Thanks to the myth of "American Exceptionalism," most of us have bought into the belief that we have to be the tallest, the smartest, the strongest, the prettiest, the richest, the busiest (!?), the best dressed, most loved, most talented--or die trying. It's caused huge amounts of wasted time which translates into wasted LIFE. I wish everyone could read your Shades of Balance and rethink their values and how they prefer to live.
What inspired it was when my three girls went through high school. Like most girls, they were already terrified they might find a 'zit'. Then you turn on the TV and the ads tell them to buy this, this, and this because they smell bad, buy that because it will hide bad breath, use this to make yellow teeth white again, etc., etc., TV was painting an ugly picture of our youth and making a mother's job so much harder than it should be.
So true! About the fourth time I heard, "Mom, I'm so ugly, or Mom, I'm so fat," I finally caught on to what the advertisers were doing ---or trying to do. That's when I made my first list like what's in this post. My poor babies ... Yes, the ads do more harm than good!
Thanks to the myth of "American Exceptionalism," most of us have bought into the belief that we have to be the tallest, the smartest, the strongest, the prettiest, the richest, the busiest (!?), the best dressed, most loved, most talented--or die trying. It's caused huge amounts of wasted time which translates into wasted LIFE. I wish everyone could read your Shades of Balance and rethink their values and how they prefer to live.
Thank you Carol!
What inspired it was when my three girls went through high school. Like most girls, they were already terrified they might find a 'zit'. Then you turn on the TV and the ads tell them to buy this, this, and this because they smell bad, buy that because it will hide bad breath, use this to make yellow teeth white again, etc., etc., TV was painting an ugly picture of our youth and making a mother's job so much harder than it should be.
That's the Business-Advertising Complex: Create non-existent problems and then offer expensive "solutions" that often do more harm than good.
So true! About the fourth time I heard, "Mom, I'm so ugly, or Mom, I'm so fat," I finally caught on to what the advertisers were doing ---or trying to do. That's when I made my first list like what's in this post. My poor babies ... Yes, the ads do more harm than good!