1. I actually sat down and watched “The Swan” on Fox last night. It’s a reality-TV show where two women are picked to go through the “extreme makeover” scenario - consultation, surgery, workout regime, counselling, etc. They are living away from family and friends for three months, with no mirror to show them their “progress”. At the end of their “transformation”, they are shown their new self. Then one of the two women are selected to compete for the the title of “The Swan”.

Okay, the ONLY thing I like about the show is the fact that the women are given counselling to deal with old and new issues (last night’s episode, one women was still grieving and bitter over a miscarriage and ten years of failed fertility treatment). BUT, this show is sending several false and horrible messages. The first is “The average-looking woman is not good enough”. The women on last night’s show weren’t ‘knock-outs’ (I can say that because I’m not a ‘knock-out’ either) before their transformations, but should we all have perfect teeth, legs and breasts? Wouldn’t that be dull? The second is “Life will be okay if you look perfect”. You’ll obviously find love, money, and most of all happiness if you get your boobs done and some jaw implants. It’s so absurd, but at the same time, if you think it’ll make you happy, then you likely won’t be happy without it. :( The third message it seems to send (to the contestants at least) is “You need outside validation”. Even after these women have done three months to make themselves new, they still have to compete in a pageant to earn the title of “The Swan”. And only one of the two women on the show even get the chance to compete.

It’s not enough to be hapy with yourself for who you are. You have to be ‘perfect’, but even then you are only as good as what the judges say, if you make it that far, and then life will be wonderful…

It makes my head hurt.

1. The year is 2004, almost 2005. Women in Newfoundland and Canada have the same rights as men. Why can’t we get paid the same if we are equally qualified? I always thought that pay scales were based on experience and education. Sure, there’s “wiggle room”for those that negotiate a better salary. But there are guidelines and limits, right? Apparently not!

That also makes my head hurt.

Oh, the state of the world.