Okay, I was recently nominated for the "no make up challenge" and apart from being annoyed at my newsfeed being filled with constant nominations, I have many thoughts about it. To start it off, I bet you didn't know that the whole start to the challenge was to raise awareness for cancer research and cancer foundations. Yeah, I didn't know that either because somewhere along the way that little tidbit got left out. Funny...
Here is the problem I have with the #nomakeupchallenge thing going around Facebook right now. It is just reinstating the problem that girls have been dealing with and have been taught for our entire lives: we are images to be looked at. We have to be beautiful. We have to show off our beauty. We are constantly having to compare ourselves to one another and the beautifulness of someone else. The pressure, the self esteem crushing and the sinking reality of what our female society is, has been amplified by the use of social media.
The epidemic of the selfie. All our worth comes from people telling us we're beautiful and liking our photos.
STOP.
The truth to this whole matter is that it is destroying the self esteem of other girls. When you post a picture of yourself on display saying "LOOK AT ME! This is what I look like without make up", you are giving permission for another girl to look at it and full on compare themselves to you. "oh I am not as beautiful as them" "they aren't even wearing make up, they don't even have to try" "I wish I could look like that" are all thoughts that girls are having right now looking at your photos.
"Oh I am way prettier than them... let me prove it" is another thought girls have which then starts the cycle all over again.
What happens to the girl who gets no likes? Who gets no comments or horrible comments? Who doesn't think their beautiful so they have to go searching for their beauty and their worth from other people's typed letters in a comment box? What happens to those girls?
Now, I am not saying "HOW DARE YOU TAKE SELFIES!" Selfies are fun. I'll be the first to admit that. Pictures of my face? GREAT! I just want all of you to think of what your objective is of putting these photos up. I am all for promoting natural beauty. But I am also all for promoting wanting to spice it up. But the question still is, what is your objective of putting up a picture of yourself? Are you doing it for the likes? Are you doing it for the comments? Are you doing it to show yourself off? Are you self objectifying? If the reason lies behind getting the comments and getting the likes, then yes you are. When we put our worth in the attention of a selfie, we make ourselves completely vulnerable to crushed emotions and lowered self esteem that can come with it.
Our worth should not be based on what other people think of us. Our worth should be coming from the one person that created us. And he is pretty darn good at what he does. We are all beautiful because we were MADE beautiful. Make up or no make up. Your value is determined by the one who created you. And you were created in the image of God. That's one heck of a value. If our worth lies within, and is thriving on our love for ourselves and through the validation of our Father we are stronger and wont fall to the shame and embarrassment we can get from social media and we can take a selfie without the need to have it validated by our peers.
So go ahead! Show off your beauty but consider this next time you post a picture of yourself or follow up on a "challenge". Be proud of who you are but make sure that someone else's opinion isn't the reason you are proud of who you are. And ask the questions: How is it affecting you? How is it affecting others? Where is your worth being held?
Here is the problem I have with the #nomakeupchallenge thing going around Facebook right now. It is just reinstating the problem that girls have been dealing with and have been taught for our entire lives: we are images to be looked at. We have to be beautiful. We have to show off our beauty. We are constantly having to compare ourselves to one another and the beautifulness of someone else. The pressure, the self esteem crushing and the sinking reality of what our female society is, has been amplified by the use of social media.
The epidemic of the selfie. All our worth comes from people telling us we're beautiful and liking our photos.
STOP.
The truth to this whole matter is that it is destroying the self esteem of other girls. When you post a picture of yourself on display saying "LOOK AT ME! This is what I look like without make up", you are giving permission for another girl to look at it and full on compare themselves to you. "oh I am not as beautiful as them" "they aren't even wearing make up, they don't even have to try" "I wish I could look like that" are all thoughts that girls are having right now looking at your photos.
"Oh I am way prettier than them... let me prove it" is another thought girls have which then starts the cycle all over again.
What happens to the girl who gets no likes? Who gets no comments or horrible comments? Who doesn't think their beautiful so they have to go searching for their beauty and their worth from other people's typed letters in a comment box? What happens to those girls?
Now, I am not saying "HOW DARE YOU TAKE SELFIES!" Selfies are fun. I'll be the first to admit that. Pictures of my face? GREAT! I just want all of you to think of what your objective is of putting these photos up. I am all for promoting natural beauty. But I am also all for promoting wanting to spice it up. But the question still is, what is your objective of putting up a picture of yourself? Are you doing it for the likes? Are you doing it for the comments? Are you doing it to show yourself off? Are you self objectifying? If the reason lies behind getting the comments and getting the likes, then yes you are. When we put our worth in the attention of a selfie, we make ourselves completely vulnerable to crushed emotions and lowered self esteem that can come with it.
Our worth should not be based on what other people think of us. Our worth should be coming from the one person that created us. And he is pretty darn good at what he does. We are all beautiful because we were MADE beautiful. Make up or no make up. Your value is determined by the one who created you. And you were created in the image of God. That's one heck of a value. If our worth lies within, and is thriving on our love for ourselves and through the validation of our Father we are stronger and wont fall to the shame and embarrassment we can get from social media and we can take a selfie without the need to have it validated by our peers.
So go ahead! Show off your beauty but consider this next time you post a picture of yourself or follow up on a "challenge". Be proud of who you are but make sure that someone else's opinion isn't the reason you are proud of who you are. And ask the questions: How is it affecting you? How is it affecting others? Where is your worth being held?
mmmmmmmgurl. You got THAT right!
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