Painting Ourselves Red by Paul Clonts

High expectations of attractiveness for women and men has troubled me for years. Living with the reality of these standards affects my self-esteem, body image and confidence and has hindered several aspects of my life. And I know I'm not alone in feeling these effects. There are countless times I have heard friends saying, “If I lost fifteen pounds I’d probably have a boyfriend” or “I wish my skin didn’t look this way, (so-and-so) has perfect skin.”

In my perfect world, everyone would be admired and respected for their natural bodies and physical appearance, without modification or cover-up. I personally know many individuals who obsess over having the ideal bronzed skin, flawless make-up, and a perfect body. I know a woman who has overcome skin cancer developed at a tanning salon. I lament her situation; both the reasoning behind her tanning as well as the devastating effects from synthetic UV rays on her health. 

I believe in being physically active in order to have a healthy body, but the amount of money and time spent on a picturesque body is money and time wasted. It saddens me that these expectations and unnecessary pressures stem from fashion, design, and entertainment industries that seem to control the masses’ self-image. I also mourn that generally, we have subscribed to these benchmarks of attractiveness. 

One day I watching the movie Alice in Wonderland, specifically the scene when the Queen’s servants are out painting the roses red, and I saw a fitting metaphor for this concept. The Queen only sees the color red as attractive and beautiful, while the natural color of the roses is white. I had an image in my mind of millions of people painting their faces the way "the Queen" (fashion, design, and entertainment industries) would want. I began writing a satirical song to express my thoughts.

So you want to know true beauty? 

You want to make this garden home?

Come with me 

I'll show you all you must do, 

And who you’ve got to be, 

You're ashamed of your petals of white, 

They're your curse from God, 

It's hard accepting yourself, 

When pale is wrong and red is right 

Chorus: 

She don't care who you are, 

You don't look the way you should, 

She has come to paint you red, 

She's painting all the roses red. 

There is something you should know, 

She will cover all your faults, 

So wear the mask of beauty, 

Let her paint cover your troubled soul. 

She'll paint you red when your confidence is fading in the wind, 

Paint you red when loneliness becomes your only loyal friend, 

If you think you're pretty, she'll still paint you red, she'll paint you red.

 A huge thank you to Paul for sharing his music with Love Force. If you want more of that husky, honeyed voice, you can find Paul's band South Paw here and here.