Clinical Psychologist, Dr. Zac Elizabeth Buchanan from Melbourne at the Psychology Foundation says that according to a recent study from Andalou Naturals, a natural beauty skincare company who did a survey with girls and women age between 18-25, found out that nearly half of them admitted that they will go extreme to make them look beautiful. What's more surprising, a third of them are considering plastic surgery in order to make them look beautiful. The reasons, Dr.Buchanan says, it is due to social pressure for centuries and now the media amplifies that pressure further how women should look like in a certain way.
I suppose women have been socialized to believe that their worth rest solely on the way that they look, this message can start at a very early age where she is being told that she is a pretty girl to then told by media or social media that in order to be successful, admired or to be treated with respect, women must be perfect, and that sense of perception is very problematic, because the idea of perfect changes with fashion as well.
Dr. Zac Elizabeth Buchanan says that "there isn't anything wrong with women want to change their appearances, to apply makeup, or to change their features to make them look beautiful. She says we as humans are not perfect. What is problematic, she says, is the attitude in which we do it, matters the most. So if we are having the attitude that we have to look perfect to be valuable, then that is really bad. And if we are spending a lot of time looking at the mirror or checking ourselves or even thinking about the way we look, that will get in the way of leading a healthy normal life, and that is also problematic as well."
Dr. Zac Elizabeth Buchanan, a clinical psychologist, who works with teenagers and adults dealing with internal and external struggles, including anxiety, depression and low self-esteem.
Embracing beauty should not come at the cost of your self-worth, says Dr. Buchanan.
Has the true beauty message really get across to girls, women or communities? Dr. Buchanan says that "she wants women to ask themselves why are they spending time on their looks. Are they doing this to nourish and to care for themselves or are they falling trap to the false message that their worthy lives are only how they look like? "
Therefore, Dr. Buchanan says, we really need to make sure that the way we treat ourselves is really from self-compassion, kindness, and acceptance that we don't need to be perfect, and most importantly our self-worth is running deeper than the way we look because what we look is only one tiny facet of who we are as humans.
The Andalou Naturals research also found that Australians spend around $1 billion on cosmetic surgeries and procedures every year, with $350 million spent on wrinkle reduction procedures with Botox alone. Yet, 86% of women believe that we are taking cosmetic procedures too far, while some of them think that they should look at the other healthy alternatives.
Dr. Zac Elizabeth Buchanan thinks that due to so much pressure on women's beauty, they could fall prey to beauty and cosmetic industries as their products and cosmetic services are much cheaper and easily accessible today. Therefore, there is a higher possibility that women might want to use these services.
It is not so much about the cosmetic procedures themselves but it is more about why people are doing it and knowing that our worth is far greater than our looks, focusing on our inner selves, character, education, the way that we related to people, the relationship that we have with others, that is a much better indication of who we are as a person than the way we look, says Dr. Buchanan.
Dr. Buchanan also says that a holistic approach where every party, community, and society collaborating to deal with body image and anxiety would be very powerful, as it is an integral part of human well-being. But the most important point is that we as a society should reject the notion that our body images represent our true self-worth because it is not true, it is just a tiny facet of who we are as humans. Furthermore, she would also like us to talk nicer to ourselves the way we talk to our friends, families and our loved ones.
Seek help yes, seek help when you need it, there is nothing wrong with seeking help. Staying positive, but also remember that it is okay not to be perfect, and it is okay to not be 100 percent happy with the way you look, but making sure that that doesn't impact your self-esteem.
We can see our general practitioners (GPs) get a referral to see a psychologist or do an online search for more information about mental health issues, anxiety, and depression or body image issues from the APS website.
