Enough about me (for like a minute); what about you?

So, a lot of what I've been blogging about here is work on a project called Poverty of Pretty, the basic concept of which is that our culture's obsession with physical attractiveness is causing soul poverty in the best case, bullying and death in the worst cases. What I hope to accomplish with this project is a fundamental paradigm shift* in the beauty industry - that is, my industry, the industry in which I labor. What I would like to see throughout the beauty industry is what exists in Mary Kay and other direct selling companies that focus on beauty products.

In my world, the products are a vehicle that enables people of true beauty, soul beauty, to influence the lives of others and help them see and develop their own soulful beauty. Whether that's through use of good products; help from someone who actually knows and likes you; or through a business opportunity that opens doors and allows you to show other people how to get into their soul beauty. Meanwhile, the rest of the beauty industry (in cahoots with the dieting industry**!) feeds on the insecurities of people telling them that if they don't wear/use/weigh this or that, no one will love them. The corporate aspect is just one part of it, and I hope not to go on too much about it in this particular project, so pardon my rambling.

What I want to know is what beauty means to you. I have developed a survey that asks questions about your identity, relationship to beauty, and relationship to physical attractiveness. I'm not a professional researcher, but I do intend to keep these answers confidential and protect your privacy. This survey was developed out of curiosity and as research for my project. 

If you are interested in helping me with my research, please send a quick email to povertyofpretty at gmail dot com and I'll send you the survey. I would like participants of all genders, so if you're interested don't rule yourself out just cuz your identity doesn't necessarily fall in what you think my audience is ~_^.

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*AIM HIGH!

**Thanks Self Magazine!