Thursday, March 01, 2007

What is Beautiful?

Recently Susan wrote a wonderful post in which she refers to the Dove Campaign for Real Beauty. At the end of her post she told any reader to consider themselves tagged. As soon as I read that I knew I must respond and I immediately thought of this young woman.



As a college professor, I deal with many young women. My job also requires that I consider the meaning of beauty. To me, prettiness is surface and fleeting, but beauty is ageless and truly comes from within. As soon as I met "Medusa" (her own screen name) I knew she was special. She is tall and carries herself with confidence. She defends her opinions (which are well informed) respectfully. She is curious and unsatisfied with partial understanding. She pursues knowledge and creativity with joy. And she is kind. To me she exemplifies what a young woman should be. Happy, smart and beautiful.

So, in the spirit of Susan's post, I'm passing the tag along. Think about what beauty really means and do something about it. Encourage girls and young woman to recognize their own beauty, because I believe it is there in us all.

6 comments:

Susan said...

Fantastic! Thank you so much.

Anonymous said...

Oh, I love it & agree 100%. So many young women (and older ones, too) think that if they don't look like Paris Hilton or the flavor of the day, then they're not beautiful. That is so sad. I've always been more of a fan of quirky beauty (for lack of a better term) & besides, it's what's inside that counts (as my mom says).

Anonymous said...

Such a complex topic - must think over it! (Specially cause my hubby think I am pretty ugly just because I am fat!)

hesira said...

Sandra, your response shows how men are also subject to the barrage of impossible images of the female body. I sent you an email about this, I hope you don't mind.

Sharon said...

fabulous post! I totally agree with you - the most beautiful people in my life are the ones who shine from within.

I'll have to think about this one...

Anonymous said...

I have the lowest self-esteem on this planet.
JM2C,
Noreen