A pretty girl walks in to school and all eyes are on her. Every girl wants to be her, and every guy wants to be with her. People swarm to her, hoping to be her friend and hoping for some gratification in being liked by her. It seems as if she can do no wrong, and no matter how mean or nice, how smart – or not so much --, how humble or conceited, people still want to be with her. She instantly becomes popular, and anyone who says something bad about her is automatically jealous.
In our society, beauty seems to be what matters, not intelligence, not kindness, not confidence. Beauty. Studies have shown that beautiful people get special treatment from employers, friends, strangers, and even their own families. They reap social and economic gains as well, from a larger dating pool to choose from to lighter punishment in criminal courts – just look at Paris Hilton. She cried, and her jail sentence was reduced from forty-five days to twenty-three days.
Studies have also shown that women care far more about their appearances than men do. In one such study, women and men were placed in a room and given math problems to complete. On average, the women scored the same as or higher than the men taking the test. The same group of people were brought back into the room again later, but this time, they were clad only in swimsuits. The women faired worse on the second test, because they were so worried about how they looked in their swimsuits compared to the other women in the room and in the eyes of the men that they could not concentrate on crunching numbers. Women compare themselves to other, prettier girls, and are disappointed with the conclusion that they are ugly. They also look at the small imperfections and pick each part of their face apart, rather than looking at themselves as a whole, the way they would normally look at everyone else. If they have a bump on their nose, they see it as a huge flaw that makes them ugly, but if their friend has one, it is something that gives her character, and makes her even prettier. Girls tend to look at themselves as far less attractive than they truly are and pick themselves apart with a fine-toothed comb. This is, in part, because of the standards that have been set for beauty.
If you look at the models and actresses of today, they seem to be flawless. They are, for the most part, tall and thin, with gorgeous flowing hair, perfect facial structures – real or acquired through plastic surgery – and award winning smiles. Every girl – myself included – wants to look like them to some extent. There is always something about us we don’t like: our nose, our smile, our hair, our skin, our body. There is always something we want to change. We often wish that we could look like those celebrities and models, that it would be easier, and that people would like us more. In part, this is true, because in today’s society, beauty is often what gets people noticed. It is what draws attraction, and it is at some times what keeps it. Some girls even go as far as starving themselves to look more like the famous people they see on television, in movies, and in magazines. They will stop at no ends to meet their goals of perfection – an oftentimes-unobtainable goal. Even the images of celebrities are airbrushed to meet these unreachable standards.
However, that is not to say that the entire world is full of shallow people who only see beauty on the surface. There are plenty of people who care more about inner beauty rather than beauty on the outside. Kindness, intelligence, and humbleness are extremely important qualities that can overpower surface beauty in the eyes of many people.
With that being said, why do so many girls care so much about their appearance and constantly try to change it? Again, because of the pressures of society. Although it is perfectly well known that all people don’t only care about appearances on the outside, we still feel that we are not good enough. Those who are shallow often overshadow the more realistic people in the world. We tend to listen to the negative opinions rather than the positive ones. One negative comment can overpower multiple positive ones. If someone says that a big nose is unattractive, but another person says that it is a unique characteristic that one doesn’t need to complain about, girls will almost undoubtedly remember and take the negative comment to heart more than the positive comment that was made. Thus, girls spend hours doing their hair and make up, and trying to look their best, just to get noticed, to feel prettier, or to feel better about themselves. Instead of being thankful for what we have, we tear ourselves apart, and are often not satisfied with what we see.
There are always exceptions to the stereotypical views of society, though. Not all girls look at themselves in the mirror and hate what they see. Many girls are perfectly content, if not completely happy, with the way they look. They may not always look like supermodels, but at least they are comfortable with themselves and the way they look. They don’t worry so much about what others think, and carry themselves with confidence, because they are happy with the way they look, bringing forth true beauty. Studies have shown that this is the way most males carry themselves. They place less value on their own appearances than females do, but some also care too much about females’ appearances.
In short, far too much value is placed on physical appearances in today’s society. Pretty people often times earn more respect and get special treatment, but not all people in this world see outer beauty as a thing of utmost importance. Many people care more about the inner qualities others possess. Inner beauty can overshadow outer beauty on many occasions. However, girls still care far too much about their appearances based on their own views of themselves, based on the standards that seem to be placed on beauty, and based on what others tell them. In a perfect world, everyone would be able to feel good about themselves without having to put on pounds of make up and feeling the need compare themselves with others.
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