by Alice MacBain
“Beauty”. Such is life that we must fixate our time and effort on something so intangible and indefinable. Is the notion of beauty truly important, or are we attempting to describe the indescribable? We need to look at the effects of our incessant analysis of people and their looks. Am I beautiful? Perhaps to some I am; perhaps to others I am the epitome of unattractiveness.
Beauty is a gravitational pull; it is far harder to prove its existence than you would, say, an apple’s, yet we insist on clinging to the idea and we find ourselves held by its attraction. People have different ideas of how it works and what it looks like, but most agree on the essence. But perhaps beauty does not actually exist.
In some cultures, the bigger your body, the more prominent and accepted you are. Yet in places like the U.K. and parts of the U.S.A. we fill our media with twig bitches who do not naturally look this way, and muscly yet slim men with almost unattainable bodies. The looks of these people then become ideals for many of the younger generations and they feel pressured to look the same, no matter what the consequences. In Venezuela, the mannequins are now being made with huge breasts and so the women there feel pressured into fitting that image. Because of this, Venezuela has one of the highest plastic surgery rates in the world as women spend the money they have, and don’t have, on silicone implants and enhancement procedures.
It seems to me that the perfect look of beauty is non-existent. If we tried to please everybody, each person would have big bums and small bums at the same time, round faces, square faces, oval faces and every other shaped face AT THE SAME TIME. We would be black, white, yellow, orange, beige and all the colours under the sun AT. THE. SAME. TIME. It is impossible to look perfect because a) we cannot be simultaneously all of those things, and b) there is no overriding perfect. Instead, there is self. My self is how I look, and no one should tell me that it is wrong. Your selves are how you look, and you are not wrong. We are simply individuals obsessed with finding an overall look that does not exist.
Who decided that body shape mattered? Some of us aren’t born with the right bone structure to be slim; some of us aren’t born with the right bone structure to be “curvy” as we call it. Our culture contradicts itself so much in its beliefs. Someone who doesn’t have a flat stomach and a tiny waist, or is overweight is often considered not only unattractive, but lazy and undisciplined. And yet, a woman who is naturally slender is now often seen as superficial and vain. For some bizarre reason, we are unable to find acceptance in natural looks and bodies and thus must congratulate people on losing weight and becoming thinner yet damn those who already look like that.
The world is very, very slowly learning that to condemn someone for the way they look is wrong and unnecessary. However, ideals are still made and so many people feel as if they are not worth anything, or that they need to cover up, whether it is with make up or clothes. I want to find a way of showing people that no one is “beautiful”, because beauty does not exist. Instead, people exist, and with those people come different colours, shapes, sizes and looks. There is no right or wrong, there is simply being, and this being is incredible and worth celebrating.
I can’t wait for a world where I can feel like no one is judging me, because you know what, I’m all about that bass and hopefully one day every mum and dad will tell their child, “Don’t worry about your size. Love everything about yourself and believe that you don’t need any changing. You aren’t “perfect”. You have life, talent, morality, humour, conscience and personality. Who could ask for anything more?”
“Beauty”. Such is life that we must fixate our time and effort on something so intangible and indefinable. Is the notion of beauty truly important, or are we attempting to describe the indescribable? We need to look at the effects of our incessant analysis of people and their looks. Am I beautiful? Perhaps to some I am; perhaps to others I am the epitome of unattractiveness.
Beauty is a gravitational pull; it is far harder to prove its existence than you would, say, an apple’s, yet we insist on clinging to the idea and we find ourselves held by its attraction. People have different ideas of how it works and what it looks like, but most agree on the essence. But perhaps beauty does not actually exist.
In some cultures, the bigger your body, the more prominent and accepted you are. Yet in places like the U.K. and parts of the U.S.A. we fill our media with twig bitches who do not naturally look this way, and muscly yet slim men with almost unattainable bodies. The looks of these people then become ideals for many of the younger generations and they feel pressured to look the same, no matter what the consequences. In Venezuela, the mannequins are now being made with huge breasts and so the women there feel pressured into fitting that image. Because of this, Venezuela has one of the highest plastic surgery rates in the world as women spend the money they have, and don’t have, on silicone implants and enhancement procedures.
It seems to me that the perfect look of beauty is non-existent. If we tried to please everybody, each person would have big bums and small bums at the same time, round faces, square faces, oval faces and every other shaped face AT THE SAME TIME. We would be black, white, yellow, orange, beige and all the colours under the sun AT. THE. SAME. TIME. It is impossible to look perfect because a) we cannot be simultaneously all of those things, and b) there is no overriding perfect. Instead, there is self. My self is how I look, and no one should tell me that it is wrong. Your selves are how you look, and you are not wrong. We are simply individuals obsessed with finding an overall look that does not exist.
Who decided that body shape mattered? Some of us aren’t born with the right bone structure to be slim; some of us aren’t born with the right bone structure to be “curvy” as we call it. Our culture contradicts itself so much in its beliefs. Someone who doesn’t have a flat stomach and a tiny waist, or is overweight is often considered not only unattractive, but lazy and undisciplined. And yet, a woman who is naturally slender is now often seen as superficial and vain. For some bizarre reason, we are unable to find acceptance in natural looks and bodies and thus must congratulate people on losing weight and becoming thinner yet damn those who already look like that.
The world is very, very slowly learning that to condemn someone for the way they look is wrong and unnecessary. However, ideals are still made and so many people feel as if they are not worth anything, or that they need to cover up, whether it is with make up or clothes. I want to find a way of showing people that no one is “beautiful”, because beauty does not exist. Instead, people exist, and with those people come different colours, shapes, sizes and looks. There is no right or wrong, there is simply being, and this being is incredible and worth celebrating.
I can’t wait for a world where I can feel like no one is judging me, because you know what, I’m all about that bass and hopefully one day every mum and dad will tell their child, “Don’t worry about your size. Love everything about yourself and believe that you don’t need any changing. You aren’t “perfect”. You have life, talent, morality, humour, conscience and personality. Who could ask for anything more?”
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