Beautiful Children

I have not really thought about it before. As a man, it is natural for me to look or want to look at beautiful girls. And because of this tendency of man to want to look at beautiful girls only, the effect has far reaching consequences on the girls. They will try their very best to be and look beautiful. And the situation was further aggravated by the media portraying what beauty should be like.

Now, being a father, I am affected by this situation even more. My eldest daughter Annabelle is 4.5 years old and my second daughter is going to be 3 years old this weekend. Seeing them growing up is a wonderful thing. However, even in their young tender age, they have unconsciously developed this mentality that it is important to be beautiful. The situation was further aggravated when they observed one of their aunties who love to wear make-up and put make-up on them. Then their mother bought for them make-up kits and they would be putting it by themselves. Yes, even at small age they already know where to apply the make-up by themselves.

After putting the make-up, they would come to me and ask me whether they are beautiful. I had to remind them that even without the make-up they are still beautiful. As a father beauty is not about make-up. It is about the personality of the children, about their uniqueness, about who they really are. No matter how they look like in their outward appearance, I would still love them. It is my responsibility now to teach them that inner beauty is much more important than outward appearance.

I find the campaign "Join Dove To Raise Self Esteem" as very important for all the girls to know. It is a timely effort as we do not want the situation to get worse. I really do not want my children to be exposed to the media’s bias portrayal of beauty as shown in this video.

Mothers, if you are reading this, please know that you are playing the most important part in assuring your children that they are beautiful no matter what their physical condition are. If they always see you trying to be beautiful outwardly, then they would also follow you in their thinking.

Love your children unconditionally.