STAFF EDITORIAL

IS SELF-WORTH DETERMINED BY BEAUTY?

YES:0 NO:9

At its surface, the “All Bodies Are Beautiful” movement is a great way to instill confidence in women of all ages. The goal is that, through the repetition of this phrase, women will realize that their bodies are beautiful no matter their shape or size.

However, after a deeper reflection, there is a fundamental issue with this movement: why must a body be considered attractive to be worth something?

Though we are told otherwise, beauty cannot be the most important aspect in life. So many details should be considered more important, such as building meaningful relationships with one another or strengthening your confidence from a place other than your physical traits. Unfortunately, decades of models in magazines and Instagram influencers have led society to believe that one is only worth something if one is beautiful.

This, however, is untrue, and the idea must be immediately forgotten.

Not only is beauty subjective, but society’s idea of beauty changes constantly. This proves that “beauty” is not something that should be chased, as it will be a neverending pursuit.

Also, continuous exposure to the “thin-ideal” that is widespread on social media contributes negatively to women’s mental health. In 2010, researchers from Utah discovered that exposure to these images increased negative mood states and eating disorders, while also decreasing self-esteem.

These issues stretch beyond the body positivity movement; they come from problems ingrained in our society such as “pretty privilege,” which is the social advantages that conventionally attractive people benefit from, according to Allure.com.

It’s also important to note that men are also impacted by social media and advertising, and struggle with body confidence as much as women. In fact, according to research from YouGov in the UK, younger men have nearly equal the amount of body image issues as women.

In reality, the matter of body image in our society will not be fixed anytime soon; however, it can start to change when we refuse to partake in the concept of beauty that is fed to us.

Your body does not have to be beautiful for you to be worth something. Your body is the very thing that carries you through life. Your body should be celebrated, not for its beauty, but for its function.