Recently, there have been videos popping up on YouTube with young girls asking people to answer one question: Am I pretty or not? It was gut-wrenching to watch these girls ask if others thought they were pretty. With so much emphasis on being what the media considers to be a “Perfect 10”, it's no wonder why girls are striving to achieve something that isn't real. True beauty doesn't come from the outside. True beauty comes from the heart, from the soul, from the kind things we do.
I took this theory and asked five different women to define what true beauty means to them, and how is it achievable. Although their ages varied as widely as their backgrounds, their answers were surprisingly similar.
HFCC student Angela, 19, said: “True beauty doesn't mean you're physically attractive. It means you are a nice person who tries to help people. It means you don’t have to be a size 0.”
Fifty-four-year-old parent Mary H. kicks it up a step: “I think true beauty differs per person. To achieve true beauty you must accept yourself for who you are. I've never been a skinny person and I am proud of that. I've tried to instill this in my children. Hopefully, they listen. This doesn't affect just girls; young men are feeling the pressure to be something not all are going to be.”
Janice, a beauty salon receptionist, sees it all the time. “With all the younger girls and boys I see coming into the salon, it makes my heart weep. Why must we try to glorify our young children? They are suffering enough. The rise of anorexia and self-loathing is crazy. We need to change the image of beauty. Not all women are going to be skinny and not all men are going to be muscular. We come in every shade, shape, and size. It's time we embrace it.”
New mother Shakita W., 31, agreed with the previous women, stating that: “True beauty isn't what you look like. It's how you treat people. I hope my daughter grows up to know she is beautiful no matter what.”
Aimee, 25, simply said, “True Beauty is the self-loving people should have for themselves.”
If only the world held these opinions to be true. Unfortunately, it focuses on eye appeal rather than what lies beneath. We must stop defining beauty by how we look, but by what we feel. People are unique in their own way. If you look in the mirror and you feel ugly, remember these few words—YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL! No matter what you’re going through, or how you may feel, remember those words. If you don't hear it from anyone else, you are hearing it now.
YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL!