Striving to be Beautiful

I want all of you to ask yourself this: "Can you remember the last time you felt beautiful? "

Over the years, our society's definition of beauty has become simply unrealistic. The mass media and many corporate brands such as Victoria’s Secret and Zara are responsible for portraying beauty as perfection; setting standards that are obviously unattainable for normal people like you and I.
That's the very reason why we never seem good enough in the eyes of society. Every now and then, we can't help but compare ourselves with the models who have flawless skin and a figure to die for- which left us feeling demoralized and perhaps, inferior. In fact, so many of us have unknowingly fallen into this vicious cycle of the obsession with obtaining the unattainable. You're probably one of the victims of societal pressure if you find yourself saying yes to one of these:

Can't forget the mindless comment your friend made about your jelly belly? Finding out that you've put on a kilo thrown you into a foul mood for the entire day? Refused to leave the house because you just can't face people with your bloated face? 

This obsession can be very damaging to our self-esteem and health as a whole. I firmly believe that beauty can and should come in many forms. It’s time for a change.

Let’s look at the big picture.

From the study conducted by Dove, only 4% of women around the world would describe themselves as beautiful. The findings also revealed that anxiety about looks begins at an early age. In a study of over 1,200 10-to-17-year-olds, a majority of girls, 72%, said they felt tremendous pressure to be beautiful.

Imagine a World Where Beauty is a Source of Confidence, Not Anxiety

The Dove^® Campaign for Real Beauty was launched with one of their aims to debunk the stereotype that only thin should be called beautiful. The campaign incited a worldwide discussion about the need for challenging the common perceptions about beauty, which is narrow and biased. In one of the phases, the following advertisement was created, featuring women that our society would consider plus-sized. This serves as an agent to inspire and educate bigger women to feel good about themselves and encourages them to develop a healthier self-esteem and ultimately, feel beautiful.

To put it simply, striving towards beauty should be about feeling confident, not anxiety.

As women (thin or big alike), we should all stand up for our right to feel beautiful, instead of allowing the unrealistic societal standards to define us. The deeply-rooted societal-norms will not change easily. But so what if we have the above average size, so what if we wear size 16, so what if people call us fat? Forget about getting a nod from the society. It won't matter if you don't let it. True beauty should come from confidence and character. 

So smile because it makes us beautiful.