Skin Deep

There was an article in the news recently titled, “Should we stop calling our daughters pretty?” A closer look at the above said article will make one ponder over the truth, if we should indeed stop.
Beauty has always been of paramount importance from time immemorial, more so for women. History tells us how women we’re almost always concerned with looks. From ancient princesses like Cleopatra to the modern day ones, like Kate Middleton, beauty and looks have been given importance, maybe a little too much importance. Which brings us to the question, why were only women or rather mostly women known for their looks? No history ever says a man was known because he was handsome, then why the discrimination.
Looks are important to an extent, but they aren’t everything. There is personal grooming that is required to make one look presentable, however, one shouldn’t be shallow and be preoccupied with their looks alone. The modern culture has made this even worse in the recent past. Girls as young as five or six years of age have become conscious of their looks. Eating disorders are on the increase and the number of rehabilitation centers springing up to council people is alarming. People have become increasingly conscious of their looks and this makes one wonder what went wrong. From curves being considered beautiful on a woman to size zero being the most sought after, one should wonder what went wrong.
American lawyer and TV host Lisa Bloom states that by constantly praising young girls or women for being pretty, the society is telling them that looks are more important than anything else. It seems to have become imperative to look one’s best 24x7. This is causing women to become increasingly unhappy. And if we should blame the Western culture for causing this, then we should look again. Indians are just as obsessed with looks as the Westerners. Switch on the television set and Fair&Lovely ads pop up once every thirty seconds telling women that being fair will make them have the world eating out of their hands.
In addition to what has been said above, according to the statistics in 2010, India has been ranked number five on the list of countries demanding plastic surgery. The only women role models who get any attention are Bollywood actresses and models who have size zero figures.Even ace tennis players, Saina Nehwal and Sania Mirza were asked if they would enter Bollywood just because they have pretty faces but would Virat Kohli and Suresh Raina ever be asked the same question?
The need to look pretty is inbuilt in every woman. But taking it to the level of wanting to look young forever and have flawless skin can be blamed on men. Age old history tells us that men wanted their women to look the best. But whether anyone has judged what impact it has on the minds of women is yet to be seen. But women in the entire mode of trying to please their man, forget one very important thing. That no matter how much they try, there is still someone else who is thinner and younger looking, prettier and perhaps more surgically enhanced than them.
There is also another way to look at this problem. Men want women to look good, mostly to boost their own ego, so that they can flaunt their amazing looking women in front of their peers and make them seethe with jealousy. But has one stopped and thought if this beauty might just be only external? Just because a person is beautiful on the outside, doesn’t mean she will be on the inside too. She might not be a warm, loving person.
But a woman who looks good on her own, aging gracefully, might be a warm person. Because she knows that looks aren’t everything. That there is more to a person than what meets the eye. She, who believes in internal beauty, is a role model for womankind. And we need more women role models who can be related to. Not all women who are ambitious are shrewish, bossy, selfish and given to swearing. There is the case of a working woman who can juggle house hold chores, kids and work and can be said to be an achiever, an equal. That women can be anything they want to and their talent and hard work will get them where they need to go more than their looks will. And that beauty is only skin deep, but who you are on the inside matters more.