Think of a Disney princess, any Disney princess. Picture her in your mind. Chances are she’s physically beautiful. On the outside, Disney princesses look flawless, but it’s their kindness, outlook and personality, among other traits, that make them so attractive to children and adults alike.
Being physically attractive does not automatically make someone beautiful. Inner beauty counts more than people seem to realize. In today’s society though, inner beauty seems to be riding shotgun to outward beauty. Physical beauty has power in today’s world, and people judge others and formulate opinions without even getting to know them.
We live in a world where people are judged based on the color of their skin, their religion and their weight, just to name a few. Apparently, to some people’s standards, white people are the prettiest and the smartest, all Muslims are terrorists and skinnier people are aesthetically better than those who are heavier.
If we keep this up and keep judging people just based on their outward attractiveness, then we are not only hurting people by making them feel less confident in themselves but we are also strengthening the societal belief that beauty is something that is only seen on the outside.
We have been told since elementary school that when we pick up a book, we shouldn’t judge it by its cover because what’s inside is what really should matter to the reader. Isn’t this the same idea?
I believe that who you are as a person is more important than how you look. Everyone has some type of beauty attached to them, but physical attractiveness isn’t the only kind of splendor in the world.
People are most beautiful when they have a story to share, when they have a talent that makes them unique, when they have ideas they are passionate about and want to express and when they have values and long-term goals that they plan to work hard for.
Being physically beautiful isn’t a bad thing, but it’s not everything. This is an idea that society can’t seem to grab hold of and enforce. Instead of trying to convince people that being beautiful is possible only with a pretty face, flat stomach and long legs, we should be encouraging the idea that everyone is beautiful because everyone is unique.
The Trojan horse was something that everybody believed to be grand and beautiful because that’s how it looked on the outside, but its true power really came from within. I think that’s how it is with people as well. Outward appearance does matter and does hold power, but true beauty and true strength come from within.
College is the time when we’re finally free to become truly independent and start a new chapter of our lives. Some of us may have come from high schools and hometowns that had a specific definition of what beauty is and pressured us to fit into a certain profile to be “popular” or “cool.” During our time at college, whether we are freshmen or seniors, we are all trying to find ourselves. Our pasts and perspectives on what beauty is can control our actions and affect how we look and act in order to fit in more and make new friends.
But, as cliché as it sounds, our true friends will like us for who we are as people and not just because of how we look. Believing that we are beautiful as growing individuals will allow us to make the best memories in college and gain the confidence we need to set ourselves up for a bright future.
Katherine Schwarzenegger is an American author and the daughter of actor and politician Arnold Schwarzenegger. She once said, “Learning to love my inner and outer beauty wasn’t an easy road. I still don’t always love the reflection I see in the mirror, but I have learned that my outer appearance does not define me.”
Outward appearance is not everything. Unfortunately, society isn’t going to just wake up one day and decide that. To make a difference and to be seen by today’s world as truly beautiful, we have to show them that we believe we are, inside and out.