We’ve all heard the compliments, “You’re beautiful! You’re perfect! Oh my god, I wish I could be you!” In reality are these compliments or are they statements? In today’s society everyone has a celebrity icon with all the makeup, glitz, and fashion. They always look drop dead gorgeous. For a typical person who is part of the everyday group of normal non-celeb people, this is a hard look to achieve.

If you do master it, everyone is quick to tell you how gorgeous you look. Why do we try so hard for this? Why do we try to top each other in our looks rather than with our minds? People state every day in books, articles, and ad surveys that they want a girl or guy who is smart and has a future ahead of them rather than someone who is just a pretty face. When we look at social media and movies though, all we see is a pretty face. When we see a picture of a guy or girl with rock hard abs, make-up, and the outfits “on point,” the comment that instantly comes is, “Why can’t I be you?” or, “I wish my man or girl looked like you,” followed by the crying and heart faced emojis.

Today's Society

For the everyday boy or girl, this is a blow to his or her self-esteem. This is the moment in that person's day where they go look in the mirror and take a deep breath sucking in their stomach as they think, “Maybe if I was a little smaller, they would like me more.” Or they wipe their makeup off just to re-apply it in hopes it will look as flawless as they see in the magazines. Regardless of what they do, they can always point out their imperfections.

Is this what our society has come to? Should we just accept people have no self-esteem because they cannot see what true beauty is? Many ask what true beauty is, and that cannot be answered. That’s what's wonderful about beauty. There should be no true answer, and everyone is beautiful in their own way.

What is Real Beauty?

Beauty isn’t about who wears their makeup the best, who does their hair the best, or who has the best outfit. True beauty is accepting who you are, what you can do, and learning how far you can go. It is a picture taken by a new photographer catching a moment of a couple spinning around in the leaves not having a care in the world because they have each other. It’s the students standing outside in the dead of winter to raise money for the homeless in our communities so they have food and shelter this winter. It’s the scar-faced solider coming home from war to see his or her family for the first time in years.

Today’s society has been looking at all the glitz and glamour of the world, and they have allowed themselves to confuse what is made to look perfect for actually being perfect. What is perfect is when you can look in the mirror right after you roll out of bed in the morning and smile because you love who you are and where you are at in life. Because as Jennifer Worley states in her story “Fantastical Ideals," “But I know what Beauty looks like. She is short, she is fat, she is tall, she is thin, she is black, brown, yellow, white. Her hair is frizzy, curly, dull, dry, colored, short. She runs, she jumps, she climbs, she’s your mother, your sister, your aunt, cousin, niece, wife…she has scars, pimples, and wrinkles… She’s tired, grumpy, and bloated. She likes pizza, chocolate, burgers, fries, ice cream, and candy. She is you. She is me. She is real, she is beauty.” Beauty is who you are and what you are. Don’t be someone you’re not, because then you’ll never truly be beautiful.