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7 DEADLY SINS- ENVY

Posted by Dawn Sutherland (Phoenix, United States) on 1 September 2007 in Abstract & Conceptual.

Today's shot- Envy, I decided to focus on our young generation and how they never feel "good enough". My daughter is a beautiful girl but even she struggles with the idea that she isn't pretty enough, thin enough. (Give me a break) It is a shame that in today's world girls feel like they have to look like the airbrushed perfection that gets crammed down our throats in order to feel pretty. My daughter tells me, "I want to look like her" and my response is always the same "So would she". In today's media photos are so manipulated in order to remove every flaw, make you thinner, etc. Even movies are doctored! Then you have the young girls in their early teen years who are subjecting themselves to breast implants, nose jobs, liposuction, etc. because they think they need it. Everyone has flaws! No one is perfect! They are trying to live up to a lie, a false idea of what they think beautiful is.
Taken from Wikipedia:
Envy (Latin, invidia)
Main articles: Envy (jealousy, malice)
Like Greed, Envy is characterized by an insatiable desire. Those who commit the sin of Envy desire something that someone else has which they perceive themselves as lacking. Dante defined this as "love of one's own good perverted to a desire to deprive other men of theirs." In Dante's Purgatory, the punishment for the envious is to have their eyes sewn shut with wire, because they have gained sinful pleasure from seeing others brought low.

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Comments (14)

kairospix from Singapore, Singapore

hi Dawn! great concept shot you have there! the post-processing is really cool!
yeah - you are right about how many of the pretty shots are airbrushed to make them look perfectly pretty - it does distort the reality and makes young girls (and boys) to go only for the externals - it's a mighty temptation... so along comes Dove trying to undo all that and trying to help young girls to build on their inner self-esteem... i wonder if they are really doing this because they believe it or it's just another smart reverse psychology stuff to increase sales... anyway here are 2 youtube videos by Dove - one showing how models are airbrushed into perfect beauties and the other about their campaign for better self-esteem...
btw i mentioned about you in my p-blog today so when you can do drop by for a visit...
cheers!

1 Sep 2007 8:49am

@kairospix: Wow, thank you! I am honored to be mentioned on your blog. I was away for the weekend so I apologize for not visiting sooner. I watched that video you attached, I hope everyone watches that so that they understand even more what I mean. Perfect link, thanks for sharing!

Walt from Scarborough, Canada

I work with teenagers - and the pressure they're under is unbelievable. My daughter is only 4 - but I'm not looking forward to the teenage years and the pressure to conform that's coming...just working on building her foundations...

1 Sep 2007 11:45am

@Walt: I know, it's crazy! It is hard to watch your child struggle at such an early age. When I photograph her she likes what she sees but not when she looks in the mirror. I tell her every day how beautiful she is, hopefully she absorbs some of it. I am gonna have her watch that video that Kario put on here, maybe that will help her to understand what I have been telling her for years.

Rebecca from Leicester, United Kingdom

THANK YOU Dawn, for another most apt, most timely word that speaks to the heart of our times. And the picture is so fitting for this. Bravo, Dawn!

1 Sep 2007 2:28pm

@Rebecca: Thanks Rebecca!

tyan from Singapore, Singapore

wow,your daughter is very cooperative to pose for this pic!and yes,please help me tell her she IS beautiful!You are so right,hit right on the spot,abt this envy thing,looking at what others have and lament what we dont have...when i was teaching,you really do see the kids going out of the way to look,act,behave like people they envy,very sad but real!If only they know they are unique and that they can be loved just as they are...

1 Sep 2007 4:26pm

@tyan: I don't know why but this sin was hard for me because I see it everywhere, I wish people could just be happy in their own skin. There are things about me that I don't like but that's me. Some of the things I don't like about myself are what my husband loves most about me so why would I change them?

Lost Valley from Canada

You are so right and this really touched home for me today on several levels!! I have a young girl of 14 and she deals with the self-perception! Envy...a distructive sin. Thank-you for doing this series it is really reaching out to me and making me think twice and making me looking at those around me in a different light. Time for me to wake up!!

1 Sep 2007 5:39pm

@Lost Valley: Thank you, it is time for many to wake up and see things as they are. I for one have a weakness for men with big noses but when I tell those men I love their noses they think I am making fun of them or just trying to be kind. People like different things, that is why there are people of all different shapes and sizes. If we all looked the same the world would be boring!

Stunner from Kingston, Jamaica

Very fitting shot to your commentary Dawn, you hit the nail right on the head!

1 Sep 2007 10:51pm

@Stunner: Thank you Stunner!

bronzebilly u.k. from cardiff, United Kingdom

hey Dawn another great p.p result--luv your "so would she" answer to your daughter's "envious" statement--I'm going to try that one myself--if you've no objection of course;-))--billy

1 Sep 2007 11:27pm

@bronzebilly u.k.: It's true, there is a mag on shelves now that features a celebrity who we all know and they really did a "workup" on those photos. Even most celebrities don't really look like they look on their pictorals. There are some people who are just blessed but the majority of us are not including most celebrities!

Olaide from Fort Collins, United States

D... your image and narrative send forth a powerful message. Very thought provoking package.

2 Sep 2007 7:01am

@Olaide: Thank you O!

Shutterbug from Chennai, India

Dawn, your daughter's beauty... as is your picture. love the effect... looks like out of an old English morality play!

2 Sep 2007 10:44am

@Shutterbug: Thank you Shutterbug!

ChaCha from United States

LoL! You are right they do alot of work on Celebrities and when u flip thru the magazine u think thats how they really are when they are not....when i got into photography fully ...i lost respect for every image that I saw...cos i know what they did...like a few u mentioned.....how they decive some us ...Lovely Shot!

2 Sep 2007 8:18pm

@ChaCha: I agree, Photoshop has a place in photography so that if someone comes in with a huge embarrassing scar or a lazy eye, etc I would understand the "correction" however when you totally alter what someone really looks like so that you make them, shape them into your version of "beautiful" that crosses the line.

alla from Toronto, Canada

So true. Great series you have here.

5 Sep 2007 3:00pm

@alla: Thank you Alla

Dawn Sutherland from Phoenix, United States

Thank you to everyone who commented. I was away for the weekend, got some great shots, can't wait to share!!

5 Sep 2007 3:08pm

Viewfinder from Bradenton, United States

Dawn, am late in weighing in on this, but you have begun a very important series, and today's installment is absolutely "on the mark" in image and message. Thank you. And please tell your lovely daughter/model that she's contributing to an important work; you two make a great team.

5 Sep 2007 8:09pm

Alfredo J. Martiz J. from Tokyo, Japan

Your comment for this photo is nothing but the truth, until what point are we as humans going to let false idols to guide our life, we should learn to accept and love ourselves as we are!

14 Sep 2007 12:38am

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