A court of Reality!
The Ugly One!
By: M.J. Rahahleh
It has been said that ‘beauty is in the eye of the beholder’, but with the everlasting obsession on what’s on instead of what’s in, beauty standards have been only limited to certain face features, specified body type and for even more superficial people, some clothes brands. This constant neglection of what lies beyond the veil of appearance has made superficiality the undisputed epidemic of our world, but those who make the wrong choice and blind themselves off that truth eventually find themselves proven wrong once the mask of outside beauty withers and fades, leaving inside beauty ultimately triumphing with no doubt. No one should ever be judged for who they are on the outside, instead of looking on the inside.
“I am… invisible… simply because people refuse to see me…When they approach me, they see only my surroundings, themselves, or figments of their imagination -indeed, everything and anything except for me.” Novelist Ralph Ellison wrote this about being black fifty years ago. This apt description equally applies to those who feel disenfranchised because they are single and feel unattractive.
This intense superficiality that constantly devours our world prevails all over, making looks and outside appearance rule out any other features in a person in our modern society, from the outrageous obsession with plastic surgery, latest fashion brands, the highest price tag, down to the excessive shallowness, and labeling people based on what they have in their wallet, not what they have inside their skulls. And that lead to the misconception that Beauty guarantees happiness, well, that’s not true at all. Everywhere you turn, the message is that physical beauty is the ultimate cure for all, it might seem like the perfect body or the flawless face would make life easier, but take it from us: that is one heck of an ugly lie! We all wasted countless hours obsessing about weight and making endless excuses to hide our secret behavior.
In today’s world, beauty is a highly desired commodity. Even though most of us don’t measure up to media glamour, we believe physical beauty brings happiness. Despite the efforts of the liberal’s movement, most people still define themselves based on physical appearance. Those who don’t score high on the cultural beauty scale deal with rejection more than those who do, but the truth is beauty is an advantage in our society, not a must. That’s why people spend thousands of dollars on plastic surgery and beauty products. But what happens when you, like most of us, aren’t one of those so called ‘beautiful people’?
'You will never look as good as those models, because outside of that glossy universe even the models don't look that good'
We all look for beauty, that’s one thing for sure, what’s beautiful to someone might be absolutely hideous to someone else. Beauty standards differ from one to another. And people do make judgments based on your looks and single status, the media internalize messages from magazines and other media that often lead to preoccupation with beauty and attaining the perfect body… but the forlorn hope of God miraculously making you suddenly look prettier isn’t the answer. We all praise beauty and good looks, but beauty must be accompanied with brains.
Having a balanced situation between beauty and brains is the perfect equation, as hard as it sounds, it’s still achievable. It takes effort, but it makes the person more appealing, I mean after all, who’d ever want a hollow image on the count of having just a brain to talk to… Having the looks and an interesting personality is more appealing than just having either of them, and style or beauty isn’t just about the hair, clothes and make up… it’s about showing the world who you truly are, inside and outside. But as a starter, stop comparing yourself to pictures in magazines. Seriously, stop it! You will never look as good as those models, because outside of the glossy universe, even the models don’t look that good. Thanks to the magic of retouching, the line between fantasy and reality is blurred just enough to make us all feel hopelessly insecure. Heidi Klum’s B-cup breast was inflated to a D-cup for the cover of Cosmopolitan. (How shocking!), her waist has been trimmed, her teeth have been straightened, and her lips have been plumped - all with a few clicks of a mouse. Perfection sells, and there are plenty of people buying. Here's the catch: there is no beauty product in existence that will work as well as Photoshop.
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