Are We Beautiful, Or Not? | Day 1: Low Self-Esteem and What is Beauty?

                I am going to be writing a series of "Are We Beautiful, Or Not?" I am going to be looking into what is seen as "beauty", why it's wrong, the problems with today's media, and in the end, to clarify what beauty is and to see it in ourselves. Today is day one! :)

                

                Low Self-Esteem

                Low self-esteem and low confidence are a big epidemic in America, especially for girls, teens and women. In a survey of 45,000 women, 60% said they “hated the way they looked”, and only "4 per cent were 'completely happy." (www.dailymail.co.uk)  Every day we are given the message that if we are not beautiful enough, we are not worth as much.

In America, these are the things that are the most highly valued:

·         Looks

·         Status

·         Money

It is sad, because there are way more important things that should be valued a thousand times more than those superficial things. If I were in charge of changing those three things, they would be something like this:

·         Looks  Health

·         Status  Integrity

·         Money  Happiness

 There is a lot that is backwards in this world. We grow up in a society where it is more important what other people think of you than what you think of yourself. Where being smart, doing your homework and studying is “uncool”, and not doing it is even bragged about. If you are interested in figuring out difficult problems and spending hours researching complex topics, you are called “nerdy” in a very disapproving manner.

If you don’t work a full 9-5 job and don’t make a bunch of money when you could, you are frowned upon. If you follow a crazy dream, you are called crazy. If you try to do what seems impossible to others, you are told you cannot do it. If you go against the grain (even if it’s to stand up for what’s right), you are just plain weird.

Very backwards, if you ask me. Some things just aren’t right, but the worst is how we base people’s worth on looks, and what is defined as “beauty” is so outrageous and difficult to reach.

So what is beauty? 

According to society and media, this is what beauty is:

·         A stylish haircut and expensive color

·         Flawless skin

·         Long, thick eyelashes

·         Perfect, thin eye brows

·         Plump lips

·         Straight, white teeth

·         Huge boobs

·         A tiny, hour-glass waist

·         A big butt

·         Long, slender legs

·         Slender ankles

·         Zero cellulite, body jiggle, belly fat or love handles

Are we only beautiful with a perfect body?

Since none of us have all of these, then we can assume that none of us are beautiful in the face of society and the media. For all of us to look like that, we’d all have to be taking diet pills, doing extreme un-healthy diets, get cosmetic surgery, Botox, boob jobs, have person trainers, personal hairstylists, and personal makeup artists. Then all of our photos would have to be photo-shopped ‘til we don’t even look like us anymore.

Then maybe we’d be beautiful enough.

It is so extreme and un-realistic; I wonder where these ideas ever came from in the first place.

We know that society believes that is what beauty is. Just watch a movie or a TV show. Read a magazine. Watch interviews. Read articles. Go to school. Live in America. You will experience it--and probably already have--and if you pay enough attention, you will realize that these features you “need” to be beautiful are absurd and ridiculous. And the fact that outward appearance is considered the most important to our worth is just plain pathetic. 

Stay tuned for tomorrow: Media's Effect On Body Image

Love, 

Linnaia