Pain and Beauty

This morning, my mom lectured me about all the shoes I've splurged on but never wear. So to sort of please her a bit, I wore a pair from my "collection" of three - inch stilettos to work. Needless to say, it was hell to walk on those pseudo deadly weapons but I must admit, my legs looked longer and leaner and my feet looked sexier in them. I can't help but ask myself, why do I need to suffer just to look good? Can't I just wear sensible shoes (read: fugly!)? I guess pain and beauty will always be related. If you don't buy the premise, just think about your weekly facials and those Brazilian bikini waxes you need to get just to look flawless, and all those unforgiving diets and exercises you have to subject yourself to just to stay slim, and I haven't even touched on cosmetic surgery yet. Pain is a reoccurring theme in the study of aesthetics. Think about Chinese foot binding and those African women with ringed necks. Is beauty worth all that suffering? Beauty is power in many senses, and so, naturally, humans suffer through a lot of pain and torture, perhaps at seemingly superficial levels, to attain it. But for a quality that can potentially put the world at your fingertips, how far is too far? Nowadays the issue is no longer about your regular hair consultations or spa treatments, we are talking about the big leagues here -- cosmetic surgery. In the name of beauty, people are willingly subjecting themselves to extreme amounts of physical pain - and for what real purpose? To have breasts that vaguely resemble that of famous female showbiz personalities who themselves admit that their bodies are not perfect? I am no stranger to the beauty game. Cosmetics and other beauty products provide me with thrilling addiction, but to go as far as to look like someone I'm not, I guess that will be too much for me. But I cannot blame the people, most of whom are women, who suffer for beauty, after all, we live in a world that sets such a high standard for beauty. I guess to end the suffering, we should just all try to be happy in our own skin. Easier said than done, I know.