Beauty...

Last night my roommates were crowded around a laptop screen, Googling images of beautiful celebrities and asking questions like "How is it possible to be that gorgeous?" and "Why can't I be that pretty?" etc., etc. This is not the first time they have done this, nor are they the only women I have seen engage in this as a regular pastime. It's just self-deprecating and I don't understand it, and I don't understand whey looked at me like I was crazy when I wanted to leave the room because it was making me sick to my stomach. Habits like that are what make 9 year old years become anorexic, thinking people will only think they're pretty if they're Lindsay Lohan skinny with Angelina's eyes and Pamela's boobs. It absolutely disgusts me that young educated Princetonian women are still holding and comparing themselves to these so-called "standards" of beauty. My roommates are from Ghanaian, Chinese, and Chinese-American--Angelina Jolie is NOT the idea of beauty they should be trying to match. And I really don't want to sit around listening to them talking about why guys think so-and-so is soooooooo hot, because honestly that shouldn't matter. YOU should be your own standard of beauty; be true to yourself and your confidence will shine through, making you beautiful. Guys I've talked to have said that confidence is key--so own yourself, rock your own body, and to introduce my first Quad meme in a blog post: what "society" says "beauty" is? DON'T WORRY ABOUT IT.