The Femme Files

Mirror Mirror on the Wall

Is the Humble Mirror Responsible for our Vanity and Insecurities?

Glancing at myself in the mirror the other day, it got me thinking, who invented mirrors? This question may seem so trivial – yet think of how significant a role the mirror plays in our daily lives. This invaluable object is strategically placed around the house with the main intent to show us…well…us.  So the conception of the mirror gave birth to us seeing our physical selves, and for the first time, gave us the ability to have feelings about our physical image.

Whoever invented the mirror, then, should be blamed for our insecurities and our vanity.

For some trivial information, Archaeologists in Turkey discovered polished stones, closely resembling mirrors, which date back to 6000 BC. But the actual inventor of the mirror, the one that is placed in our house, was by a German chemist in 1835 named Justus von Liebig.

Mr. Justus von Liebig, you are hereby guilty of creating the insecure and narcissists.

Though you may rest your defence that reflective surfaces, i.e. lakes, existed since the beginning of time, it is unlikely that cavewomen stood out in the open, hours on end, dissecting every bit of themselves as the women of today can do in the comfort of their own home in front of their mirror. The mirror you created.

If mirrors didn’t exist perhaps our idea of beauty would change. Or would there even be an idea of what beauty is? That’s a tough one to answer but it is suffice to say that the world would probably be a happier place without mirrors. No more stressing about the cellulite on our bums because we wouldn’t even know it existed. Our insecurities would simply vanish into obscurity. The relentless time spent fixated on what we are wearing, our bodies, wrinkles, pimples, creases, bumps and lumps would return to us allowing us to focus on the more important things in life.

Isn’t it crazy to think how this concrete little object can affect your feelings about yourself? Yet what a lovely thought that by simply getting rid of it, we could be happy and not have to change a thing about ourselves. So I challenge the Femmefile readers and anyone else out there to not look in the mirror for a week (Ok, realistically, maybe just one morning before you walk out the door). Don’t look at your face, your body or your clothes.

Share with us how your felt that day – having absolutely no idea how you looked?  Did it make you think less or more about your appearance?

Brianna Raich at the FF