Jessica Simpson searches for “Real Beauty”

Jessica Simpson journeys to Uganda to uncover the country’s perception of beauty. She is on a mission to discover what other cultures view as beautiful.

BY SYDNEY ALTMAN

Flipping through the glamorous, glossy pages of Vogue or People Magazine, one thing is blatantly obvious.  The women and men that are lucky enough to grace the pages of these magazines are all stunning, tall, and thin.  These seemingly perfect models are meant to create envy, intimidation, and inspiration in the minds of average citizens.  No matter how hard a person tries, it’s impossible to escape the media’s intense pull.  Print and video media have helped sculpt our perception of beauty, both negatively and positively.

This media blitz has created a poor body image epidemic, especially among teen girls, and inspired superstar Jessica Simpson to try to counteract this influence to make the world a better and more confident place.  Her innovative show, The Price of Beauty, follows Simpson around the world as she discovers beauty secrets and observes different cultural customs.

Simpson has been the target of various media attacks, due to her weight gain and personal issues.  After Simpson performed at the 2009 Chili-Cook-Off in tight, unflattering mom jeans, she became harshly scrutinized for letting her image falter.   Realizing the damaging effects the media has on self-esteem and body image, Simpson decided to undertake this new challenge.

“When Chris Coelen, (CEO of production company RDF Media) approached me with his idea for a show about true beauty, I was immediately intrigued,” Simpson said in an interview with mtvnews.com, “I have always believed that beauty comes from within and confidence will always make a woman beautiful, but I know how much pressure some women put on themselves to look perfect.”

Each week, Simpson travels to a new country, whether it be France, Morocco, Japan, etc, and fully immerses herself in the distinctive cultures and customs of the people that live there.  A famous beauty ambassador native to the country shows Simpson and her friends, Ken Paves and CaCee Cobb, around the area and presents them with fashion trends, beauty regimes, and inner beauty cultural practices that make each society unique and amazing.  This show gives viewers a glimpse into universal ideals of beauty and allows them to feel empowered.

“This show has shown me that beauty is universal because everybody is unique has good qualities about them,” junior Erica Ershowsky said.  “You don’t have to be beautiful on the outside to be beautiful on the inside.”

Simpson also highlights the negatives of the extreme practices citizens perform to fit the ideal vision of beauty.  Whether it means getting reconstructive plastic surgery or bleaching skin to be as white as snow, women feel the same pressures to be “beautiful” in whatever country they live in.

Society is intensely focused on outer beauty and rarely focuses on inner beauty.  Inner beauty includes a shining personality, extreme confidence, and an uninhibited attitude.  Because the media is so focused on outer beauty, society has to strive even harder to achieve both qualities.  Simpson decided to focus on both aspects when producing her show.

“I know that every day the media’s going to challenge me and want to bring me down,” Simpson said in the mtvnews.com interview. “But I feel like I’m at such a place that I own myself, and it’s authentic. I own that authentic part of myself, and none of those words are harsh enough to make me believe them.”

Currently, magazines and TV shows demonstrate that beauty is virtually cookie cutter.  They illustrate that people desire tall, slender, tan, and scantily clad women.  The teenage years are a time where minds are developing and body image is crucial to mental happiness.  If the media keeps subjecting teens to this type of advertising, teens can develop low self-esteem, eating disorders, or poor body image problems.  Cooper City High School students feel the constant pressure that the media forces upon them.

“All over magazines, TV, and movies, I see people who are really pretty with perfect bodies and it makes me feel really bad,” Ershowsky said.  “But, I also realize that I don’t like seeing that unhealthy skinny girl either.”

The media’s withering effect on our lives has prompted efforts such as Simpson’s.  The attempts are just a small step toward making a huge impact in society, but the efforts aren’t going unnoticed.  After watching this show, senior Amanda Marotta has a new insight into what beauty consists of.

“Before this show, I viewed beauty as someone that was tall and model-like,” Marotta said.  “Now, I see it as someone that is confident and comfortable with being unique.”

Many other celebrities are taking on this same initiative.  Tyra Banks has launched her Beauty Inside and Out (BIO) campaign, to expand the traditional classification of beauty.  These role model celebrities feel an obligation to make a difference in the lives of young teens, and to prove that the media doesn’t need to be such a controlling factor in our everyday lives.

Maybe in a few years, you’ll be flipping through that same famous magazine and see a new type of elegant, classy beauty, one in which personality shines through, and various ethnicities and body types grace the infamous pages.  A new vision of beauty is needed to empower women and highlight the beauty that lies within us all.