I Like My Mind Better Than My Face, Inner Beauty Vs. The Martial Mask

Dressing up in front of the mirror, perceived as a daily repetition of vanity or a structured routine of self-care, the definition is held at societies standard can be debated as unfair. The age of the ‘selfie’, a more casual form of self-admiration is too often considered a form of confidence or narcissism. The limitations one can reach trying to express their own ideal of beauty is astonishing with the censoring of skin and human anatomy, something that is out of one’s control.  There is a level of disapproval when it comes to nudity or nipples, dominant enough to allow censorship even if it symbolizes beauty to an individual. Profane language or suggestive sexual content is regulated and discarded because it not seen as the ideal form of beauty in the industry. – Why.

An industry or society cannot justify the right being taken away for how an individual chooses to express themselves and their own form of beauty.  A photo should not be taken down of an individual who is proudly showing their chest, just because it is not flat or has extra tissue. Because that is not the standard view of beauty, that one has to maintain a proper character at all times, or else they would seem "fucked up in the head" or too individualistic. It seems as though if anyone tries to be original or true to their own beliefs of beauty it will come back to bite them. We are all humans, we all have nipples. To claim that the human anatomy is obscene, fallow, and disruptive enough to have it be "removed" or "taken down" because it goes against the terms and conditions, is both contradictive and offensive to the individual's rights to own and express their bodies.

The media needs to realize that we are real people with real bodies. Our future youth needs to understand they are beautifully unique not flawed or meant to be retouched by the infamous magic in Photoshop. We are the rebels that embrace the rolls and curl of on our stomach and the cellulite on our skin, our freckles, our birthmarks, our body hair, our acne, but most importantly the beauty within ourselves. One that is not measured by a mirror or scale, one that comes from the kindness within your soul and how you treat people.

Let's reform the beauty industry by re-writing the understandings and expectations of beauty because it is a powerfully influential empire for the youth of the world.  One can argue that that the beauty industry can twist and morph one's sense-of-self and confidence level and perceive it as being a form of vanity and superficialness. Through the standard and expectations that is fed into young minds about what beauty is the visual and verbal representation of the beauty industry has the possibility to make one thrive and crave a negative or unrealistically achievable ideal of beauty. Positive and empowering energy and influence need to be projected onto our youth, so they realize what makes them different makes them beautiful, not something that should be altered or hidden.

Coverage by Alexis Karr

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