Beauty Definition Essay

Beauty is one of the most prevalent themes in the world. But what is beauty exactly? According to the Oxford Dictionary beauty is A combination of qualities, such as shape, color, or form, that pleases the aesthetic senses, especially the sight. Based on the definition, one would assume that beauty is only on outward appearance but that statement is false. Beauty is not only appearance but it is also what people cannot see. Beauty is about being beautiful on the inside not just the outside. The media has fooled so many people into thinking the opposite. Beauty is not only outward appearance. People are not beautiful because they have the most expensive clothes or the shiniest hair. Beauty is not having the clearest skin; beauty is not about being thin; beauty is not having the fullest eyelashes; beauty is not about appearance at all. Many people look at allure as something they can obtain from putting a lot of time into their appearance. I remember in high school there was a girl nam ed Jenna; Jenna had all the coolest clothes and always made sure she looked good. I remember envying her for her shinny hair and perfect teeth. Everyone seemed convinced that this girl was beautiful even I. Until one day I was walking past a classroom, I could hear faint voices coming out and I knew that there wasn’t supposed to be anyone in the class. I creeped closer listening to the whispers when I immediately recognized a familiar voice. It was Jenna’s and she was saying horrible things about her â€Å"best friend†. At that moment I realized that Jenna wasn’t so beautiful after all. All the clothes and makeup could not hide the fact that she had an ugly soul. The soul is what makes people beautiful. Being alluring is far deeper than just being attractive; it is about being a good person. You cannot see beauty but you can see what makes people beautiful. The person who stops when they see a stray animal sitting in the sidewalk is beautiful. The person who gives their last dollar to the homeless man is beautiful. The person who goes out of their way to be friendly to everyone they meet is beautiful. The person who puts the greater good for humanity before the greater good for themselves is beautiful. Audrey Hepburn an actress in the 50’s was one of the very first actresses to recognize that beauty isn’t always just appearance. She states that â€Å"The beauty of a woman is not in the clothes she wears, the figure that she carries, or the way she combs her hair. The beauty of a woman is seen in her eyes, because that is the doorway  to her heart, the place where love resides. True beauty in a woman is reflected in her soul.† Todays media has done a terrific job in portraying allure as something that one can obtain from appearance. Media has convinced the world that beauty is only outward appearance. Today you cannot go five minutes without seeing a beauty ad; they’re everywhere. Turn on the television and you’ll see an ad for shampoo that shows a smiling girl claiming that her hair is now shinier. Drive down the street and you’ll see a billboard for an acne medication that claims it gives you ‘beautiful’ looking skin. These companies are preying on girls insecurities to make money. They claim that if you buy their product, you too can look beautiful. In reality no product can make a person beautiful because beauty is not something that you can see. Many girls look up to stars like Katy Perry, Hayden Panettiere and Emma Stone; all of who are advertising beauty products. When girls watch their favorite stars advertise makeup and other beauty products it gives the girls a false sense of beauty. It teaches our youth that by using a certain product then they can achieve beauty; if they wear a certain makeup then they will be â€Å"beautiful† like their favorite celebrities. Today’s media has put enormous pressure on young girls to be thin. Every commercial and billboard and magazine ad portrays a size zero model, always photoshopped. Young people look at these women and think that in order to be beautiful that they too have to be that thin leading to unhealthy decisions and life threatening illnesses. According to the National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders, 24 million people in the United States alone suffer form some sort of eating disorder. 24 million people think that their body is not good enough to fit societies definition of beautiful. 24 million people think that the only way to be beautiful is by harming their bodies. This number can be lowered dramatically if media stopped putting the emphasis of beauty on physical appearance. Beauty is not outward appearance but inner appearance. Beauty is having a beautiful soul and being a good person all around. Media has given society a false view on what really is beautiful. The next time you find yourself judging someone based upon their looks think again; beauty is not just what you can see, its what you cannot.