Vanity

So I was walking though Barnes and Nobles today (briefly, although I wish it was for a longer period of time) and something came to my mind. As I was looking through the magazines it occurred to me that 70% of what I was looking through was fake. I know many teen magazines say to "be yourself" and "don't let anyone tell you that you aren't beautiful" and so on... But what's ironic is that the media takes the pictures that they put in magazines and change eye color, skin complexion, and even bone structure and body shape. Hypocritical much? And while I can't say that I don't do things sometimes that are/can be considered vain, I try not to let it rule my life and make it's way up to the top of my priority list. So while the media might be saying of all the "right things" about keeping a good self-image and staying true to who you are, they aren't showing that through example. Actions speak much louder than words. In fact, celebrities are ridiculed for not wearing makeup out in public because they look "tired" and "old" and a lot of other words/phrases that I'm not going into. So what is that telling the world?

And as a side note - I can't speak from a guy's perspective.. But it seems to me that the opposite gender tends to be more attracted to girls that aren't caking on the makeup and constantly worrying about gossip and how they look.. Or at least the guys that will like the girl for who she is.

So I guess my over-all point is (and I know that hashtags are for twitter, but I'm breaking the rules)
#beYOUtiful