How would you define beauty? Would being beautiful to you consist of long shiny hair that reaches your naval? Or would you have hips with large breasts that are tucked tight into an hourglass figure? Do you regularly see what you believe to be beautiful in magazines or being promoted on television? Do you, yourself, believe that you are beautiful? Many individuals would answer the last question with a painful and silent no. We collectively as a society do not find ourselves beautiful because we do not see models or actresses that resemble us. Even if we did see a model that appeared similar to ourselves we would rank them higher in looks because that is their job, to appear beautiful. Their look is simply unattainable and most individuals will spend their whole life trying to reach a digitally altered appearance. I say this because before photoshop even models do not look like their glossy magazine cover selves. We have created this type of “beauty”. This man made image of the perfect girl is sculpted through the copy and paste lifestyle we live. The false ideal of this beauty that society has created has hurt the self-image and mental health of our world population. We have lost the true meaning of what is even beautiful.

We should not always believe what we see. While looking at an advertisement we may view a beautiful woman with pore less skin and a perfect white smile but that may not be the truth. Jean Kilbourne introduced us with her presentation on, “Killing Us Softly 4” that it is easier to be deceived than we believe. She stated through her presentation that once Cindy Crawford said, “I wish I looked like Cindy Crawford”. She said this because how she sees herself and what she sees in her photos after retouching is completely different. She is a supermodel and she does not even see the pore less beauty icon staring back at her in the mirror. Women are deceived into thinking what we see is true because even after makeup is applied to models they still photoshop the image afterwards. This is not real beauty, this is manmade beauty, and this kind of beauty is what harms our self-image.

There is this myth that just because someone appears differently than another individual that it makes one or the other more beautiful.  This may be because of skin color or hair color. We as a society always find a reason to make yourself or someone else feel less superior.  Since individuals rational beauty it causes harm on an individual self-image. There are two quotes I would like to talk about from the book by Roxanne Gay, “Bad Feminist”. She first mentions the crowning of Vanessa Williams in 1984 for Miss America stating, “…watching Williams and her perfect cheekbones and glittering teeth as she accepted the crown gave girls like me ideas”(61).While Gay uses this quote in hope for women of color to aspire to winning a beauty contest such as Miss America it is concerning on why she only addresses her physical feature. I feel as though she does this to make a point that women of color can be beautiful and have great cheekbones and white teeth. What is confusing and upsetting is how women of color are not already considered beautiful despite their cheekbones and teeth. Gay then goes on to say, “[these women were]… blond and thin and perfect…” (62).  There is this stigma within the United States at least that in order to be beautiful you must be thin and blond and perfect. If you do not fit this mold then you starve yourself and dye your hair. This is the wrong message to be sending to women. We need to change the ‘ideal’ beauty to an image that is versatile and attainable to everyone.

Through all the negative media that there is surrounding beauty image though there is a great campaign to bring back natural beauty and inner acceptance through the feminist movement. Image hate and self-hurting start at a young age but there are ways to encourage a healthier lifestyle. In the book “A Little F’ed Up: Why Feminism is Not a Dirty Word”, the author, Julie Zeilinger, talks about how even though the issue starts soon there is a better alternative. Zeilinger states, “The honing of the profile picture was the first form of performance I remember. Some girls even became obsessive about it, choosing to spend their weekends on hours-long photo shoots….. (but) really nobody is the perfect girl”(156-157).She talks about how while her friends would go on photoshoots to appear perfect over the internet and look beautiful it never really mattered because nobody was perfect. This is exactly true because what you find beautiful, what society finds beautiful, and what another individual may find beautiful are completely different. Through all the self-harm and lowered self-esteem we must realize that the most beautiful feature you can have is being yourself. If you find that you are beauty because you are unique then nobody could body shame you.

The photo above shows half of a face without makeup. The other half of the face has makeup and a photoshopped retouched finished.  Which side do you find more beautiful? While society may insist the right side is more beautiful with its pore less appearance, smooth freckle-less features, and dark luring eyes, I choose the left.  I may not always agree with the left because I am human and do let societies opinions cloud my judgment from time to time but deep in my heart I know the left is more beautiful. On the left I have cute freckles that come out in the summer. You can appreciate my natural blush that gives me rosy cheeks. Most importantly though you can see me for who I really am, no digital alterations, and being you is beautiful.

Gay, Roxane. Bad Feminist: Essays. New York: HarperCollins, 2014. Print.

Kilbourne, Jean. “Killing Us Softly 4 / Watch Documentary Free Online.” Documentary Lovers. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Aug. 2015.

Zeilinger, Julie. A Little F’ed Up: Why Feminism Is Not a Dirty Word. Berkley: Seal, 2012. Print.