I feel sorry for Jennifer Aniston. Have you any idea how often she whines that she's not Mary DeMuth? Poor girl. She never will be, either.

Your post made me smile with recognition. Is is required that we all do a Jennifer Aniston post sometime in our blogging career? Mine was last November.
http://rachellegardner.blogspot.com/2006/11/heres-skinny.html

As I was surfing links tonight, it was nice to run into this blog :-)

And such a timely topic, too! Do you suppose that we women think more about external beauty during the summer months? When the world's version of fashion gets shorter and skimpier?

The other night I was bemoaning the thought of having summer here and having to wear shorts again. My forty something legs look like a map of downtown Chicago with varicose veins running this way and that way *sigh* And God gently reminded me once again what His idea of beauty is as I read the devotional that night which was titled "God's Beauty Treatment" with the verse from Proverbs 31:30 - "Charm is deceitful and beauty is passing, but a woman who fears the LORD, she shall be praised." The devotional talked not only of the well-known Proverbs woman but also used the verses from I Peter 3:3-5 about inner beauty. The final paragraph said, "It's not the makeup on her face, but the make-up of her heart that makes her beautiful. We can't all be fashion models, but we can all be fashioned by grace as models of our Lord Jesus Christ" (by David Jeremiah)

Only God can judge the hearts of all those women with make-up on their faces in People magazine. I don't need to worry about them......I just need to work on having a heart fashioned by Him! :-)

Be encouraged! (and sorry about the ramble....it's just that you hit a topic on my own heart!)

Blessings,
Tammy ~@~

P.S. I'm sending the link of Moms Jeans to my older kids - it's really gonna make them LOL!

Oh my gosh, Mary! Get rid of that d*mn bikini. At our age, it's nothing more than a mental torture device.

It's like keeping around a picture of an old boyfriend or something.

Let it go, my friend. Let. It. Go.

Your timing (and the way God uses you!) is always amazing. I turn 40 in a few short weeks and struggle with many of the same thoughts you do. Having you give a voice to those thoughts is freeing-knowing that I am not alone with this stuff is encouraging. Thanks Mary!

I am just a few months younger than Jennifer Aniston and I guess I had forgotten that. I tend to think about other celebrities who are my age: Catherine Zeta-Jones and Renee Zellweger, both of whom are also beautiful and talented. And yes, I do lament my body's changes as I age--silvery hair being one of them!

I just figure that I am blessed not to have paparazzi stalking me in the wilds of North Dakota. That's got to be worth a lot.

I appreciate your comments here, Mary. You are a blessing and more relevant and relateable than Jennifer Aniston will ever be.

Well, all I can say is this post really hit home this morning. It's very hard to move about in a world where even if we say we don't care about the media images we see, it's impossible to deny the way those images make us feel. And it's not just the Jennifer's, is it? It's the ones who choose to dress immodestly around us too. I'm not against bikinis and shorts, etc., etc. But you KNOW what I mean. :)

You are beautiful by the way.

This post could be about me, too. I hit the big 4-0 a few months ago. I've never had a problem with any of the "big" birthdays (20, 30) until this time. And seeing these women in magazines, on TV, and in the newspaper constantly does little for this mom's self-esteem.

Thank you for this great post. I'll be back to visit it again...the next time I look in the mirror and try to be thankful that I look like this because God made me this way!

Went swimsuit shopping today. Blogged about it, of course. Just one more confirmation that, if it makes you feel any better, I'm not Jennifer Aniston either.

Ah, Mary. You look great. Thinking right now about how you looked in that pretty pink dress you wore for the Christy's and the banquet at ACFW last year.

You know, as gorgeous as you are on the outside (believe your husband, he's right), it's your inside that always draws me to you.

But--I struggle with this, too. I used to look pretty hot in my suit. I still remember my favorite turquoise one. Turned some heads in that . . . these days heads still turn, but away, LOL. I just try to find pools where I don't know anyone except my kids. :o)

Mary, at 44 (just last week) I don't understand why I can't be what I once was. I too was considered "too skinny" and yet at the time I thought I was fat. Body image is a formidable demon for many of us. If you were serious about your nose ring, then I'm serious about my tattoo! The one I got this past November. I guess it's time for me to blog about it... I promise I will very soon. Thanks for saying out loud what so many of us think in whispers.

