There are so many clichés attached to the word, beauty. But one cliché that has been repeatedly brought up goes like this; “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.” Over the years the standard of beauty all around the world shifts around a lot of different things. Clothing, make-up, body shapes and sizes, and even skin color (Not the racism kind!)
Over the years, the beauty of a man or woman became a social construct. A thing that all genders alike had to conform to. You had to be a certain size, be a certain shade, wear a certain type of outfit and look a certain type of way before you were deemed beautiful.
Would anyone believe that nearly two thousand years ago, men and women who suffered from any kind of handicap were not allowed to worship in the temple because they were not whole?
In the light of this, many girls and boys have crawled into their shells afraid to show themselves in public because they do not want to be shunned. Some go as far as concealing what they really look like; turning to makeup, plastic surgery, and some even starve themselves to improve their body types or shapes.
Even though we have come a long way from the time of Christ, there is still discrimination happening in 2018. However, this is an age that a few people have begun to call “the age of inclusion” (for all body types and genders and basically any group you can name,) human beings will be human beings and allow themselves to fall prey to the need to bring someone else down so that their egos can be fed.
Call 2018 whatever kind of year you must. But in this age, beauty is completely defined by the ‘slay queens’ on social media. Young women who seem to have the ‘perfect’ body shapes and perfect skin and perfect smiles.
When will the standard of beauty be something we can all believe in? Something that is really inclusive and does not leave anyone out. What people look like is not a trend that can be changed or ‘upgraded’.
