It was 9:00 in the morning, and the teacher’s voice rang out clearly calling the class to sit criss-cross-applesauce and prepare for the weekly reading. Waiting patiently, I observed the slow, meticulous movements of the wise adult as she gingerly grasped the worn book.
She began, reading the tumultuous experiences of a special duckling.
“He was not yellow. He was dark grey from his head to his feet.”
“One of the newly hatched yellow ducklings cried, ‘What is that!’”
“‘He is the ugliest duckling I have ever seen’ yelled another duckling.”
These lines were imprinted in my mind as my teacher slowly closed the book, asking the class what lesson they learned. Students eagerly raised their hands to display their knowledge, but I was too engrossed in my own thoughts.
Even today I wonder, how did those day-old ducklings know their brother was ugly? They were only a day old! This thought continues into children of today as bullying is a prominent issue in schools that generally centers on one’s appearance. Children, young, impressionable – and without a filter — are a constant reminder that beauty standards are real and are clearly passed through some means. It is not uncommon for a child to have access to some technological device; however, with child lock features automatically installed to filter information, it is a wonder they are still able to interact with others and say (rather confidently at that) “You are ugly.”
How can children form an idea of “ugly” when they are taught only to be kind to others, how to use the bathroom, and how to count to ten?
I consider myself a unique case when it comes to this perplexing and complicated observation; I did not have social media (shocking).
I did not know of the existence of social media. Well, I should say I was not aware of its existence until I was well past the impressionable ages of childhood and early adolescence. Forced to familiarize myself with appearances in another manner, I learned and internalized beauty standards through various social interactions with my family, other adults, and even other children. One of my earliest memories of being exposed to the harsh reality of beauty was my great-grandmother suggesting I stay skinny. I was seven. At the young age of seven, my family introduced a whole new world to me, but this was only the beginning.
Popular children’s TV channels like Disney, Nickelodeon, and Cartoon Network regularly enforce beauty through their leading roles. Possessing luscious hair, captivating eyes, an endearing smile (and amazing luck in the gene department) these companies highlight features few possess to their young audience. Once realized this is magnified tenfold when social media is added to the equation, this fact only becomes more startling. Children have much more access than I did when I was younger, so it is obvious how social media contributes to the epidemic of low self-esteem.
Social media users of all ages commonly find themselves chasing after unobtainable beauty standards as social media ignores the features of classic beauty in favor of one-time fads. These trends are nothing more than temporary deviations from the original standard to accommodate the latest craze in pop culture to bolster sales through false inclusivity. There is a reason for the consistent popularity of Naomi Campbell, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Marilyn Monroe while the Kardashian-Jenner Family has fallen out of the spotlight. Classic beauty will stand the test of time, while trends slowly change, evolve, and eventually die out as they do not follow the “rules” of beauty.
Simply put, beauty is not in the eye of the beholder. Beauty standards are an objective criteria. Beauty is a science.