True Value

There's this girl on this season of the Bachelor named Courtney. She's a 28-year old model who doesn't get along well with the other girls and says she's had a lot of guys date her but then get tired of her and cheat. She is agressive and rude, and that's why the other girls don't like her. She's portrayed as this season's villain.

As annoying as I find her, I have to feel a little bit bad for her. She is constantly using her body to get Ben's attention. She took him skinny dipping, invited him to her room, and distracted him from another girl by hanging around in her bikini. She considers many of the other girls "immature" for not using their sexuality to interest Ben. She wonders why they aren't showing interest in him when they have conversations with him rather than making out.

She's pretty, to be sure. But somewhere along the line it seems she got the message that's all she is. And so she uses her looks to earn a living. And considers her looks to be the only real key to winning a guy over.

Last night she said, "I want a guy who gets me, who treats me the way I want to be treated." And my heart just broke for her. How will she ever find a guy who doesn't treat her like a piece of meat when that's how she puts herself out there? How will she ever find a guy who values her, not her model's figure, when she acts like her figure is all she has to offer? Has she ever heard the phrase "no one wants to buy the cow when you're giving away the milk for free"?

Our culture is so wrapped up in physical appearance, especially for women. And while for many women this means never feeling attractive enough, never feeling like they live up to the 36-26-36 Barbie standard, there's another side of the coin. The Courtney side. Women who are physically attractive and confident in it, but believe that's all they have to offer the world. This saddens me even more than the size 10s who kick themselves for not being 6s. No one should feel like there's nothing they have to offer beneath their outer shell.