The Reason Women Struggle with Body Image: The 2nd Lie about Womanhood

Why do women buy so many skin and hair products? Why is the women’s section in the convenience store three times bigger than the men’s? Why is there an obsession with a lady’s physical appearance?

What’s wrong with women that they need lipstick, eye shadow, arched eyebrows, longer lashes, silky straight hair, and glowing skin? Why can’t all hair textures, skin hues, and body types be celebrated? Why does it seem to be this narrow box women must fit to be considered attractive? What’s going on here?

Satan—that’s what’s going on—and this is his continuing war on women. All this attention to appearance is sending a message to women that say, "Something’s wrong with you." And so womanhood is fused with this second lie: "You’re not pretty enough."

She hears it as she waits to pay for her groceries at the convenience store; aisles filled with photo-shopped magazine covers of women exalted as the standard of beauty.

She compares herself and says, "I’m ugly. I’ll never look like that." Even if she does believe she’s attractive, she still thinks there’s major work to be done.

Even the most attractive woman in a room (what some would consider flawless) still feels that something is lacking. She’d be lying to herself if she really believed she was a "perfect ten." So, she’s insecure and requires constant praise from men and women to validate her beauty.

Most women struggle with body image because of the messages from the media. Are these messages true? Is the appearance of a woman, somehow, insufficient? Does the design of women need to be revised?

Of course not. But it’s tough getting most mainstream women to believe the truth. This article will attempt to enlighten the women of God about what they naturally have, how Satan wants to take it away, but how to reclaim their natural beauty.

The truth

The fact is: beauty is a natural part of a woman. In her natural state, aside from any makeup, revision, touch-up, or alteration, she is still beautiful; this is a biblical fact. Both, men and women, were wonderfully created in God’s image (Genesis 1:27); and the Psalmist said:

I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully [beautifully] made: marvellous are thy works... (Psalms 139:14)

All a person has to do is attend any formal gathering and see the women aside the men to recognize the prominence of their beauty; women are simply more attractive.

Sure, most men have a preference, and as they say, "beauty is in the eye of the beholder," but this doesn’t take away from the fact that women are beautiful.

A woman’s natural design is so attractive that it once caught the eyes of the angels of Heaven who abandoned their service to God, descended to earth, married, and started families with them; and this is all before cosmetics, skin lightening, plastic surgery, and weaves (Genesis 6:1-2). Although, according to the book of Enoch, they later taught women cosmetology to spite God.

So, if a group of angelic beings found natural earthly women (with no makeup) so beautiful that they lost everything to be with them, how did it become a thing for women to be insecure and question their own beauty?

Satan is envious of the beauty of women. The Bible says that Lucifer is also beautiful as he remains to this day (Ezekiel 28:12). But every time he sees a woman, it reflects the beauty of God, and it outshines his own.

Just like envious people today will attempt to make the talented, the gifted, and the beautiful feel as though they’re not, so much so does Satan.

So Satan, through the media, has convinced women that they lack the very thing they already have. Or he tells them that it’s just not good enough. If you struggle with your body image as a woman, it’s because of Satan.

The goals of Satan

His lies cause several problems, many of which, Saints need to repent of. Naturally, it saddens the Creator to see his women viewing their facial features, skin color, hair texture, and body shape as if it was faulty.

On top of that, many women have bought one of Satan’s other lies which states that they can’t control their emotions. So with both of these deceptions at work, the devil has completely turned women against their own bodies as they unknowingly declare that God made a mistake when making them.

Homeliness

Some women have bought the lie that they’re completely ugly. They’ve lost all hope to attract a husband. What she believes has begun to manifest in the physical. She now dresses and acts in ways that make her inconspicuous to men, or in some extreme cases, repelling.

Depression can also accompany this mindset. Misery loves company, and even in her now ugly state, they’ll be men who pursue her, but for all the wrong reasons. Vultures are looking to sexually take advantage of downtrodden and depressed women. It’s not safe for women to believe they’re ugly.

Hallucination

This means you might be seeing something that is not there; things others can’t see either. There are thousands of women that think their butts are too fat, their stomachs need a trim, or one breast is slightly larger than the other, but it’s all in their heads.

If you ask their husbands or boyfriends what they think, they’ll say there’s nothing to it. Even if there’s really a case, no one’s upset about it accept her; and it’s certainly not a deal breaker for the men.

I’m not saying ladies should be careless about extra weight or lumps that could be signaling serious trouble.

The point is: most of this nonsense is the result of Satan’s deception and his narrow template he forces women to fit in. Subconsciously, that woman has a picture of another woman’s butt or stomach, or evenly sized boob in her mind (from some commercial or magazine) and thinks her’s are supposed to match; but God didn’t make her butt, breast, or belly that way. Every woman is unique.

