Princesses?

One of the things I really despited about Brazil when first arriving, and still struggle with, is the amount of sexuality in this culture. I came from AFRICA, where I wore long, loose skirts made of one piece of material that made my body have no discernable shape. I didn’t wear makeup because no one does, and I wore my hair back because of the heat and dirt. Isn’t that how missionaries are supposed to look?
When arriving in Brazil, part of the culture shock was the focus on outward appearances. Literally, almost every women wears tight pant, short skirts and low cut tops. This applies to women over the age of 60, and women that are overweight. So, it didn’t take long for my self esteem to plummet and to look at my clothes and hair with general distaste. I haven’t had the means to really take care of myself the way I would at home. My feet aren’t even clean, let alone pedicured. Besides being ultra-conservative, most of my clothes are also worn out because of the lifestyle and hand washing. Most of the people in the class flew from first world countries, with really nice clothes and more than three things in their toiletry bag. You’d think this wouldn’t be a big deal. Seriously, one of the things that really bothers me is that I don’t feel like I should even have to deal with this. Aren’t I here on a lot more important matters? Shouldn’t I be more worried about the Kingdom of God than looking like a princess? I’m well educated, smart, relatively in-shape woman. Besides feeling self pity, I also felt angry. But honestly, you would be surprised at how quickly I was affected by this. It really affected me. As a woman, any woman, it is not a fun feeling when you feel less attractive than every woman in your surroundings. Every woman, even missionaries, want to be thought of as beautiful and desirable. I hated the culture this created.
Where is the balance between taking care of the body God gave you and not letting it become an idol? This happens so much in Canada too- every billboard, magazine and TV show. I really can’t stand it. If it affects me, in my 30’s, how much more are teenage girls affected by it. So maybe this is seemingly an issue of personal pride or insecurity. I would probably agree with you. Really, it’s even a luxury to have to worry about this. But, it is still a very real struggle for many women. So now what?