A Sad Truth

I saw this cartoon on Facebook the other day.  We all giggled, but there is a sad truth to this, especially for women.

Funny thing is, well not so funny, but the very day this first appeared I had a co-worker say a horribly mean thing to me.

It was about 9:30 in the morning, and my stomach was growling.  I reached into my lunch bag and pulled out a handful of walnuts and ate them to hold me off until lunch time.

A few minutes later, a man who also works there said to me, "I saw you stuffing your face over there.  You're going to get fat, then nobody will want you." 

Seriously?  You're going to say that to someone?   This wasn't even a high school bully.  This was a grown man, well into his 40s.  Sir, if you were trying to win my heart with that remark, it's not going to work.  Statements like that tell me to run, don't walk to the nearest exit. 

Women struggle with body image enough as it is.  We all believe we're fat and ugly.  Those of us who are truly honest with ourselves do, deep down inside.  Yes.   We do. 

Then we hold up these supermodels who are 23% underweight as the ideal of beauty, is it any wonder we feel so badly about ourselves?

I know somebody is going to tell me not to let it get to me, he's the jerk, don't let it bother you, etc. etc.  But that's easier said than done.  His words did  hurt.  Even at my age, and even though he is someone I don't really like anyway, his words still hurt. 

We live in a world where physical beauty is celebrated.  We live in a world where physical beauty is all that matters. 

We need to be celebrating things like honor, integrity, character, generosity, love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self- control.   Not how clear your skin is, or how tiny your waist is, or how big your boobs are. 

If we could get back to emphasizing the things that are really important, maybe this world wouldn't be in the shape it's in.