Cinderella’s Fairy Godmother:

The true role of the Beauty Industry

While we often decry the debauchery of the beauty industry, we may find the essential philosophies of its success in the old folk/fairy tales.  Cinderella found her prince, (or more importantly the prince noticed her) when she had been magically transformed from the filthy, bedraggled drudge into a bejewelled, gowned and coiffured woman.  Without her own resources, Cinderella required rescuing to help her project differently to the world at large:   thus the instant transformation through the auspices of her fairy godmother.  The outer magnificence of her ball-costume, in the story, reflects her supposed inner perfection. However, it could be argued that the outer changed the inner: she simply felt better about herself.

Cinderella’s Story: Part 2

The light from the pitiful fire threw dark and shifting shadows about the walls and the silence of the house was broken only by the high squeaking of the rats as they scuttled from one dark corner to another.  Cinderella’s step-mother and half-sisters had departed for the prince’s ball with the rustling of silks, amidst last minute, high-voiced demands for assistance.  The almost-silence was welcoming as the young women stretched her thin hands towards the fire and relaxed her aching back.  A little peace and nothing to do for a few hours was bliss.

A blinding and iridescent light flashed suddenly and an ageless, beautifully dressed woman holding a gnarled piece of oak-wood branch appeared within the stone room.  Terror filled the simple girl’s mind as she cowered against the rough bricks.  “Don’t worry, my dear. I am here to make you happy,” spoke the practical but gentle apparition.

“Your father sent me from beyond the grave to change the injustices in which you now find yourself. It is time for love to be in your life.  It is time for you to discover what it truly means to be a woman.  It is time for you to discover your own power and that to be loved, you must first love yourself. So……you look like shit…so you probably feel that way too.”  Then ‘Poof’…A long, full-length mirror manifested itself in the centre of the room, illuminated by little glowing lights around its perimeter.

Cinderella, having realised that this new female energy was not going to berate or beat her, started to listen and for the first time in a long time she saw her ghastly appearance. Her shoulders sagged.

An aura of determination pervaded the kindly grand-wise woman. “Mmmm..where to start?” With a flick of her crooked and ancient wand, a deep long bath filled with perfumed soapy water splashed, as Cinderella’s filthy rags dissolved from her body.  A strange row of bottles sat on the edge and as the young woman looked questioningly at them the fairy godmother gently pushed her into the water.

 “I am going to teach you how to clean, exfoliate, moisturise and glow, the first step to feeling beautiful.  This could take a while,” said Fairy Godmother as she began to roughly scrub Cinderella’s immersed body and hair.

As promised, Cinderella emerged some time later with an unknown sense of renewed skin and hair that tingled with lightness.  Wringing hair was instantly dried and the strands arranged themselves in soft alluring curls. Broken nails were restored into a smooth shining shape and when she smiled at herself, even white teeth peeped between her lips.

“The hard work that you do has kept your breasts and hips firm, although you are a little skinny”, stated the fairy, “but let’s not interfere with nature too much.”  She nodded in decision. “You’ll do.”

“Now for the clothes and shoes” and with another wave of her wand, Cinderella was gowned in magnificence.  “I designed this myself, you know,” her grandmother said in some pride, “with the shoes to match.”

“Wh…Who is that?” Cinderella pointed at the reflection in the mirror.

“That is who you are supposed to be.  How do you feel about it?.”

“Strange…..” Can I move?” Cinderella asked with trepidation.

“Yes you can, but you will have to learn to match the inner you with the outer. Don’t worry, it will happen but it will take a lot more work than magic.   I will be back each Monday for a year to help you and then you may be ready to be the princess you are meant to be. Oh, and By the way, my name is Adele. You can’t keep calling me FGM  for the next 52 weeks. “

Cinderella was looking a little apprehensive at having to make this commitment but before she could protest about her work load and time constraints, Adele interrupted.  “Next year, you will go to the ball, dressed just like this, feeling confident and being able to hold your own in any company. Are you willing to do the work?”

Cinderella looked at herself again in the mirror, to the strength in this ancient woman’s ageless face and began to believe.

“Yes”, she replied

You only have to look at any “mind, body, spirit” magazine to know that the prime focus for “enlightenment” seems to be in beauty and health products. 

The beauty industry relies on the perception of instantly look younger, more beautiful, more desirable and more marketable and therefore more confident.   The secret is to know how far to go: to retain recognition of self, to accept, to enhance the natural beauty which makes us all individual without trying to be something or someone else.

Be not just the princess to another but a goddess to ourselves.