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Synopsis
A debut album which follows in the tracks of hit single ‘All about that bass’, yet whose contradictory lyrics offer much to be explored and unpacked.
Introduction
This session looks at some of the issues surrounding our ideas of beauty: how we see it, and how God sees it. This session is written with an all-female group in mind, but it may work with a mixed group, particularly if you separate the genders for parts of the session. You will need a selection of celebrity gossip magazines.
THE SESSION
Track 2: ALL ABOUT that BASS
Play the track as your young people arrive ,you may prefer to use a radio edit version of the song. Explain that during this session, we are going to be exploring the theme of ‘beauty’ and what makes us really beautiful. In this track, the singer tries to affirm those who are larger and don’t conform to the images portrayed in airbrushed photographs, but in doing so, she insults those who are slimmer. Is it ever right to view one particular body shape or group of people as being more beautiful? How do we affirm one group of people without insulting others? How should we judge beauty anyway?
Provide a selection of celebrity gossip magazines and ask your young people to tear out any images of people who are portrayed as being beautiful or any features which focus on issues of beauty, value or self-worth. Discuss, with sensitivity, the stereotypes that these images compound and how they can influence the way that we perceive beauty. Explain that we are surrounded by images every day which present a false reality and can put us under pressure to conform to a particular body image. We need to stop viewing the world through these false lenses and instead look at beauty the way God intended.
Provide Bibles and ask someone to read 1 Samuel 16:7 and another to read 1 Peter 3:3-4. Explain that when God looks at us, he doesn’t see beauty in our physical appearance but in our character - who we are deep down inside. Ask your young people to consider how knowing this truth changes the way that we see beauty in ourselves and in others.
Remind your young people that in the song we listened to at the beginning of this session, ‘beauty’ seems to be something which is measured only by how we appeal to the opposite sex, but the Bible tells us that we should enjoy and appreciate God’s creation for all it’s beauty.
Track 4: CLOSE YOUR EYES
As you bring the session to a close, play the track and ask your young people to listen really carefully to the lyrics of this song which affirm the message that each of us holds a unique beauty.
