You Beauty! “You wanna be on Top?” The question the infamous Tyra Banks posed to a group of 10 girls in May 2003 when she aired the very first cycle of America’s Next Top Model; little did she know it would become a worldwide phenomenon shown in over 170 countries! Tyra Banks first created the television modelling contest to help girls break into the fashion industry and to find new, raw talent. But with wonderful success comes a hell of a lot of responsibility, to the contestants and the fans. Through ANTM (as it is so frequently referred to these days) Tyra has been able to not only help the contestants but help the entire world to see beauty in different ways. She has been able to hugely challenge our perception of what we believe to be beautiful. Over the years Tyra has picked girls that may not have been the most obvious beauty’s, as well as “Plus” or “Real size” models, for example Whitney, who won cycle 10 and Samantha the runner-up for cycle 11. This then progressed and in season 13 Tyra hosted a cycle of Petite Models for girls 5’7 and under, the smallest girl being Sundai Love at a tiny 5’3! making a statement to the modelling world that you don’t have to be 6’ to be beautiful. We live in a culture that places a lot of emphasis on looking good. In our world, research has shown that your appearance can heavily impact on your success in the workplace as well as other areas of life. Unfortunately we seem to have a very narrow view on what looks good and what makes a person beautiful. In the modelling world we often see people who we would not necessarily describe as beautiful but striking! Women with strong and edgy looks, things that make them stand out in a crowd. (Though I am sure we would all agree that this doesn’t carry over to male models, who are all obviously dreamy and handsome!!!) When I first started watching ANTM I sometimes questioned some of the choices made, but over the years and the cycles I have noticed that the way I have been programmed has changed, and I now see beauty in a very different way. I am more able to understand what makes someone beautiful and I have noticed that sometimes it is a slight imperfection that is the key to making a person beautiful. There is a fine line between love and hate and there is another between ugly and beautiful!
Of course all people naturally have different perceptions of beauty but what we need to learn is to broaden our outlook and see beauty for what it really is! Beauty is not only skin deep, I have found that sometimes I think someone is beautiful but they don’t have the personality to match! To me there is one thing that makes someone beautiful, and that is a sparkle in their eye! If a person is warm, kind and caring it can transform them into the most beautiful and eyecatching person in the room. Simon Cowell may call it the X Factor but I like to call it, Je Ne Sais Quoi! Beauty is that special something that makes someone stand out as much as it is about the features on their face! Tyra has started the new beauty movement but now it is up to us to absorb what she has preached and believe that the key to being beautiful is being unique. After all, if we all looked identical we wouldn’t know what beauty was would we?! Kerry-Louise Barnaby Guest Writer