Pretty Girl (a parable)
It seems like I say ‘vanity (and/or status beliefs) makes people stupid’ a lot these days. But this message doesn’t seem to be registering so well in the social media age; the age of ‘self-worship’…
So I’ma put it in a parable real quick.
I’m gonna call this one “Pretty Girl”.
There was this girl from a small town in the Midwest. By all accounts, she was a beautiful young lady. Let’s name her Brenda…
Brenda’s slim-thick, 5'4", with curly hair, dimples, clear complexion, etc, etc…
…absolutely the baddest female on her block, and everybody knew it…
The problem is, Brenda knew it too. Her aesthetic value became the sole basis of her identity. Everything she thought about and did revolved around literal and figuative mirrors…
All of Brenda’s friends were marginally cute girls, who fancied themselves her peers. She treated them like they treated everybody else, and that was with disdain and dismissively, as they operated from an air of elitism.
So one day this new girl moves to town from Florida…
This girl is absolutely amazing, okay… She’s 5'9", slim-thick, but athletic, long curly locs, perfect complexion, truly a gorgeous individual…
Brenda felt INSTANTLY threatened.
So the very first thing Brenda did was try to recruit the new girl (let’s call her Mira) to join her crew of flunkies. Mira rejects Brenda’s invitation, as she states she has other interests she’s pursuing.
Brenda gets pissed. Brenda goes to her friends, like: “That bitch think she’s better than me!” and then proceeds to start this campaign to turn the entire town against Mira.
Mira doesn’t even realize Brenda’s on some extra shit. She’s too busy doing her own thing…
So Brenda starts this massive conspiracy, and plots against a woman who isn’t even paying attention to her.
One day Brenda approaches Mira, like: “The problem is that you think you’re better than everybody!”
Mira’s like: “Wait, WHAT? I genuinely have no idea of what you’re talking about. Maybe you’re thinking of somebody else?”
Brenda says: “You know what? I challenge you to a beauty contest!”
Mira’s like: “Ooh! My mom has been trying to get me enter one of those. They’re holding one down in Florida in a few weeks. You wanna try with me?”
Brenda’s like: “Whatever bitch. I’ma blow you and the rest of those dusty bitches out the water…”
Mira says: “Okay, cool! I’ll see you there…”
A few weeks pass, and the ladies both make their way down to FLA. Brenda brings all her flunkies and all the little boys chasing after her down there to cheer her on. With them cheering for her in the crowd, she believes she can sway the judges to vote in her favor ahead of Mira.
On the day of the contest though, Brenda enters the room with the other contestants. ALL of them are 5'8" and above. Everybody’s slim-thick and athletic, with beautiful skin, eyes and hair. These women had faces and bodies like Brenda had never seen before…
Just then, Mira approaches Brenda like: “Hey! You made it!! Come here real quick, I want you to meet somebody! This is the winner from last year, my sister Tess.”
And before Brenda stood the most amazing specimen of a human woman Brenda had ever seen.
And before Brenda even had a chance to say anything, Mira was like: “Yeah, I know… you don’t even have to tell me. I already know I’m the ugly sister. But my mom wanted to see us on the same stage together, because she really wants me to develop a positive self-image, even though I’m not really interested in beauty pageants, as I’m thoroughly enveloped in finishing pattent research for my inventions.”
And all of sudden, Brenda looked in the mirror right beside them and saw this frumpy, short, cellulite-riddled body. She saw cheekbones that weren’t high enough, and eyes that sat too low.
In that moment she saw the true difference between herself and Mira. In that moment, her entire identity came crashing down in front of her. How could she go on stage next to these goddesses, knowing full well she was just a mortal?
________
Because that’s what the fuck vanity does to you. That’s what self worship and surrounding yourself with voices that tell you you’re superior to others DOES to you…
Brenda’s own vanity brought her to needless suffering on several occasions. Her desire to feel superior to Mira caused her to envy, conspire with and poison others, cheat and even travel to a distant location to compete against this person she randomly chose to defeat in some ideological contest she totally fabricated in her in her mind.
What’s worse though is that this parable illuminates a much bigger issue humanity has to face with respect to their own vanity. That issue is: “Just because you think you’re big shit in your hood right now doesn’t mean you’re fit for universal competition. Just because you’re used to lording it over the locals doesn’t mean you’re fit to run with legit opposition.”
And see, if you don’t go around assuming you’re superior to others and treating them like they’re inferior to you, then you don’t run the risks of challenging the wrong people, or breaking yourself because the mirror reflects your limitations back to you far too accurately…
Brenda created her own suffering by being a narcissistic shitbag. If she was just content and grateful to be beautiful, she would honor and take care of herself, instead of seeking to weaponize her beauty against those she perceives herself to be superior to.