you

I have piece of uncommon knowledge which is going to blow you away, are you ready for it because it is truly shocking... not many people know it because society is so messed up... but did you know you are special, you are amazing, you are beautiful and most of all you are unique, you are perfect just the way you are.

To be perceived as attractive or beautiful in someone’s eyes he beauty standard is essentially a variable standard of what it means to be attractive.

overtime women’s perception of beauty in society has had a colossal change, let’s take it all the way back to Ancient Egyptian times (1292-1069 bc) in this era the ideal women was described as slender, narrow shoulders, high waist, symmetrical face, even in today’s society these features are seemed as attractive… don’t get me wrong yes they are attractive, but is it only attractive because that is what the media has taught me? As times changed into Ancient Greece times (500 – 300 bc) the ideal woman was plump, full bodied, light skin… now in the modern day era these features are deemed as unattractive. Moving on into the Italian Renaissance period (1400-1700) the ideal women would have fair skin, full hips, rounded stomach, now in today’s society this is quite frankly once again seemed as unattractive. In the golden age of Hollywood (1930s-1950s) the ideal woman was described as having curves, hourglass figure, large breasts, slim waist, this sort of body style was accepted into society due to the golden girl of Hollywood Marilyn Monroe, and let’s be real she truly was the queen of Hollywood. As move on into the present the beauty standard is about having a tanned complex, flat stomach, large breasts, small waist, large butt, thigh gap.

Men’s standard of looks overtimes haven’t changed an awful lot, yet they have still changed in the 1900s men’s were to be seen as wrestler’s and strongmen, however only a decade later the beauty standard changed to pure elegance, having a moustache was a style and was considered handsome and masculine. In the 1920s sleek hair and a languishing look, it was ideal to look like the leading man of Hollywood, Rudolph Valentino. As the war time period entered it was important for men to have a military masculinity. From the 1930s the standard of men’s looks started to stay the same, stubble, tall, handsome, muscular.

You can see a trend can’t you? Every couple hundred years the beauty standard change making people feel more and more uncomfortable in their own skin, so why is there so much pressure to look a certain way if the standard of beauty is going to change again? It’s hard to say because I’m a victim of this, If I don’t look how the beauty standards tell me to I feel insecure, I feel fearful that no one will like me for who I am, or who I am pretending to be... insecurities feed mental health issues, it seems as fear is more powerful than power its self, fear over takes our life’s. The amygdala is actually the part in your brain which controls the centre of emotions… the cultural standards of beauty and being attractive promotes unhealthy and unattainable body ideals that motivates people to seek perfection, which quite frankly doesn’t exist seen as every few decades the idea of beauty is going to change again.

While we are busy trying to make our looks more attractive, and keep up with trends, the one thing that hasn’t changed is our personalities, the one thing which is most important of all yet is ‘slid under the rug’ because all people are seemed for are their aesthetics. There is some science behind beauty, apparently that the left side of the face is prettier, if you flip through magazines you will notice that portraits show more of the left side because it is more aesthetically pleasing, scientists believe that we pay closer attention to beautiful people, either it being out of curiosity or romantic interest.

I like to believe that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, it really doesn’t matter what you like, beauty begins the moment you decide to be yourself, beauty is for sure a power but it depends how you wiled that beauty for what your life will turn out like. Having body fat is good, we need it to maintain a good health, it’s just society which try to convince us that our bodies aren’t good enough. The pressure and stress we put on ourselves to look a certain way really take over our lives, you need to know never to give up, it’s not about changing the outside, it’s about changing the inside which will change your whole perspective in life.

I thought I would talk about beauty standards because it plays a massive part in everyday life even if we don’t realise it. it is so uncommon for EVERYONE to know their worth, growing up in today’s society I feel like no one knows how special they truly are because you are only special if you are beautiful. I want to be an actor, I am currently training as an actor but I always felt as if I would never make it in the industry because I don’t have the ideal standard of beauty, it took me ages to realise that I am beautiful because I know my morals, my heart and principles are right place, just because I don’t have the flattest stomach, or the most symmetrical face it doesn’t mean I am not worthy enough to live my life to the fullest, and the same goes for you. One day I am going to make a change in this world, I want everyone to know it is okay to have imperfections, it’s okay to look like the media tell us to. It doesn’t matter how you look; it doesn’t matter about gender. All that matter is you are okay being you and you can achieve great success.

Don’t you dare think for one second you aren’t special, it may have been uncommon knowledge until now, but it something to remember every day from now on.

Be you.