larger paychecks than those who might be
lacking in the pulchritude department. However, as those pretty folks will
eventually learn, physical beauty does not last.
“Ms. Montgomery, when do women finally
become happy with their bodies?”
“It all depends,” I should have said
to my student reporter. “Perhaps, when we focus on all the fabulous
opportunities life throws at us, face our aspirations head on, and surround
ourselves with people who love us and make us laugh, maybe then we stop worrying
about things that are really not important.”
As I watched the girl wrench away from
the mirror, I hoped she might have goals to dream about, hobbies she enjoyed,
and people in her life who would love and cherish her, even on those bad-hair
days. I wanted to tell her, but I did not. I think there are some things we
just need to learn on our own.
Please allow me to give you a brief intro to my latest women's fiction novel for your reading pleasure.
The past and present collide when a tenacious reporter seeks information on an eleventh century magician…and uncovers more than she bargained for.
In 1939, archeologists uncovered a tomb at the Northern Arizona site called Ridge Ruin. The man, bedecked in fine turquoise jewelry and intricate bead work, was surrounded by wooden swords with handles carved into animal hooves and human hands. The Hopi workers stepped back from the grave, knowing what the Moochiwimi sticks meant. This man, buried nine hundred years earlier, was a magician.
Former television journalist Kate Butler hangs on to her investigative reporting career by writing freelance magazine articles. Her research on The Magician shows he bore some European facial characteristics and physical qualities that made him different from the people who buried him. Her quest to discover The Magician’s origin carries her back to a time when the high desert world was shattered by the birth of a volcano and into the present-day dangers of archeological looting where black market sales of antiquities can lead to murder.
Former television journalist Kate Butler hangs on to her investigative reporting career by writing freelance magazine articles. Her research on The Magician shows he bore some European facial characteristics and physical qualities that made him different from the people who buried him. Her quest to discover The Magician’s origin carries her back to a time when the high desert world was shattered by the birth of a volcano and into the present-day dangers of archaeological looting where black market sales of antiquities can lead to murder.
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When she can, Anne indulges in her passions: rock collecting, scuba diving, football refereeing, and playing her guitar.
Learn more about Anne Montgomery on her website and Wikipedia. Stay connected on Facebook, Linkedin, and Twitter.
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