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Beautiful is NOT Uniform

This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at JMU chapter.

Have you ever noticed that no two fingerprints are the same? Even twins’ fingerprints? Have you ever wanted curls because you have straight hair, or blonde because you’re a brunette? How about a bigger butt, smaller waist, and bigger boobs? The bigger question is WHY do we want these things? WHY do we notice that other people are different than us and we envy what we don’t have?

The truth is, the why doesn’t really matter. What truly matters is recognition that beauty is not something you can find in a book to be a concrete definition. There are so many differences in the world, in a country, in a community, in a family, even in a generation within a family. None of us are the same!

So why do we obsess over whom we aren’t? Part of it could be that we’ve always held the idea that in order to get a man, we have to be skinny. Well let me tell you something, I’ve learned that a grade in a class doesn’t determine your intelligence, so there’s no way to justify that your weight determines how good of a person you are. Another reason could be that someone we trust and respect told us that we can’t say or do certain things because, “it’s not lady-like.” Well Marilyn Monroe said it all, and she said it right, “Well behaved women seldom make history.”

How are we going to make a difference in the world if we all act the same because of what we are told? And how can we influence others to be true to who they are if all we want is to be something we are not? We can’t. It is as simple as that. We are not meant to be the same. We are not meant to think the same way. If everyone thought the same way or the same thing, there would be no room for change. There would be no possibility of change.

Society has created certain scopes of beauty for us to follow, but that does not mean we have to fit into those scopes. It also does not mean that we aren’t beautiful in our own way. We often change to conform to society, but if we no longer conform then society will conform to us.

Do all brunettes look the same? What about all blondes? Do all girls with big boobs automatically appeal to more guys? Do all girls with big butts have to be a certain way because “baby got back?” Do twins have to act the same way because they look the same? If I’m not a size 2 does that mean I’m not normal? If I wear makeup does that make me fake? If I don’t wear the latest trend does that make me stupid?

No. The answer to all of those is no! There is no one right way to be beautiful—except by being YOU. We have to be who we are because everyone else is already taken. We must love ourselves first and believe that we are put in this world to be someone else’s reason to believe. If we are confident and happy in our own skin, someone else will believe that they do not need to be perfect either.

Have you ever thought "Am I the only one who..."? I'm sure you have, and I promise you're not. Live the life you love. I don't take things too seriously, because life is too short to be so obsessed with what everyone thinks of me. I became a writer so I could say what everyone else is thinking. I believe that treating others the way you want to be treated means you will never have to regret a decision you make. I make mistakes, but that's what makes great articles!