If any of you guys have channel surfed and stumbled upon Vh1, Jessica Simpson has a new show called the Price of Beauty. Granted that its Jessica Simpson, I think this is actually a pretty good show, if you can get over the fact that it was created by Jessica Simpson. The show is about Jessica and her two friends that travel all over the world to discover what beauty means to different parts of the world and how much it really differs from how we perceive what is beautiful in America. Jessica Simpson really gets reality checks about how she has lived her life.
A couple of examples of this is when they went to Thailand. In many Asian cultures, including Thailand, having fair skin is seen as a form of beauty. It is believed when you have darker skin, you are seen as poorer and had to work hard outside in the fields. Which contrasts the American ideal that darker is better. One lady in Thailand kept putting dangerous cremes to try to appear fairer, but after years of use, it had permanently bleached her and skin and left many parts of her skin. Her husband ended up leaving her because of that and she stopped singing, embarassed to go in public.
Another example is when Jessica went to Nicuargua, Africa and learned that women actually fatten up before a marriage, consuming up to 5,000 calories a day and drinking gallons of milk a day in order to look plump, which is seen as a symbol of high status. Contrary to the ladies here who starve themselves to fit into a wedding dress. “You can try sears”
I actually give it up to Jessica for creating this show. I personally love learning about other people’s cultures and how they perceive the world. My hope is to be able to work internationally to learn about the world and to really step out of my bubble.
