Celebrities prove, again and again, why appearance is overrated

This week, I’ve been following the two celebrity gossip stories that have sweeped the nation: Anna Nicole and Britney.  And both of them prove that the pressure to be beautiful in America is enough to kill you…or at least make you go nuts.

One report about Anna Nicole discusses her as a woman who never stopped being obsessed with her weight.  Everyone knew that she promoted a weight-loss pill, and we watched her yo-yo from being skinny to plus size more than once.  Even when she landed a job as a plus size model, she didn’t seem happy with her extra weight.  Even when she died, this reporter says, she had a fridge full of methadone and Slim Fast.  They seem sadly connected, the diet tool and the painkiller. 

Britney’s been making headlines with another one of her bald spots recently, but the bald head seems over the top.  In her blog, Rosie says:

brittney shaved her hair
out out damn spot

in the movie in my mind
she says yes
help me
and i do
somehow
we both connect - get through
she is saved

somehow so am i

the bottom for a celebrity
has too much cushion
money buys detachment
no responsibility

many moms -
of kids in ur sons class
want to shave their hair off
and get a tattoo

they dont because they cant
noone is there 2 watch the kids
what would the neighbors say

plus
the pta meeting
would be humiliating
on many levels

This seems so appropriate to me, the acknowledgement that we all feel this pressure to be beautiful, but that most of us can’t afford such an extreme reaction.  And with Britney, like Anna Nicole, there seems to be some kind of drug abuse involved.  Why is it that we (Americans) are so hard on ourselves, and on each other?  How have we created a society where looks mean so much, and people regularly have surgery to suck out fat, and very few of us are really, truly happy with ourselves?