Another week gone; another fifty people asking me, “Hey! How’s the no makeup thing going?” My favorite is when people say, “I saw your post about Natural Beauty Month—what a great idea… I mean, I can’t do it, but it’s a cool idea…” When I ask them politely, “Why can’t you do it?” they inevitably respond with the same things: "I’m too old—you’ll understand when you’re 40/50/60" or "I literally have no eyelashes unless I put on mascara—you’d understand if you had blond hair" or "I can’t go without foundation—you have good skin so you wouldn’t understand!"
I hear all these reasons, and I get it. I am 27—not even into my 30s, let alone my 40s, 50s, or 60s; I do have (relatively) dark eyelashes; I don’t understand what it’s like to have "bad” skin; I even have what society tells me is a highly coveted body: tall and slender. It is these things combined that prompted one of my friends to tell me, “You know, there are probably some people who resent you for creating Natural Beauty Month—like, ‘sure, Abby can not wear makeup—she’s already got a good body and a pretty face.’ Other people are not so lucky.” Again, I hear this, and I get it. (And don’t worry, I have already felt guilty about the genes I have been given.) But my friend’s observation ignores a key issue: looking “pretty” is not the point of Natural Beauty Month.
Cameron Russell, a 25-year-old American model, gave a TED talk recently where she dispelled the idea that being "naturally good-looking" leads to healthy self-esteem. She admitted to reaping the benefits of being physically beautiful, of which there are many: absolution from speeding tickets, special treatment from strangers, and of course, making a very comfortable living without exerting much effort, to name a few. As a model, she said, being acutely aware of her physical image is part of her job—and as most of us can attest, this sort of awareness often leads to insecurity. Do pretty people get special treatment? Yes. Does this mean we should all try to be prettier so that we can receive special treatment, too? No.
How others judge our appearance has nothing to do with us; how we judge others’ appearances does. When I look at another woman and ask myself if she’s prettier than I am, I am the one making myself insecure, not her. And since attractiveness is largely a matter of opinion anyway, to judge one as “hot or not” is not only self-serving, but also absurd. There are many things we can control, regarding our bodies: how much we exercise, what we eat, how much we sleep, how deeply we breathe... But there are many things we cannot control: how tall we are, the structure of our bones, the color of our skin. In these last two (official) weeks of Natural Beauty Month, I encourage you to appreciate your physical body, to love and care for it, no matter what state it is in. Examine yourself honestly, and talk to yourself gently. Cultivate your health and happiness, for they are rooted much deeper than physical image.
