What if I told you that not everyone is beautiful? Not everyone is blessed with a two inch waist, high cheekbones, or gleaming blue eyes. This is the brutal truth, it’s what the world thrives off of, it’s what defines us, insecurities. Even though we languish in our self-doubt, the beauty industry and the media use it to build their empires. They capitalize on making us feel unworthy. Just because you don’t look like Bella Hadid does not mean that you are insignificant. Why is it that the most significant compliment that you can receive is about beauty? Beauty, unlike knowledge, compassion, or stamina, is not something achieved or earned, you simply have it or you don’t. Instituted by industries, the media, and even ourselves, these Beauty standards are making us insane, leading us to buy unnecessary things or accept false truths as our new reality. Is it really worth it to be beautiful?

No matter the age or gender, beauty is a universal source of suffering, we all want to be beautiful and feel special. The media promotes this need to be pretty so much so that you can’t go 7 seconds online without questioning your appearance or lifestyle choices. Two-thirds of online posts were proven to be edited, no one ever clarifies that the posts are fake and we commonplace scrollers are led to believe this fallacy as undeniable proof that we are not sufficient. Comparison kills, especially when you’re comparing yourself to an AI-generated body that couldn’t possibly exist in reality. This pressure is so immense that out of 1000 adolescent girls, 88% of them reported that they felt pressured to be thinner due to social media. As girls we are not educated enough about the normalcy of different body types, this makes us more susceptible to self-criticism than most.

The media also contributes to how girls are growing up way faster than prior generations. When I was 11 I wanted a Barbie, now pre-teens ask for Sephora gift cards and makeup that cannot be found at Toys-R-Us. These kids see grown-up influencers with pricey beauty products and expect themselves to look the same, so they make their parents buy them these products when they don’t have any true need for them yet. This is a strategy utilized by the beauty market to capitalize on the vulnerability of children. If you tell a child, “This product will make you glow”, they’re going to want to buy it, they wouldn’t know to be suspicious of the false promises. Have you ever noticed that some products are made to appeal to the younger generations? I mean what littler girl wouldn’t want a rainbow lipstick that smells like candy. In my opinion, no one needs 12 shades of pink blush, it’s the marketing strategies that make us purchase them. The industry as a whole thrives on insecurities and feeds on young girls who are still learning to love themselves. Beautiful is being smart, beautiful is being loved, and beautiful is being a good person, it doesn’t come in a plastic bottle that smells like watermelon. And although some beauty products can serve as a confidence boost, they also build on the false narrative that you need makeup to be worthy. A beautiful soul and spirit is worth more than a beautiful exterior. You are special because of yourself, not the face that you paint on. Don’t let the beauty standards of this world tell you otherwise.