The Most Beautiful People

Most of us have self- image issues. And, beauty is often in the center of them. Indeed, most situations seem to stem from our distorted definition of the word. Its official meaning reads as follows: pleasing and impressive qualities of something: the combination of qualities that make something pleasing and impressive to look at, listen to, touch, smell, or taste pleasing personal appearance: personal physical attractiveness, especially with regard to the use of cosmetics and other methods of enhancing it It’s all external; there’s no mention of soul, spirit, kindness or personality. In fact, the description of an ugly individual is often mentioned as having a “good personality.” Uphill battle, here we go. And, the distorted beauty definitions further single out and exclude. Let’s face it, through fairytales, Barbie dolls, Hollywood or fashion, there is a narrow list of desirable- beautiful- attributes. Mostly, they go as follows: Caucasian Thin Large breasts Slender thighs Upturned nose Blue eyes Blonde hair Full lips Young Yeah, yeah, yeah, we’ve embraced some diverse exception in skin color, body type and features, but the dominant “ideal is the thin, white blue-eyed young blonde.” And, of course, there’s no mention of real life. And real life contains things like defeat, struggle, loss and imperfection. Furthermore, compassion, sensitivity, gentleness and love are nowhere to be found. C’mon, aren’t those things beautiful? Let’s challenge and redefine beauty to cover more than the external, but the often more complex internal characteristics as well!

Copyright © 2013 by Sheryle Cruse