Sometimes we learn life lessons from our parents. Sometimes we learn them from made-for-TV movies. And sometimes, life's greatest revelations happen when we're standing almost naked, sopping wet in front of hundreds of judgmental strangers.So was the case for me last weekend...
Beauty. It's a word I've been trying to understand since a strange-looking boy with a crush threw staples at me in fifth grade.
For a while, I thought beauty meant wearing eye shadow. So in junior high, I lined my eyes with bright green, glittery makeup and kept my lids closed unnaturally long each time I blinked. I had purchased beauty. It cost $1.99 and I wanted everyone to see it.But over the years, I realized a few things. Green eye shadow doesn't go well with my skin tone, and beauty is a lot more complicated than Revlon would have you believe. So years passed and I still couldn't define it.
By college, the word nauseated me. More indefinable than good poetry and more unattainable than a reasonably priced apartment on State Street, it seemed the most ridiculous thing I'd ever felt pressured to achieve.Applying my new collegiate reasoning abilities, I searched for a definition by contemplating other words often associated with it. And I just kept coming back to the one word timelessly linked to beauty: truth.Sure, it would seem truth and beauty go hand in hand. The reality we make for ourselves should be appealing and attractive. Why wouldn't we make our bodies, our minds, our lives beautiful?
But Saturday...Saturday I ventured to the world's largest indoor water park. As I crept into the rainforest-themed amusement center, I realized I had to choose: truth or beauty. I'm not gonna lie, I seriously considered feigning illness, snatching the Gatorade bottle of boxed wine from my companion and retiring to the hotel in my oversized sweats. There was just no avoiding truth at this indoor waterworld.
Inside, a deadly mixture of sunlight and fluorescent bulbs bombarded patrons from every angle, mercilessly highlighting each imperfection on their thrill-seeking bodies. And while waterslides rock hard, the thought of spending the day in this environment with nasty wet hair, no makeup and only a string bikini for cover made me realize beauty was not an option here. But having already paid my $40, I chose truth.And as I slid through the dark, watery passageways and spewed into bright, lifeguarded pools, I couldn't get truth and beauty off my mind.In a world where we must constantly choose between truth OR beauty, it's no wonder I could never figure things out. To successfully realign the words, we'd have to alter our definition of one of them.
And society chose truth.
Plastic surgery, airbrushing and mentally blocking anything that doesn't jive with a tight mold of beauty-our collective solution for this new reality.
But redefining truth is like Britney redefining herself as a brunette. It can be done, but not very well.
So as the sun descended outside the giant park, I began to feel better.
Maybe it was the comfort in knowing that ridiculous beauty standards hadn't ruined my day. Maybe it was the power that comes with realizing pop culture controls more than beauty, it creates whack definitions of reality.
Or maybe, it was just the boxed wine.
Emily Winter's column runs every Tuesday in The Daily Cardinal.
