The Blog of littleduckie

I've had a couple of thoughts about the idea of vanity today, and wanted to see what everyone else thinks . . .

Vanity -- excessive pride in one's appearance or accomplishments or possessions -- used to be considered a moral shortcoming.  These days, though, we don't hear the term much, and I don't think most people would think of that kind of pride as a bad thing (unless we're talking about somebody who is extra-extra-conceited).  We are probably vain today to a degree that would have been shocking a hundred years ago.

So we're very vain these days, and it's kind of taken for granted.  People are obsessed with looking good: not just wearing the latest fashions anymore, but also using all kinds of beauty products, wearing stylish haircuts, doing makeup, wearing trendy jewelry, and so on.  And then we turn right around and complain about how people are so critical of each other's looks!  Could it be that an increasing social tolerance for vanity eventually led to an expectation of beauty?

Beauty used to be something everybody wanted but few possessed; now it seems like we expect it as a matter of course.  Maybe if those of us who are not naturally beautiful just accepted ourselves the way we are, simply wearing tasteful clothes and staying well-groomed, but not wasting our time on "beauty," this unrealistic expectation would eventually disappear.  Maybe we've brought it on ourselves by being too preoccupied with our own looks.  It's kind of inviting everybody else to be preoccupied with our looks, too.  It's like we're all competing in a pageant every time we leave our homes!

So that was my first thought.  My second thought was that maybe it's a form of vanity when we're too particular about how our homes look.  Yes, our homes should be clean, tastefully furnished, and comfortable.  But when we get too picky (like my mom was), we end up making guests feel uncomfortable -- afraid they'll spill something or in some other way mar the perfection of our homes.  Is that hospitable?  Is it kind?  It seems to me like just another form of vanity -- making much of ourselves without consideration for the feelings of others.  I want guests in my home to be comfortable, not afraid of making a mistake!

Maybe the old-fashioned idea of vanity as a "sin" wasn't such a bad thing, after all.