This was an interesting conversation, but I wish it settled in more on what beauty is, and what we mean when we ask a husband to reaffirm his wife's beauty, or for beauty to be the "reducible term" for women. I feel like the conversation was vacillating between the physical "superficial" beauty of meeting cultural standards for physical attractiveness, and reaffirming that, and the beauty that comes from the ways in which we reflect God, who is beauty, and whether that belongs to man or woman in some particular way. Even the point about the "reducible defining term" for women being "beauty" is, I think, the reason so many women feel so bound up in trying to be beautiful. To live up to that standard of what we're "supposed" to be. But the conversation didn't really delve into the reality that some people simply are not physically beautiful, at least not at first glance, or due to deformity or not meeting society's standards, and those that fall into that category (or at least feel they do) have to grapple with this notion of "women as beauty," as do the people around them. It reminded me of a striking article that I read sometime ago and saved (linked at the end) because it reflects in a very raw way the ways that physical beauty can consume our sense of selves. There's so much to this conversation that I can't fit into a comment bubbles either, but I appreciated listening and looking forward to more content! Here's the article: https://thepointmag.com/examined-life/my-beautiful-friend/
I found this conversation so fascinating well balanced! As a convert from an evangelical Protestant background I had literally never questioned plastic surgery and med spa treatments until I read Emily’s original post. I know plenty of strong Christian women (including a few in my immediate family) who got breast implants or other lifts and tucks and no one ever gave it a second thought. After Emily’s post I asked some of my friends who grew up in a conservative Catholic family and was surprised by how strong their opinions on it were. I’m glad you decided to dig into it further and have a more in depth conversation-it gave me a lot to think about!
This was an interesting conversation, but I wish it settled in more on what beauty is, and what we mean when we ask a husband to reaffirm his wife's beauty, or for beauty to be the "reducible term" for women. I feel like the conversation was vacillating between the physical "superficial" beauty of meeting cultural standards for physical attractiveness, and reaffirming that, and the beauty that comes from the ways in which we reflect God, who is beauty, and whether that belongs to man or woman in some particular way. Even the point about the "reducible defining term" for women being "beauty" is, I think, the reason so many women feel so bound up in trying to be beautiful. To live up to that standard of what we're "supposed" to be. But the conversation didn't really delve into the reality that some people simply are not physically beautiful, at least not at first glance, or due to deformity or not meeting society's standards, and those that fall into that category (or at least feel they do) have to grapple with this notion of "women as beauty," as do the people around them. It reminded me of a striking article that I read sometime ago and saved (linked at the end) because it reflects in a very raw way the ways that physical beauty can consume our sense of selves. There's so much to this conversation that I can't fit into a comment bubbles either, but I appreciated listening and looking forward to more content! Here's the article: https://thepointmag.com/examined-life/my-beautiful-friend/
I haven’t listened to this yet (looking forward to it!), but I loved the article you shared!
I really enjoyed this podcast. Thank you very much for everything you all said!
I found this conversation so fascinating well balanced! As a convert from an evangelical Protestant background I had literally never questioned plastic surgery and med spa treatments until I read Emily’s original post. I know plenty of strong Christian women (including a few in my immediate family) who got breast implants or other lifts and tucks and no one ever gave it a second thought. After Emily’s post I asked some of my friends who grew up in a conservative Catholic family and was surprised by how strong their opinions on it were. I’m glad you decided to dig into it further and have a more in depth conversation-it gave me a lot to think about!