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Well, when I was thinking it through and arriving at these observations, it did, of course, seem as if it might be depressing to see myself and the world in those terms. But it's just depressing from the romantic point of view that we can be the masters of our destiny and that there is such a thing as an "individual." We also like to think of ourselves as empowered. So what I decided was that just because we have a need to think and feel a certain way is no reason to deny things we may observe.
I also see that denial is one of the defining traits of the humans I have observed - including myself, of course.
But anyway I decided not to indulge my need to feel a certain way.
...and that has made all the difference.
Now, I can just look at things and say what I see - especially in myself.
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So to be direct as regards questions in the OP:
"What can be done to change the (IMHO dangerous) trend toward unattainable and unrealistic standards of beauty? I realize that some things are evolutionarily hard-wired, but most of our standards are socially constructed. How do we deconstruct them and rebuild them in a positive way?"
- nothing can be done about culturally enforced standards of anything, including deconstructing them.
Therefore, as I see it, it becomes crucial that we keep these things in the forefront of our consciousness. And that's what to do about things. Nothing changes.
I try to keep that in mind at all times...
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create evolution
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