Gasp! I’ve said the unspeakable. This isn’t a click bait title where I twist this back around to saying yes, you are all beautiful. No, we aren’t all beautiful, and that is quite okay. Here’s why the positivity movement of telling everyone they are beautiful is sending the wrong message entirely.
It takes away from the meaning of the word
If everyone is beautiful, then no one is beautiful. An adjective, or any word really, can not have a meaning if it is applied to everything. Beauty is defined as – the quality present in a thing or person that gives intense pleasure or deep satisfaction to the mind. I think it is quite obvious that the large majority of people out there do not bring intense pleasure to look at. There are very few people that are truly unattractive, but the vast majority of us are just average. Which is obvious in the word itself. Average means – typical; common; ordinary. It is only logical that common = most of the population, or it wouldn’t be common.
It feeds delusions
Quite frankly there are too many women out there thinking they are in the top tier of looks when they are once again, average. We feed women this message constantly. They are gorgeous no matter what, they deserve whatever they want, never settle, and so on. This is just leading to a lot of lonely men and women. Overinflated egos on both ends are making people think they are too good for everyone they meet, and then everyone just winds up alone.
It’s not a real compliment anymore
There are some truly beautiful people out there. But do they even believe it when they hear it? We all know that everybody is calling everybody else beautiful all day (to their face anyway). Especially for a woman, it’s the first compliment anyone will throw at you. I personally hear it a lot, but it doesn’t mean anything to me because I see it being said to just about everyone. Now if someone tells me I’m smart or a good driver, I actually take that compliment in because it isn’t thrown at everybody. We all have our talents and positive attributes that are worthy of complimenting. Let the pretty people have theirs legitimately.
It does the opposite of what is intended
The idea that most people can hardly have an interaction with a girl or woman without telling them they are beautiful just shows how much we value it. I thought that was what we are trying to get away from? Isn’t the new message that beauty isn’t everything? It’s not your value? There’s so much more to you than looks? Yet, we are saying the exact opposite with the obsession of telling everyone they are beautiful no matter what. We should be normalizing not commenting on it at all if anything. Telling every young girl how pretty she is just makes her think that’s her value from the start.
How often do men get told how attractive they are? Almost never, unless they actually truly are. Otherwise, it’s just not mentioned whatsoever. If anything, men constantly are roasted by peers and friends about being funny looking even when they aren’t.
Takeaway
Let me be clear, I am not saying to go around telling everyone they are mid. But I think as a whole we all should all stop defaulting to telling every woman she is beautiful no matter what. It emphasizes that beauty is what is important, and it takes away from the meaning of the compliment. Leave that to her parents; they really believe it.
What do you think? Agree or disagree, let me know below!