Wendy M. Reynolds: The way society defines beauty often jacks people up. What do you think?
Myra Wallace: I’m challenging the world’s definition. I have worked in the beauty and fashion industry for a long time and I’ve seen the ugliness of it. I’ve seen the shallowness of it. In my experience, I would constantly say, “We’ve got this thing twisted”. We are spending far too much time trying to perfect the outside. God made us without our needing our input. He formed us in our mother’s womb; He already had a purpose for us. Our form will fit the purpose that He has for each of us. “I believe it is an offense to God when people have all this work done to change, not enhance, how they look.
How is it that we have allowed magazines, the fashion industry and TV to define what beauty is for us? Why do we allow them to define what size beauty is or what texture of hair beauty is? If they say it, we go with it and we go after it. As soon as we get close to societies standard of beauty, it changes. Ok, the color is blue today. As soon as we get that blue, the color changes to red, next thing you know, the color is pink.
Wendy M. Reynolds: Do you think our dependence on the societal definition of beauty comes from a lack of our own personal definition?
Myra Wallace: Absolutely. We have not grasped who we are. When we grasp hold of who we are and hold to the greatness that God has put on the inside of us and just “be,” there will be no one that can compete with us or define us. There is no one that can step in your shoes and into the greatness that God has for you. No one!
Wendy M. Reynolds: Why do you think there are so many problems with people not knowing who they are or how beautiful they really are, especially females?
Myra Wallace: History, baggage. We’re constantly being told what we are not. There are also those things that occurred in our childhood that causes us to think otherwise. We are more likely to grab hold to the negative influences and remember them as opposed to the positive ones that actually celebrate who we are. We need to teach and encourage young women in ways to reinforce their self-esteem.
We have put a lot of emphasis on young ladies staying chaste- holding on to their virginity. That’s a good message and we need to keep instilling it. Why is it that we place so much emphasis on telling the little girls to stay away from these little boys who are trying to get them to have sex with them, ignoring the need to tell them to stay away from boys and environments, that are disrespectful and doing things that are tearing down their spirit. Those things are just as damaging as sleeping with a boy and getting pregnant or walking away with a disease. All are damaging but we cannot teach one message, at the sacrifice of leaving out the destructive power of the other
As a matter of fact, it is the damaging of the soul, the inner man that leads to destructive behavior. Children are so quick to lie down and have sex because their spirits and souls have been damaged. They haven’t discovered who they are or how valuable they are. They are receiving messages that are falsely defining them. When no one else is counteracting those negative messages with positive ones, our youth will choose the negative. When we allow people or music to put messages in us, that are destructive, we self-destruct. Beauty Come Forth delivers those positive messages.