once attended a youth event where a speaker, riffing on women’s issues, announced that all of the young women in the room were very beautiful. Yes, no matter what anyone else said, that was the truth of it. There was some awkward shuffling and some applause among my peers.
Dove Beauty Campaign
Photo: Dove
The male speaker went on to say that though we were all different sizes and ages and races, we were all beautiful. Like many woman in the room, I understood that what is considered beautiful in the United States mainstream is often narrow, often light-skinned and thin and young, so had this been an audition for a soap commercial, the words might have sounded inspiring.
But this was a spiritual event—not a beauty pageant, so I was left puzzled. And though many women I know express some anxiety over not achieving ideal beauty standards (or fear that others can’t take us seriously when we deviate from those societal ideals), we’re also aware that beauty is not our highest aim. After all, there’s work, service, and self-actualization to consider.
So why can’t everyone stop talking about beauty already?
BEAUTY AS WORTH
It has become a sort of validation that we give to women—the word beauty. If she is a kind person we say she is beautiful inside and out, though why the “out” is important, I’m not sure. If she’s a young woman with a powerful voice, we introduce her as the beautiful and talented singer, though her appearance has little to do with her voice.
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