Reading the cover story about lookism (vanity, narcissism, etc.) and "Self Love or Self Delusion" made me think deeply about lookism. I realized it is not a social trend, but a kind of illness. Humans are naturally pursuing beauty and beautiful things. If people can never have a normal life because of their idea that beauty is the most important thing, then we must not use the expression "pursue beauty and beautiful things."
     One day, I watched "The Oprah Winfrey Show" which dealt with various social problems and solutions. The subject of that day was lookism.
     The program showed two real cases. The first case was a five-year-old girl who refused to eat because she worried about her weight. She said she wanted to be like a baby doll. Korean women are also worried about their weight. They think the ideal type for woman must be both 165cm tall and weigh 45kg. They go on unhealthy diets in order to wear small size clothes. They become unhealthy after suffering from yoyo symptoms and eating disorders.
     The second case was about one woman who tried to imitate her favorite star's style fanatically. She spent a lot of money to buy items related to the star, so her family suffered financially. She said she was so ugly that she couldn't love herself.
     After watching this show, I realized lookism is not an individual problem any more. Why is such a social malady increasing more and more? The answer to this matter can be found all around us.
     To begin with, the trend of evaluating a person by appearance is prevalent. In the cover story interview, the respondent said some companies placed weight on appearance in job interviews, so she couldn't help considering plastic surgery.
     We sometimes say jokingly "Money is important to men; Beauty is important to women." Our society itself encourages women to cling to beauty. Women themselves sometimes express this with agreement, as though an ugly woman is a failure for her life. We ought to accept a woman as she is to be a member of society and not to evaluate her by her appearance.
     Secondly, the influence of the internet and media causes lookism. When turning on a television, you can see stars with beautiful faces and great bodies. Also on the Internet, common people with beautiful faces, called "Eoljjang", are as popular as stars on TV. One female thief even had an internet cafe where she is famous for her beautiful face, without being judged on her misconduct.
     Anonymity on the Internet is one of the things that exacerbate lookism. You can see "Ackple" through internet surfing. Ackple is a piece of writing to blame people on the internet. There are many "Ackples" evaluating a celebrity's face badly and ignoring ugly woman. Such an "Ackple" also makes women rely on plastic surgery. Thus, media and the Internet must lay weight on brains over beauty.
     Beauty contests are also another outlet where lookism spreads. Beauty contests place a great deal of significance on a beautiful appearance without a sound mind. Miss USA, Tara Conner, has become a topic lately, and is a typical case in point. Reportedly, even though as Miss USA she is supposed to have perfect sincerity, she got drunk in a bar with her friends and took embarrassing pictures. The board intended to disqualify her from her position, but they decided to give her one more chance.
     As I already said, social trends make a woman cling to beauty, such a malady has to be fixed as soon as possible. To do so, the most important thing is for a woman to love herself. They have to recognize that they should not be judged on their appearance and become heroes themselves for their life while having confidence. I hope all women can have perfect sincerity and a sound mind without losing their identity.