One of the most difficult things about having a daughter is teaching her about what beauty really is and giving them that understanding versus what society and the media tell her.

I’ve never been a huge fan of Jessica Simpson’s, but she does have a cute shoe line and what seems to be a pretty interesting new reality show called “The Price of Beauty”. I believe it was possibly spurred on by her experience of being in Hollywood and having the camera as well as tabloids magnify her slight weight fluctuations. While I think it’s unfortunate that people have to go through certain painful situations in life, it can be a catalyst for change and inspiration for new understanding and learning.

So in the show she is traveling around the world to try to find and understand different cultures, their ideas of beauty and what they do for them. There were some countries that showed different custom’s such as neck rings and another where a bride is stationary in a tent drinking milk until she reaches her wedding day where her husband is pleased to see her major weight gain. Some of her experiences are more fun and interesting, others seem to be quite uncomfortable and awkward. It really gives you a feel that us American women are not alone in searching for definitions of beauty and their lives within it.

So how does Jessica Simpson’s story differ from Heidi Montag’s? Well the two young women come from two different locations in the country…one a southern bell, the other comes from a California beach. One of the thing’s that I have always liked about Jessica Simpson is her tendency to be honest and even make fun of herself if the time is right. Maybe that has been her advantage in being able to accept herself for who she is as well as trying to use her experience to help other women in the world who struggle with the same issues.

Heidi Montag however has continued to make headlines with her (supposedly 10) plastic surgeries and will soon have her own reality show that according to her is meant to illustrate her journey through plastic surgery. There are plenty of young girls out there that look at plastic surgery as a viable option to “fix” things that they feel need improving to reach a certain level of happiness or what they see as beauty. However when is enough enough and who is there to guide young girls when they make these permanent decisions that could potentially lead to what sometimes appears as self-mutilation or even to death?

Heidi’s mother appears in one episode and you can tell how painful it is for her to see her daughter who has morphed into this person whose perception of herself and her appearance is distorted. She looks like so many other Hollywood celebs who have traded their fresh faces that will inevitably age to some type of generic plastic doll face.

So who makes the rules when it comes to beauty, what looks good and what doesn’t? Hopefully the message that Jessica’s spreading is that we do and we need to cut out the definitions that aren’t realistic, practical or healthy.