"Beauty" 562

Every society has its own interpretation of what is beautiful, and when you are singing and dancing on stage, in front of hundreds of people you want to be seen as beautiful as you can be even if it is dangerous to your health.  A few aspects of being pretty, today, include being tan, having long, non frizzy hair, being skinny, having long eyelashes, and having white teeth. These are not all someone would look at but they are a few aspects that people can change about themselves.  

Changing your eye lash length is probably the least dangerous on that list, because it isn’t an actual change. Fake eye lashes are used in my show choir at almost every opportunity, even I use them.  They are not harmful to your health unless you somehow poke your eye or get glue in your eye.

Whitening your teeth isn't particularly dangerous either. There are a few ways to whiten your teeth, by brushing with whitening tooth paste, with mouthwash, with whitening strips, or, if you are one to go tanning, some places have special teeth whitening treatments.  Whitening your teeth also does close to nothing to your health. I have heard that it can sometimes wear down the enamel on your teeth but so does coffee.

Having long, non frizzy hair is also not dangerous to your personal health but the heath of your hair is at risk. Hair is an inherited trait, whether it is red or blond or brown, frizzy or silky smooth, straight or curly. There are many styling tools that use heat that can be unhealthy for your hair, and during show choir season you have to use at least one to get the perfect hair style. When your hair starts to get unhealthy it starts to get stringy and grungy looking. Most hair stylists suggest getting a hair cut ever four to six months to keep it in tip top shape.  Another way to style hair is with teasing, also known as back combing; this is how to get that signature show choir poof but it also very bad for your hair because you are literally just tangling it into itself.

Being skinny is not bad for you if you are just naturally thin. It is unhealthy if you are skipping meals, or making yourself throw up to be thinner. Although these are extreme cases there is a large pressure to look your best because so many people will be watching you. If you do want to lose weight you should do it the healthy way, with a clean diet and exercise, when you’re in show choir exercise isn’t hard to come by!

Tanning is the only thing on this list that can be extremely dangerous to your health. We have all heard stories about people getting skin cancer from tanning beds. Now I don’t want to sound hypocritical because I have been tanning in a bed before and I am planning to go soon, but I also want people to know that I am doing it the safe way, only going once a week, and not for any amount of time that would be enough to burn my skin. It wouldn’t be that hard to be tan if show choir season were in the summer, but it is in the dead of winter and that means no sun.