Andreen Anderson
Mr. Layan
Writing/ Debate
December 1, 2014

People in society think that there is a standard of beauty that suggests you have to look a certain way. One must constantly compare themselves to other people or celebrities. But what individuals don’t know is that it’s a figment of our imaginations. We bring ourselves to a level in which we think if we don’t look like someone, we must not be beautiful enough to fit the standards in America. Our society promotes a certain image of what beauty should look like but beauty is through personality and believing in ourselves.
First, True beauty is not how a person looks but how they carry themselves. Most individuals tend to think that looks are the only things that matter but it’s personality that matter. For example, Lizzie Velasquez tells individuals how she used to feel insecure and hopeless about the way she looked because of how people would call her a ‘’monster’’ or ‘’ugliest woman in the world.’’ But she decided not to feel sorry for herself and decided to use her looks as an advantage. She took the criticism and hate from people and used it as a positive impact in her life. She didn’t let the way she looked define the person she really was but the way she carried herself. She can control the effects of beauty standards on her life by just looking past it. She can always see herself differently from time to time. If only most people had the same thought as her. Individuals think they have to look a certain way to be a part of everything. That if you don’t look like that celebrity, you aren’t beautiful. One can look beautiful in the outside but ugly in the inside. It’s better to be a person who prefers to be an original instead of concerning themselves with being in with the in-crowd all the time. Or someone who would never put themselves on a pedestal nor have anyone put them on a pedestal. True beauty is pleasing through the well being not the way the person looks.
In addition, we create the standards of beauty. We imagine the way we’re supposed to look like. In social media, many individuals use their clothes and accessories to set the standards of beauty. Clothes don’t make the person you are. If one doesn’t fit the trend of fashion, they feel as if they are not beautiful. The article ‘’The Uglier, The Better Selfie.’’ Tells us how teenage girls challenge the conventional beauty standards by masking their insecurities by taking an ugly selfie. They show how pretty girls take ugly selfies, how they are willing to embrace the ugly or ironic. University of Minnesota says ‘’ It takes little more than a scan of any red carpet to see that idea in action: a sea of toothless smiles, frozen foreheads and hunched shoulders, the uniform that every young woman has learned to mimic. And while this generation may be more tech savvy than any other, that beauty ideal can still be crippling. It’s been estimated that girls 11 to 14 are subjected to some 500 advertisements a day; staring at airbrushed images just for one to three minutes can have a negative impact on girls self esteem.’’(‘’University of Minnesota study’’) Which shows how media sets the standards how one is supposed to look like but we choose to follow that standard. We choose to follow the trend by changing the way we look and buying fashionable clothes. One can easily set the standards for themselves but chooses to imagine the way they’re supposed to look. Instead of imaging beauty, we need to start believing.
Nevertheless, In America, beauty standards are set for everyone to follow. It’s the only way for people to fit in with society. Some people may believe there are beauty standards because of how they see several celebrities and individuals wearing the most fashionable clothes. They may think in order to