Beauty can be a beast

Today I finished my second week of homework for Esther: It’s Tough Being A Woman, and the study is every bit as wonderful as y’all told me it would be. I’m seeing something new in the book of Esther every single day (thanks to Beth), and I just LOVE THAT.
A couple of days ago our lesson focused on the “beauty treatments” that Esther and all the other girls had to endure. Beth pointed out that as beautiful as the girls were, they still had to “complete twelve months of beauty treatments…six months with oil of myrrh and six with perfumes and cosmetics” (2:12b).
That’s a pretty strong message, isn’t it? It’s essentially like Xerxes’ men said, “Well, we recognize that you’re the most beautiful girls in the entire land, but you’re still not enough. Maybe in twelve months – after we subject you to no telling what in the name of beauty – you’ll be ready to be presented to the king.” I mean, I don’t know about y’all, but if somebody told me that it was going to take twelve months to even make me presentable, I might feel a smidge discouraged.
But you know what? Esther’s generation was neither the first nor the last to be subjected to that standard. Our culture essentially does the same thing to our girls. I saw a story last week about a beautiful 20-something who had ten plastic surgery procedures done in one day. TV and movies are CHOCK FULL of images that create completely distorted expectations where beauty is concerned. Pick up a magazine in the checkout line, and odds are that you’ll see someone who has been nipped, tucked, lifted, enhanced, plumped or injected within an inch of his or her life.
Don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying that there’s anything wrong with wanting to look your best. I’m just saying that if we think chasing after an unattainable standard is going to make us happy, we’re totally fooling ourselves.
So I’m wondering: if you’re a mother or a grandmother to girls, how do you help your girls handle the beauty-related pressures of our culture? Is it as difficult as it seems like it must be? Because as the mama of a boy, I think all the time that parenting a girl in this day and age must bring with it a completely different set of challenges.
Can’t wait to hear your wisdom and insight!