In Chase of Perfection

In Chase of Perfection


Jessica Vasil

So I've read an article today (http://www.danoah.com/2010/09/disease-called-perfection.html), and heard a song called Deadly Beauty by Falk (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v8IHwai118s) and it really got me thinking....

How many people in my life have struggled with these issues? Body image? Eating Disorders? Self mutilation? Suicidal thoughts? Over all feelings of worthlessness? Stress that is so bad it manifests itself to physical ailments? Sexual Assault? And am I a person they feel they could talk to about it?

I sat down today to focus on school, but I could not shake some of the thoughts I had. How many times have I been a part of a group talking about the ‘skanky’ girls at the party last night? Or stayed silent while good men around me throw around phrases like ‘the ho I’ve been bangin on the side’?

Everyone talks about how they wished they lived in a society where people were more open and honest-it would lead to discussions that would help people overcome these 'obstacles'. Yet no one is talking. Why is it that talking about one of the above mentioned topics is still so taboo? I'm not blameless; I wouldn't even know how to start a conversation like that with someone in my family. My family is amazing, I'm very close with them, but those are issues that just aren't discussed. No one had to pull me aside and tell me not to talk about them. It's just understood. No one wants to talk about something so controversial and uncomfortable around the dinner table or at a family party. Keep it light and simple.

No one wants to be labeled. I think that's part of the struggle. I've done some volunteering for both SAAVI (Sexual Assault and Anti-Violence Information) and CAPSA (Community Abuse Prevention Services Agency), and am passionate about both causes, yet the amount of judgments and stereotypes I have encountered in this field is unbelievable.

I googled perfection, and here are some of the images I found on page one.
So how do we break through these walls of society? I wish I had an answer. It's easy to blame the media-which doesn't help the issue, and probably holds part of the blame. But that's not the whole picture.

I feel like our generation should take the lead. We need to sit down with our sons and daughters at a very young age and talk about these issues until they are no longer uncomfortable.

On a university level, we need to continue to have discussions like the one we had at my school, Utah State University, last semester when Reed Cowan visited us. He showed his documentary “8:The Mormon Propostition,” and led a very emotional and frank discussion about his film and personal experiences being a homosexual man.

How do we reach children in high school where being cool is so important? What about the children even younger than them? My cousin teaches school in the inner city of Chicago, and she has girls in eighth grade getting pregnant. EIGTHTH GRADE! What isn’t this making news? Why aren’t we as a nation more outraged at the deaths of Todd Ransom, David Standley, and Tim Tiley who all commited suicide?

I could rant on and on about the under covered tragedies that should have gotten more coverage. The question still presses, how do we change this?

My contribution is this-I challenge myself to be the type of person who someone could talk to. I work at CAPSA on the mobile crisis unit-I am the first person from CAPSA to meet with victims of domestic violence and sexual assault. I present them with their options, and let them choose what they would like to do next.

I challenge myself to pay closer attention to the words I use, and what affect they have on the people around me.

I challenge myself to speak up in groups when I disagree with the words used and the topics discussed.

This is not to say I’ve suddenly become a different person and will never say a mean thing about another. It does mean I have made a commitment to myself to do so less and less. Who is willing to join me?