Beauty.
Describe it.
Can you?
Probably not.
....and it is okay.
What do you consider to be beautiful?
This is a question of the ages. It is really sad that our world's perception of beauty often refers back to race, but it is true. I was sitting at lunch with a few of my friends, and they all began to discuss beauty and if they were seen as beautiful in our society.
One of my friends looks a little like the girl in the picture to the right:
Brown Skin
Full Lips
Deep Brown Eyes
Smooth Skin
Pearly White Teeth
...I see this as beauty.
I believe my friend is stunning, but she does not believe so. She said, "When I watch movies and drive pass billboards, and look at Vogue magazine covers, I don't see people who look like me. I see the idea of a 'perfect' woman". "What is the perfect woman?", I inquired. She then looked embarrassed and described a woman that was similar to the woman pictured on the left. When she described a Caucasian woman as being the epitome of beauty, my stomach dropped to my knees. What lead her to believe that the beauty that she possessed was not worth having? Who made her feel ugly?
When I was younger people ridiculed me for my dark skin. I remember praying to God that one day he would lighten my skin; make me attractive. Now, I love my skin. I love me. I love what my deep, chocolate skin represents. My skin represents my past; it represents the strength, and perseverance of my people. I now wear my skin as a badge of honor, and I dare anyone to say that I am not beautiful. I am proud to be African-American. I wish everyone could understand that there is beauty within everything and everyone. Everyone has something beautiful to offer this world.
Beauty doesn't have a definition. It is one of the most abstract things about our world.
I have one question to ask you:
Am I Beautiful?
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