"Look in the mirror. Beauty is you."

I came across a quote by one of my faves (Tyra Banks) and immediately thought about writing an article based on it. The quote read:"Look in the mirror. Beauty is you." Now I know that statements promoting inclusiveness in terms of beauty seem rather shallow when made by women who fit society's beauty standards but this shouldn't even be the case. Yes, Tyra Banks is a supermodel but like everyone of us, she has her own insecurities. Plus, society's beauty standards are stupid and shallow so judging those who meet them is just as bad as judging those who don't. Like many of us, Tyra Banks acknowledges and embraces her insecuties, bearing in mind that she's beautiful regardless of having them. Okay, let me stop being the fan that I am and get to writing.

We are all different. We all have different genetic makeups which is why our physical features differ in shape and size. How then are we able to decide who's beautiful and who isn't? On what grounds and according to which criteria do we base our theories?

For many years, women have been subjested to different beauty standards which have been anything but inclusive. Despite society becoming more accepting, over the years, we still haven't been able to wipe out beauty standards completely. Matter of fact, we haven't even been able to wipe them out partially. As much as I want to blame society, I simply can't because WE ARE SOCIETY!

I understand that we as women have been taught to see each other as competition throughout our entire lives but is that reason enough for us to rate each other, and ourselves using these beauty standards forever? For how long are we going to continue to measure our individual, unique beauty (unique meaning that it's the only beauty of it's kind) using the same ruler despite us being totally different from each other?

Not so long ago, being slim and having thin lips was considered beautiful. In 2019 however, women are feeling pressured to undergo cosmetic surgery in order to become "thick" and get lip injections because plump lips are just "better." My point? Just do you babe. Beauty standards will continue evolving. The one thing they will never do is cater for everyone. That is just how our mindsets have been channeled as a society. It is impossible to change a whole society's mindset. However, it is possible to change your own.

Rock the unique features (unique is a synonym for beautiful btw) that you were blessed with and forget about beauty standards. They weren't made for you. You're unique, remember? Don't let fashion magazines and social media define beauty for you. There is only one you. Only you can define beauty for yourself. Look in the mirror. Beauty is you.