We know from the New Testament 1 Peter 3:3-4 that “Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as elaborate hairstyles and the wearing of gold jewelry or fine clothes. Rather, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight.”
Femininity has taken many forms as the ideals of beauty have changed across cultures and generations. From the floor-length locks of Heian Japan to the hourglass ideal pursued by Edwardian women, the idea of “beauty” has had many different physical connotations and yet at the same time our definitions of inner beauty have stayed largely the same. [1]
Across many cultures, a respectful, virtuous, faithful, honest, and chaste woman like the one described in 1 Peter 3:3-4 has remained the ideal of inner beauty.
Unfortunately, many of our current American celebrities do not reflect this ideal of inner beauty. Nonetheless, it should not be surprising for Christians, after all, 2 Timothy 3:2-5 says that before Christ’s return, “People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— having a form of godliness but denying its power.”
While it has become all too easy to criticize celebrities who find themselves under the harsh glare of the limelight, some, like Kim Kardashian have invited that criticism by capitalizing on their moral failures (specifically, one especially infamous sex tape) to achieve their fame. [2]
The whole Kardashian clan is known for flaunting beautiful looks and ugly personal lives on reality television. While it is true that this kind of behavior is largely an act put on for the cameras, it is also highly narcissistic and hardly portrays values that ought to be emulated.
This narcissism became particularly clear after Kim Kardashian insisted on wearing Marilyn Monroe’s iconic “Happy Birthday, Mr. President” dress, which is an irreplaceable historical artifact and the most expensive dress in the world, to the Met Gala.
Despite being advised by the Smithsonian against wearing the dress—which had to be sewn on to the much-smaller-framed Marilyn Monroe, is made of irreplaceable souffle silk, and is decorated with thousands of delicate rhinestones—Kardashian demanded that she be allowed to wear the gown on the red carpet.
Unsurprisingly, the fabric was torn, rhinestones were lost, and the shape of the dress was warped by forcing the dress on to Kim’s body. [3]
As “beautiful” as Kim may have looked while wearing it, her narcissism was nothing but ugly. Marilyn herself was no paragon of virtue, but one cannot deny that, good or bad, she made a lasting impact on the world and that history ought to have been preserved.
Perhaps women like Kim Kardashian ought to take a timeless lesson from the scriptures: it does not matter how beautiful one is on the outside, if their character is ugly on the inside.
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