Lack of Pinterest

A few weekends ago I had my first sighting of what can only be described as 'Pinterest Hair'. Two young girls with clear skin sat across from me in the bleachers at a college football game, their hair elaborately done in pins and swirls, clips and curls, partly up and partly down. They had this modern/gothic/romantic/medieval hair thing going. And they were wearing football jerseys. The overall look was interesting, and disconcerting.

Now that I'm paying more attention I can see that others are hopping on the Pinterest train too, wearing makeup, hairstyles, and fashion they couldn't have come up with by themselves; serving meals that would shame Martha Stewart, decorating for kids parties like it was a cotillion, and even changing up their home to look like the interior of a castle rather than the one bedroom studio apartment it really is. They plan their engagements, weddings and honeymoons according to what is fabulous on Pinterest. And heaven help the boy who doesn't play along in their Pinterest Fantasy. All in the name of keeping up with the Kardashians.

Pinterest has done what magazines and advertisers have tried to do for years and years. It has become life.

Pinterest boards remind me of the 1950's advertising campaigns aimed at women...if everyone else is doing it you need to also. What would the neighbors think? Women beat themselves up to create the 'perfect life', two beautiful kids, a well-mannered husband, and all the brand new kitchen appliances a girl could ask for. Isn't that all you need to make your life just swell?

But, like advertising days of old, trying to achieve the image that's on the screen will eventually wear you down, body and soul. Have you ever seen a 50's movie where the woman had her perfect life but still dropped two pills into her martini the second Bob wasn't looking?

 It's fun for a while, we have to remember that Pinterest, like commercials, is all smoke and mirrors. These pictures were put up by creative pros, not normal people.

I have nothing against Pinterest. I put my books and my blog entries on Pinterest. BUT I think it's important that we see it for what it really is, glimpses into a fantasy world. Real women don't walk around in fog all day, with a castle in the distance, perfectly braided hair, bare faced except for lipstick, wearing a golden cape and fabulous boots. It looks cool, but it just doesn't happen. At least, not in my neighborhood.

So I say stop the pinterest hair. Stop it now, before you get all tangled up in the fantasy and forget what real life is all about.



Got Pinterest Hair? How about Pinterest boobs?