Beauty as Bait and the Predator That Is the Cosmetic Indust
Imagine walking into any store that sells cosmetic products... Every single product in the store promises to make you healthier and more beautiful. The deepest fear within you—aging, which your mind equates with becoming unattractive—gets triggered, and before you even realize it, you’ve bought whatever promises to make you more beautiful. Does that sound familiar?
While we humans like to think of ourselves as intelligent and self-controlled beings, the reality is that we’re governed by millions of years of history and our ancient fears. The entire capitalist system is built upon hooks that grab us by our deepest fears. One of the most common hooks, especially for women, is the endless stream of products we buy in the name of beauty.
Beauty, as an ideal, is constantly imposed upon us, and a massive market thrives on this ideal.
As a result, no matter how beautiful you are, you’re never satisfied.
It feels like you could always be more beautiful, like there’s always something more.
Sometimes, it even feels like every other woman is more beautiful than you.
This cycle has no end.
Now, I’m not here to criticize anyone’s personal choices; everyone is completely free to shape their physical appearance however they like. What I do want to question is this: *What if we’re not as free as we think? What if these decisions aren’t really ours, but ones the system has made for us?*
It’s easy to get lost in an endless cycle of buying and consuming things we don’t really need. Moreover, in our pursuit of beauty, we’re allowing chemicals—whose names we can’t even pronounce—to come into contact with our bodies. We don’t even know what we’re putting on our faces! But as long as it promises to get rid of wrinkles, anything goes.
However, I think we’ve now reached an age where we know these products won’t give us either beauty or eternal youth. (Right?) We now understand better that our beauty is determined less by the external products we use and more by internal factors. While people think these internal factors are only about what we eat and drink, in reality, they include everything that becomes part of us: the movements, emotions, states of being, and perspectives on life that we incorporate into ourselves. All of these are factors that determine our beauty.
Truly, whatever is inside reflects outward.
So please don’t think that you can become beautiful by lying in bed all day and popping hyaluronic acid capsules.
Because to be healthy and beautiful, you need to *live*, and to live, you need to *move*. The body needs to generate and maintain these processes as naturally as possible. For this to happen, your body is waiting to be activated.
We all try to get what we want without moving from where we are, and this is exactly where the system throws out its bait for us to consume.
Once you incorporate regular movement, self-care, and the courage to know yourself and your emotions into your life, you’ll realize you don’t need any of that bait.
You are already beautiful, and your beauty depends only on you. Now, to see it for yourself,
it’s time to turn inward.