LOOKING GOOD

LOOKING GOOD

Read the passage.

Growing and changing

          It is natural if your appearance concerns you a great deal. After all, the way you look now may still be very new to you. Between the ages of 10 and 14 most boys and girls begin to notice changes taking place to their bodies. Your body alters in shape and size, and your face changes too. Slight little girls are transformed into tall young women with well developed figures. The girl who used to be tallest in her class may stop growing at fifteen and find herself less than average in height. Snub noses lengthen; eyes that previously looked large may appear smaller because they have remained the same size while the other features have grown. Not only that, but the texture of your skin probably is different, and you are likely to suffer from spots. Generally the changes start later for boys than for girls. In some people they start before the age of 10. A boy's voice gets deeper, his muscles develop and his chest gets broader. Hair starts to grow under his arms, and on his legs and face.

What is Beauty or Handsomeness?

          Different people have different ideas of beauty or handsomeness. You only have to look at those around you to realize that people are attracted by every possible physical type. Some people find plumpness attractive. Some go for black hair; others, brown. At different times in history, writers and artists have admired pure, high foreheads or low, broad ones; large, round, lustrous eyes or slanting, inscrutable ones; sloping shoulders or broad, square one; wide, humorous mouths or heat, small ones; turned-up noses or straight ones. Some think that men who are tall, dark and muscular are handsome but for some, those who are fair and slightly built are cute.

          If you are worried about how you look, you're certainly not the only one. Most of your friends probably feel equally insecure, though they may not admit or show it. Girls who are tall usually long to be dainty and small, and vice versa; plump girls with rosy round faces would love to be pale and delicate; slender girls with very white skin hate their pale and colourless look. Thin boys would like to put more weight and tall gangling boys would like to be shorter. 

          You are being conditioned into feeling as you do. A lot of pressures are encouraging you to worry about your appearance. Woman's magazines, men's magazines, advertisements and the media all concentrate on the subject, and they bombard you with warnings about bad breath, perspiration, being too fat or too thin. They even give the impression that if you use a certain shampoo or cosmetic, you will become attractive to boys. And if boys drive a certain car, or use certain aftershave, they will be attracted to girls. Your parents may become involved in this process too, by encouraging you to think about your appearance, and your friend may create an atmosphere of competition.

Body Image

The way you see yourself in your mind's eyes may not even be accurate. For instance, girls who have once been fat often think of themselves like this long after they have become slim. Girls with a feature they do not like, such as a long nose or thick ankle, become so unhappy about it that even when they look in the mirror, they are quite unable to judge their total appearance. Height, weight and how they smell are the thing that can particularly worry young boys. But try and think about things you like about yourself and the way you look. Also remember that your body is changing and will keep changing, if you could only relax and see yourself clearly, you might see how unimportant these so - called defects actually are.

          What matters most is the kind of person you are. It would be foolish to suggest that looks do not matter at all, but everyone knows people with all kinds of 'beauty handicaps' who nonetheless have easy, loving relationships. The key to their success is often a warm, kind heart and most important, self-acceptance. Looking good does not mean making yourself into a carbon copy of a famous pop star, your popular older sister or brother, or your best friend, it means making the best of you, yourself. Of course, dieting can make you thinner, or even fatter. Of course, you can improve the way you look with clothes, hairstyle, skin care and if you wish, make-up. Washing your face more often with mild unperfumed or antiseptic soap and warm water and not eating certain foods such as chips and chocolate can prevent you from having bad smell. Of course, good health will give you grace and grow. But when it comes right down to it, you're still left with your own face and figure, and you cannot trade those in for different ones. And they will be with you for a very, very long time.