The Princess Complex
I have a hard time coming to terms with the fact that children’s education on sex starts at such a young age. Albeit it is not a formal education, but mainly a subliminal constant that creates perceptions on life for young people. Growing up with four sisters has given me a lot of insight as to how people change as they grow, but also what influences that change. I remember personally, the way my own thoughts changed as I watched this television program or listened to that kind of music that promoted the sexual body. Starting with simple Disney related television, we are taught the basic laws of attraction. Women are taught that if you are thin, fit, tall, and big breasted then you are sexy. Looking at every Disney princess, it is not hard to understand why every little girl wants to be one. They are all beautiful, sought after, and have these perfect little bodies that men lust after. It is that lust that is the most subliminal message that runs through the thoughts of young girls. Not one prince takes the time to fall in love with who each princess is, just the bodies that are paraded in front of them. This pushes the children, who are young and impressionable, into the belief that love is a magical thing that you fall into, not grow into. It pushes people to believe that love happens in a moment and is perfect, not the flawed and difficult struggle that it really is, work. Young men are taught that they have to be the hero, but not only do they need to be heroic; they need to attain status, wealth, and the physic of a god. That being a gentleman takes less precedent when saving the damsel in distress. When the youth of the world get out of the younger generation television, they most often struggle with the idea of popularity. The representations for popularity are very similar to the concept of what beauty is: to be popular, one must be attractive. The rule of the social norms is that one must try to become popular. As human beings it is a big ego boost to be well liked and improves our chances at getting the prince or princess due to the obvious status of our acceptability. The greatest result in the lack of perfection to become royalty is a low self esteem. This low self esteem leads to the fact that no one is happy enough with themselves, I refer to it as the princess complex.
People on a whole are bombarded almost every second of every day with some reference to sex. Our television shows are drenched in some form of it, whether it’s a reference, an inappropriate joke, a raunchy advertisement, or just a position the actor’s bodies fall into. Keeping our minds focused on sexual lust and desires, opens the pleasure releasing synapses and releases the pleasure hormones attaching the image with pleasure. It is infuriating that the music industry can’t seem to create a song with out references to sex either. Even if it’s a sweet composed love song, there is a tendency to promote sex into it, love of sex, love of the body, love of the person who sends you over the edge. Our comedy is focused on the sexual antics of our past that can be drenched in humor just because of sexual rejection. Sex is ever present in our daily lives, to the point where in the work place or out in public one must watch their behavior to remove the sexual being from the normal one. I believe that this constant promotion of sex is due to our addiction to it.
As addicts, there are two things we love, beautiful women, which are often displayed as an accessory, and the products they promote. Lusting for sex causes outlooks on certain items to be skewed, such as product being advertised, the human body, and the overall satisfaction a person can get out of life. The best example I know of it the Cadillac commercial, the sexy red head is driving a luxury car, racing guys, and the image is you aren’t acceptable as sexy unless you have this particular car, as far as women goes. Men would look at the commercial and see that if they had the car, women like her would stand in line to drive it, or just bask in the man’s position, which women, unbeknownst to them, weigh heavily in their minds. Every woman wants a top dog, a competitor, handsome, and courageous, which stems back to the princess complex.
My siblings taught me a great deal on self image, self confidence, and the difference between the two. Self image has to do with the way you see yourself, not how other people see you. The biggest hindrance to self esteem is a person’s self image; the person looking back in the mirror doesn’t always fit the “acceptable human being.” The numbers of people suffering due to their self images increase every year, resulting in the boom of the pharmaceutical market. These doctors just step right into line to pump society full of drugs, medications, and surgeries to make our bodies, those uncooperative reflections, meet every social standard for a price. Self confidence, on the other hand, is having the knowledge that you are unique and beautiful in your own right and having the courage to, let’s say, wear that little black dress that scares you to death. Being unsatisfied with our-selves, men and women alike, stems, as far as I believe, from the perception of beauty. The need to have that level of perfection, which no one but a model with an editor to fix her body can accomplish, breaks down our self image. That little piece of body tissue, called fat, can destroy someone’s life just because they have it. The presence of fat, shows the body and the mirror that a person is not a prince or princess. Fairytale royalty never ever has fat. This unrealistic vision causes young people to constantly turn anorexic and bulimic trying to keep up with the concept of beauty. In reality the only thing wrong with them is the flawed concept, the one that breaks their spirit.
With young people growing up with subliminal teachings winding through the very fabric of space and time, it is easy to see how the world has begun deteriorating right before our eyes. The most likely outcome, which we are seeing, is a great increase in depression. That depression leads to divides between the populous on a person to person level. The connections that were once there are now tainted with jealousy, hatred, and lust. One result could be the crime rate, which increases year after year as people try to be hood or gangster, or just to be accepted or popular. The technological fields aren’t helping people either, by creating the ‘I want it now’ effect. There is no lag time to get what one desires, besides money, and with enough of that you can literally own the world. This immediate world results in cravings for whatever is hip and cool, but never cheap and the need for this causes unlawful acts to become more and more common. Murder is not even looked at as horrifying to the general public, but rather as cool, in a gangster sort of way or as interesting, and is broadcasted as entertainment on shows such as CSI or Law and Order. I believe that the world has pushed itself too far into the black pit with out morality, and now that the damage is done, how can our cultures redeem themselves.
Sex, however, cannot be solely blamed for all of the problems facing society, humanity as a whole must be held accountable. It is my belief, on the other hand, that the constantly lowering standards of right and wrong, leads to most of these issues, including the one that revolves around sex. In retrospect, sex could be called the gateway addiction, the pathway to the moral degredation we face daily. Fairytale sex, or the princess complex, was the beginning, the only thought I have is, can and will we make it the end.
