Mad About Christina Hendricks… Or Just Plain Mad?

Do you love the AMC show, “Mad Men?”

I do. Over the past few years, it seems to have become a phenomenon; popular culture has embraced the retro nostalgia of the 1960’s Madison Avenue advertising scene. And Christina Hendricks, the actress portraying the character of secretary, Joan Holloway, has struck a va-va-va-voom nerve with us.

It’s understandable. Ms. Hendricks is a stunning woman with quite an impressive bust line, so much so, according to a recent article, her décolletage has created a craze of breast implants in the United Kingdom to look just like her busty figure. Here we go again. It’s not the first time imitation has popped up; it won’t be the last. And, while I appreciate the fact that this culture embraces her beauty and “real woman’s body,” the breast implant response to that influential beauty power still targets a larger issue. No, she’s not rail thing, “heroin chic.” And yes, her figure is naturally occurring. But instead of simply celebrating that and getting on with our own figure shapes and lives, it appears we are only capable of comparing, coveting and trying to find ways to conform our body shapes to her shape.

We believe if we “just looked like her,” somehow, then our problems will be solved. Our lives will be complete. Nope. It’s doesn’t happen like that. It’s part of our human nature, I suppose, to want to emulate what we see, especially if it appears to be beautiful. I have done it repeatedly in my life. For instance, when I was thirteen, both influenced by the gorgeous Rita Hayworth and one of my strawberry blonde girlfriends, I decided to dye my hair red.

Please keep in mind, I have dark brown hair and olive skin. I certainly didn’t keep that bit of information in mind as I picked up a shade of red hair color at my local drugstore. And not just a subtle red hair color either. What was the descriptive name of my chosen red? “Red copper penny.” Go get a penny and look at it. Now, imagine that on my head. Yeah. Now, I’m not against coloring one’s hair. I just bought into the lie that it would transform me into instantly Rita Hayworth glamorous and beautiful, with a perfect life. However, I soon discovered I was still sentenced to being my thirteen year old self, only now, with the red copper penny dyed hair against my olive skin, I looked jaundiced. Wonderful. Adventures in hair color mistakes. But I got off relatively easy. After all, hair grows out and, even though I spent years going through bad roots and trying to color my hair back into the vicinity of my original shade, it still didn’t alter my body shape. I’m not going to get into the plastic surgery debate. People do things for all kinds of reasons. And cosmetic surgery can do wonders for things like cleft palates and deviated septums, as well as for reconstructive surgery, due to illness and injury. But, we’ve all heard about the horror stories of breast implants gone wrong. It can happen. And is it really wise and healthy to alter our bodies, based on the latest pop culture trending show’s actress? Ms. Hendricks is beautiful and probably gives off that same glamorous vibe that Rita Hayworth does. But to view her as “it,” while simultaneously bashing our own bodies as unacceptable unless and until we look “just like her” is harmful. What about the damage that has been done to our psyches? While Christina Hendricks is beautiful in a timeless way, eventually, pop culture’s emphasis will shift from this “Mad Men” retro style to something else. Who knows? We may even go back to a “retro” kind of “heroin chic” again. The swinging from one constantly moving target body beautiful du jour to the next has us spending all of our energy, resources, money and selves into becoming “like someone else” at the expense of living our lives, learning to be and learning to accept ourselves. And look at what even Ms. Hendricks has to say about this latest breast implant trend: “I hope I’m not encouraging that. If there’s anything to be learned from me, it’s that I’m learning to celebrate what I was born with.” Well said and amen to that! If you and I are going to get mad for anything in life, let’s get mad about being who God created us to be! As is, right now! “…I am fearfully and wonderfully made…” Psalm 139:14 Copyright © 2012 by Sheryle Cruse