The remedy for this is to stop looking at barely clothed images of other women. If married men shouldn’t be viewing naked girls, neither should their wives.

Insecurity and envy

Many women are insecure because of the lies of Satan. Insecurity often leads to envy. Envy can be seen when a woman often has negative things to say when a beautiful woman is on display. Whether it’s a magazine cover or TV commercial, she’ll say stuff like, "Her hair’s fake, or those are implants, or she had surgery," or mention some other flaw.

Whether true or false, her motivations are rooted in the sin of envy. This kind of behavior is often done in front of husbands or boyfriends to deter them from looking at these other women. But all it does is highlight them even more. And most men will still admire the beauty of another woman regardless if her parts are fake.

A healthy woman doesn’t tear down others to feel secure, nor does she make self-comparisons knowing that all women are different and beautiful in their own way. She rests confidently in the beauty God gave her while appreciating the beauty of others.

Vanity Fair

Some women fit the narrow template Satan has created as a standard of beauty, and it’s gone to their heads. They think of themselves as goddesses; often demeaning "ugly" girls in their path. But they can be envious too if their spotlight is redirected to someone of equal or greater beauty.

These women are vain and pay too much attention to their outside appearance rather than their moral character and relationship with God. These women will also attract "vain men" who are only interested in her appearance rather than her soul. Together, their relationship is built on vanity and may not last.

Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the LORD, she shall be praised. (Proverbs 31:30)

Never ending cosmetic cycle

The cosmetic industry and ever changing beauty standards put women on a hamster wheel always trying and buying new products to maintain their beauty; she feels attractive when her face is painted and ugly when it’s not.

The fashion trends can even destroy natural beauty making ladies resemble clowns, harlots, and transvestites. The truth is, most men don’t even care about this stuff, and these fashion statements are mere competitions between girls to see who can stand out and get the most attention.

Many of these beauty trends are entirely unnecessary. What man has ever said, "She’s fine, but if only her eyelashes were longer..." No man desires bigger eyelashes and colored hair, especially on our melanated sisters.

Profits at the expense of health

With the cosmetic industry making over $56 billion a year (in the U.S. alone), merchants continue to capitalize off this deception about beauty. According to StatisticBrain, the top market is skincare, followed by hair care and makeup. It seems that everyone is obsessed with flawless skin.

While it’s natural for women to want healthy skin, maybe the products themselves are causing their skin to age quicker and break out; and I believe that’s exactly what’s happening.

The cosmetic industry is not regulated; this means makeup and personal care products could be potentially dangerous. Ask any acne sufferer how many products they tried to no avail. Rather than fix the problem, these companies create "solutions" that keep customers paying month after month.

Combating the lies

Now that we’ve exposed the lies of the enemy and the damage being done to women’s minds, how do we begin to reverse the process? The following is what the Saints can do:

1. Confess and repent of your sins

Acknowledge that these deceptions have caused you to sin against God and your own body. Next, repent by learning to embrace your natural skin and hair texture. When you do this, you bring glory to God and agree with him that what he made is good.

2. Ignore the media

Don’t entertain cosmetic commercials, magazines, and blogs that don’t exclusively feature women that celebrate your body type and skin tone. We live in a Eurocentric society where slim white women are the standard. Ingesting images like that won’t help you accept your unique body image.

3. Use healthy cosmetics

The cosmetic industry doesn’t care much for your health; this is why it’s important to research what you put on your body. Educate yourself and don’t fall for the clever marketing of these harmful products.

4. Be modest with makeup

If you have a skin disorder, masking is not a sin. If you don’t have a skin issue, and you’re using makeup to highlight your features, but without it, you look like another person, this is a form of deception.

5. Eat natural foods

Studies have shown that processed foods are responsible for acne, obesity, and many other health conditions. The move toward an organic-based whole food diet is the solution.

6. Meditate on God’s word

The Bible can cleanse your mind from the lies of the enemy and transform your body and soul. It starts with daily meditation.

7. Trust in God for healing

Skin disorders like acne can be healed. God says in Jeremiah 32:27, "Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh: is there anything too hard for me?"

8. Men must be supportive

Fathers, brothers, and husbands need to compliment their sisters, wives, and daughters. They must never refer to them as ugly.

9. Focus on inner beauty

The Bible says:

³ Do not let your adorning be external—the braiding of hair and the putting on of gold jewelry, or the clothing you wear— ⁴ but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God’s sight is very precious. (1 Peter 3:3-4)

What God is saying is that your soul is more important than your outward appearance, and a true mark of a beautiful woman is a meek and quiet spirit.