Love•ly |ˈləvlē| adjective ( -lier , -liest ): exquisitely beautiful

Un•love•ly |ˌənˈləvlē| adjective: not attractive; ugly.

Beauty. Allure. Charm. Elegance.

What makes a woman lovely?

Rather, what does society deem beautiful?

What do you think of when you hear the word pretty?

Lisa Noel Ruocco -Model

Long legs.  Glossy hair.  Full lips.  White teeth.  Smooth skin.  Big eyes.  Curling lashes.  Tiny waist. Delicate collarbone.  Flat stomach.  Curving hips.  Toned arms.

What’s one thing they’re looking for? Maybe you don’t think of those things.  But Hollywood does, modeling agencies do.

Skinny, slender, slim, thin, svelte, lean, willowy, slight, lanky girls.

Anyone heard of Tumblr?  It’s pretty much a photo  blog with captions for each picture.  Lately there has been a weight-loss blog craze.

People (mostly females) post pictures of skinny girls and talk about how much they want to slim down.  It’s obsessive and even scary.

“I didn’t eat for three days so I could be lovely,” said Cassie, a character from the British television show Skins. 

I don’t watch the show, but I stumbled upon that clip and went WHHHAAAATTTT??????

People are listening to this?

I saw this picture the other day:

Oh my Ross Turner… That is SO WRONG!

Exercise is good.  Maintaining a healthy weight is good.  Trying to look your best is good.  But that?

THAT is NOT good.

In fact, that’s bad.  Very bad.

Weight-loss blogs.  Media figures promoting eating disorders and exhibiting symptoms of body dysmorphic disorder. “Thinspirational” pictures.

All these entities are furthering this perversion of beauty.

Speaking of which, how much do you know about photo editing?

Not that much?  Maybe this will give you an incentive to think twice about the hottie you met online:

Freaky huh?

I’m not saying that trying to be skinny is bad and I’m not trying to trash make up and photo editing.

I just think that there is a line between the lovely and unlovely sides of beauty and crossing that line could be very bad indeed.