FeedShowSIMPLY NORMAL YOUTH

Date: Mon, 27 May 2013 04:55:08 +0200

Quote:

http://simplynormalyouth.blogspot.com/2008/10/ugly-is-new-beautiful.html

Text:

A very specific, very narrow definition of beauty has been incorporated into toy lines for some time now. From Barbie to Bratz, girls and boys both come to learn harmful societal values about body image and self-worth which stick with them into teenage years and beyond. But I am happy to announce that ugly is the new beautiful! Uglydolls, a line of stuffed toys, is a runaway success with an unlikely story.

David Horvath and Sun-Min Kim, both having an interest in toy design, met in a class at the New School for Design in New York City in 1997. Horvath was attracted to Sun-Min, but no sooner than Kim began to return his affection her visa expired and she had to return to Korea. Horvath was crushed, but clung to his two dreams of designing toys and reuniting with Sun-Min. David took his drawings to a major toy company, but was rejected and told that his characters would not translate into the toy medium.

Discouraged, Horvath wrote a letter to his beloved Sun-Min which included a drawing of an ugly

little orange creature named Wage. Sun-Min put her design skills to work sewing a plush version of Wage as a Christmas present for Horvath--an ugly doll created with love. Upon seeing the toy, the owner of the Giant Robot toy store where Horvath worked ordered 20 dolls which sold out immediately. Kim and Horvath eventually married and their Uglydolls took off and have received numerous toy design awards. The persistent success of these toys is due in part to the emotional chord struck in the many who seek a new definition of beauty.

Christians attest to a standard of beauty which is not simply based on physical beauty, but which is grounded in a beauty that originates

with God. True beauty is discerned only in the light of God's beauty. When we cling to a very narrow image of "beautiful"--like that which many toys are happy to define for us--we become numb to the true beauty of the people and things around us which lift our hearts to see the beauty of the Creator. The Old Testament writer Isaiah described a vision of the ugly, beautiful Christ who was to come:

Who believes what we've heard and seen? Who would have thought God's saving power would look like this?... There was nothing attractive about him, nothing to cause us to take a second look...But the fact is, it was our pains he carried— our disfigurements, all the things wrong with us... (Isaiah 53:1-5 The Message)

So the next time you wonder whether or not something is beautiful--think ugly! It may just serve to remind you that beauty rests in the eye of the Creator.

Sources: Media excerpts from Uglydolls About Us page

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