Girl Talk: Pretty

What does 'Pretty' mean to you?

 

This weeks 'Girl Talk' may seem like more of a rant, but it is something that I feel very strongly about and I thought this would be the perfect place to talk about it.

What does it mean to be pretty? Does it mean that you have the longest hair, the straightest teeth, the smallest nose?

Yes, it means all of the above and none of the above at the same time.

Beauty is completely subjective. Different people find completely different things pretty. So why do most girls do things to change themselves, to make them fit only ONE definition of the word pretty? For example, many girls try hard (sometimes too hard) to lose weight, because they believe that the universal version of the word 'pretty' is a girl who has no extra weight. Girls plaster their faces with make-up because they believe that the universal version of pretty is 'flawless'. No spots of marks allowed.

I hate this.

We were made the way that we are for a reason. Changing ourselves is completely pointless if we believe that there is someone out there who will love us for the way that we are, faults and all. No one is perfect, and we need to stop trying to change ourselves so that someone else can see us that way. That's not real. If someone likes us for who we pretend to be, we will never know if they would've loved us for who we really are.



If you've been listening to the latest music recently, you probably would've seen the video for Beyoncé's latest video 'Pretty Hurts'. I saw this whole for the first time today, and some of the lyrics made me positive that I wanted to write this post as soon as possible.

It says:
Mama said, "You're a pretty girl.
What's in your head, it doesn't matter
Brush your hair, fix your teeth.
What you wear is all that matters."

I think that many people in today's society have the same attitude. They value their looks much more than anything else. I think this is unhealthy. I'm not saying that you shouldn't want to look nice, or that you shouldn't care about how you look, because that isn't true. The way that you present yourself shows the people around you the kind of person that you are, and you shouldn't ignore your looks. But if your looks are the only thing that you like about yourself, then you're in for a big shock. I assume that most of the people reading this post are under the age of 20. In 10 years, you're going to look different. In 20 years, you're going to look even more different. Don't allow your looks to be the thing that gets you through life, let your personality shine through.

My favourite lyrics from the song are:
Pretty hurts, we shine the light on whatever's worst
Perfection is a disease of a nation, pretty hurts, pretty hurts

Because it is completely true. We all focus on what our biggest flaws are rather then looking at what the best aspects of ourselves are. Society makes us think that we have to be perfect, but perfection is an illusion. Don't strive for something that if impossible to achieve.

Thank you for reading.
Comment below how you feel about society's version of perfection.
What should 'Girl Talk' be about next week? Leave a comment below!