Wow. Hit a nerve with this one. At least I know I'm not alone.

Lisa, I wear a bikini because I'm rebellious. When I worked at a summer camp, I couldn't wear one because it was evil. So now you know my true motive behind it! (Please don't throw stones, y'all! By bikini standards, it's a modest one).

First of all - you are gorgeous. And to be honest with you -- all women (including myself) struggle with not having the figure we had with 25 or 35...and the fine lines under our eyes - well they bug some days...
Yes, Jennifer is beautiful, but so are we. And I am sure that Jennifer has more time on her hand to go to every spa to keep this look. Well, we moms don't...
Thanks for sharing from your heart :)

Mmhmm. I'm thinking of throwing away my mirror so that I'll stop staring at the newest cottage cheese and playing pendulum with the flab. And I discovered eye wrinkles this weekend. I'm too young for eye wrinkles (although can I note that when my hubby's eyes crinkle when he smiles, it's the sexiest thing in the world). So I'm throwing away my mirror so that I can better hear chris when he tells me I'm beautiful.
Maybe I'll go running first. And then some Pilates. Then I'll throw it away.

Okay, the video was hilarious!

As I rummaged through my closet looking for something to wear, I, too, lamented over the fact that things don't fit the same anymore. But man, just reading the responses to your post reminds me of how Satan wants to rob our joy and will use anything to do it! Guess we need to put on some armor over those bikinis!

Allow me to interject with a male's point of view.

First the bad news: Although,it is grossly unfair to women of this technological age, the reality is that men are by nature visually stimulated. Thus the scale has been thrown out of wack by the abundance of media outlets. The few examples of natural physical perfection (loosely used) are plastered all around us to the extent that it becomes perceived normality.

This prevalence is artificial and causes a host of problems. This prevalence was not meant to be. Without technology, most men would be limited to the bareness of their wives only, resulting in not just an acceptance, but a preference for their wife's look and body type.

The good news: This is what usually happens anyway. With the exception of the guys who are addicted to porn or constantly haggle their wife for cosmetic surgery. ( Avoid these men like the plague.)

Tip from a guy: plastic surgery will only delay your husband's dissatisfaction with you, not cure it. He should be dumped. I consider it marital unfaithfulness.

Believe it or not, most men actually believe that their wife is beautiful - be she jennifer or not. A man's idea of beauty changes as he ages. At first only Jennifer or Sandra Bullock will do. But then men develope an attraction to types.

For example: I don't get the supermodel status of Heidi Klume or the appeal of Paris Hilton. They're not ugly, but I could throw a stick in a J.C. Penny and hit someone better looking than them.

So be of good cheer - If your husband says your beautiful, then you are to him. Who cares what a stranger thinks? ( I know, we all have egos, so we do care a little.)

By the way, Jennifer's (hers, not mine) eyes crinkle when she smiles, too. You just don't have a professional airbrusher that follows you around.

A friend of mine took an up close picture of us with her camera (self-portrait style) and then emailed me the airbrushed version because she was playing around with her new software. NOT having those wrinkles make a huge difference. We didn't look like Supermodels, but we looked pretty good!

So many amazing comments, folks. Thanks for all your feedback, especially from a male perspective.

Here's the solution: a fast.

Can we fast from media? Is it possible? I bet we'll see a giant rise in our contentmet level if we can turn off, shut off, unplug, throw away...

Oh, Mary, I really like the fast from media idea!

I've never been skinny, scrawny, or even thought of as mildly attractive. discontentment and sometimes sheer revulsion batter me when I look in the mirror or see the magazines at the grocery store.

I struggle with weight. Always have, always will. I'm trying to learn grace. I'm praying God will help me be satisfied with my fit, healthy body which happens to fluctuate between a size 14 and 16 - sizes considered grotesquely HUGE by the fashion industry (yup, gotta shop the "fat lady" stores).

I have to ask myself this question: Can Mary Kate, Ashley, Paris or Jennifer climb a Colorado 14er? No way! Can I? Oh yeah!