As I scrolled through the recommended section of my Instagram feed, I came across an account with which I was unfamiliar, the account of a makeup guru on YouTube. Her Instagram makeup videos looked professional, and her makeup itself was flawless, yet she had under 5,000 followers (a startling feat for someone whose page was so chic and put-together). One of her videos, in which she had filmed herself fresh-faced and applying a layer of foundation, had a plethora of comments that highlighted what appeared to be the main reason she isn't famous—comments regarding her beauty. I may sound cold saying this, but she wasn't very pretty; she just didn't have quite the right face shape, the right eyes or the right nose. The comments below were a paradoxical mix of users praising her for her beauty and others scorning her ugliness. To me, they spoke an unfortunate truth about our society—the unnecessary importance attributed to being beautiful.

As a society, we are born and raised on an expectation of being beautiful. This is evident from the moment we set foot into middle school, where the stereotypical "cool" kids all have pretty faces and the nerds, less so. Many middle schoolers are mercilessly tormented for acne, frizzy hair or other near-unchangeable faults of beauty. High school continues this trend, although to a lesser degree; there's less bullying, but that doesn't negate the fact that being beautiful is a significant factor in determining one's social status. Being beautiful doesn't guarantee popularity, but it certainly helps. Average or below average students have to work much harder to gain the approval of their peers.

And yes, this is assuming that not everyone is beautiful. The YouTuber, objectively, was not beautiful. Some of my friends are not beautiful. Many adults are not beautiful. When I use the term "beautiful," I mean as society defines it—those whose faces draw attention, those people who you could stare at forever. Many who do not fit this definition of beautiful are still beautiful in personality or bearing, but I intend to discuss physical attractiveness as opposed to intellectual or social attractiveness.

The point is, there are people who are not beautiful in our world, yet our culture has a tendency to gloss over this inalienable truth. When we see those who are ugly, we like their pictures and comment about how beautiful they look. We praise them for a trait they do not possess, in an effort to make them feel as if they do possess it. And this speaks volumes about our culture's perception of beauty and the importance of beauty.

Pretty people have an easier time in life. We are drawn to beautiful things, to sunsets and mountains and winding rivers; it is no different with beautiful people. We are drawn to them and to their beauty; we want to befriend them, stay close to them; even if we are not aware of this intention, there is something inherently magnetic about beautiful people. Look at the actors of Hollywood; almost all of them are stunningly gorgeous because it's the beautiful people that draw directors, the beautiful people that are chosen for lead roles. We have all gone to see a movie just because Ryan Reynolds or Angelina Jolie or another beautiful actor or actress played a role in that movie. We can stomach bad plots if the characters are beautiful. Beauty trumps all.

But not everyone is beautiful. Not everyone on the street is as gorgeous as Angelina Jolie or as stunningly handsome as Ryan Reynolds. And this fascination with beauty isn't just detrimental to those who lack a beautiful face—even for those lucky few that are objectively gorgeous, the obsession with beauty is unhealthy.

Those without beautiful faces and bodies are expected to buy their beauty with tubes of foundation and stringent diets. Those who already have beautiful faces and bodies are expected to maintain their beauty with anti-aging creams and rigorous workouts. No matter which side you fall on, you're negatively affected by the obsession with beauty. Not that our fascination with beauty is, by any means, a new faucet of modern society. But, with the emergence of movies and social media, the importance of beauty is brought all the more into the spotlight.

So what's the solution? That all the comments on that YouTuber's page should be scorning her bad looks? Or the opposite, that the comment should be filled with false praise? I propose neither. Instead of focusing on beauty—one way or the other—we should strive to let go of it completely. Beauty reflects nothing except lucky genetics. It is our minds and hearts that affect the world most. Instead of filling every middle school girl with insecurities about her acne and weight, instead of shaming bigger men and women, instead of commending the beauty of those unworthy of such praise, we should forget about beauty completely and attempt to view everyone as a unique soul, independent of their outward appearance.

Obviously, this can't happen overnight. The implications of letting go of beauty extend far and wide, from the multibillion-dollar makeup industry to the way that almost every product is advertised on TV and in magazines. But maybe, instead of praising that YouTuber for nonexistent beauty, compliment her skill at commanding makeup. Instead of going to movies with Ryan Reynolds or Angelina Jolie, look for movies that have a message and a strong plot. Instead of silently judging the girl who wears too much makeup, or the boy who's a little on the chubby side or the older woman with gray-streaked hair, give everyone c chance. In the end, it's not our outward beauty that matters. Outward beauty is fleeting; everyone loses it eventually, but it plays far too big a role in today's society. Currently, being beautiful is subconsciously equated with being successful; instead, equate things such as intelligence, hard work and determination with success. We think of successful lawyers as attractive, stately-looking and well-dressed; instead, think of them as focused, clever and perseverant. Don't think of actors as those beautiful Hollywood people, but instead ordinary, everyday folks who are talented at acting.

We will probably never overthrow our fascination with beauty completely, but hopefully, one person at a time, we can lessen its importance. Beauty is not a measure of worth, and it's time our culture learned that essential truth.