NATALIE SACKET
Columnist
Our society is raising youth plagued by insecurities and self-doubt. Rather than learning from our own self-conscious ways and teaching the upcoming generations to take pride in their quirks and differences, we are instead teaching them to fit into a mold of what society views as beautiful. Media portrays beautiful women as thin, tall, and flawless… also majorly Photoshopped.
Rather than choosing to embrace our God-given beauty, we instead choose to critique every last bit of ourselves. We’ve all been there. We’ve stared into the mirror and wished our face was a little thinner or our hair a little thicker. Wished for fewer freckles or that weird birthmark on your butt to magically disappear. Wanted to be taller, shorter, tanner, different than what we look like now because how we are will never be good enough for society. We have this infatuation with outward appearances.
I’m venting about this, yet I know I am just as much at fault, if not worse, than many others. I don’t know what the solution for this is. I don’t know if there is a solution. All I know is that if I ever have daughters or nieces or sons or nephews, I want them, alongside all the other youth, to be able to look at themselves in a mirror without criticizing every last “flaw.” I want them to be able to look at a mirror and think to themselves, “I am beautiful. I am amazing. I have an inner beauty that shines through to others. I am flawless, because this is the way that God made me, and he makes no mistakes.”
Rather than promote examples of self-love, we perpetuate a society that believes that your selfie MUST get fifty likes. Our role models in the entertainment industry are ranked on a scale of best- to worst-dressed. If celebrities, some of the most glamorous and flawless humans on the face of the earth (who look like they’ve been created in a beauty test tube somewhere) cannot escape harsh scrutiny over their appearances, how do we suppose the awkward girl in middle school, pimples creating a braille landscape across her forehead, is going to feel about herself?
I realize these thoughts and contemplations are nothing new. Beauty has been an obsession since one’s reflection was discovered. However, why is this a topic I bring up today? While watching the Oscars Sunday night, I was particularly struck by the acceptance speech of Graham Moore after being awarded the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay. In this speech, Moore opened up about his suicidal past. He encouraged individuals to “stay weird” and “stay different.”
It’s a lot of emotion to pack into a 30-second speech, but it left its mark.
Moore dedicated his speech “for that kid out there who feels like she’s weird or she’s different or she doesn’t fit in anywhere.” He went on to emphasize, “Yes, you do. I promise you do. You do. When it’s your turn and you are standing on this stage, please pass the same message to the next person who comes along.”
This is the ideology we should embrace. Different is okay. Different is wonderful. Different is beautiful.