Sarah Walker

Beauty

I had never considered what it meant to be beautiful up until I joined the world of Instagram.

Teenagers can show off their good times to all their friends and acquaintances. Instagram was fun and

harmless at first. I posted some pictures of myself and friends and people liked my pictures but I never

paid much attention. After a few months, and some observing of how my friends used Instagram, it began

more than just simple pictures. The pictures had to look like I was having a blast; they had to look like my

life was great. I had to make sure I looked good in the pictures so that other people would think I was

beautiful. Looking good meant that I had to look like the social standard of a beautiful girl. From what

I’ve heard from boys and the world of Instagram, a beautiful girl would have a pretty face, thin thighs, big

butt, flat stomach, nice hair.

Posting a picture became about the number of “likes” people gave me. There were pictures I was

devastated they did not get enough likes and I felt the need to delete. I began to take the number of

comments and likes I got personally. If I didn’t get enough likes on my picture, is it because she is more

beautiful than me? What does that mean? I began to let Instagram, and the friends and acquaintances of

that world dictate how I saw myself. My confidence lowered, I was not beautiful. There was no way I

could be beautiful if the picture I posted of myself only got 127 likes and 10 comments when my best

friend’s picture of herself got 218 likes and 34 comments.

In high school, girls are constantly discussing the “hottest” boys in the school. In other words,

they discuss the boys that are the most visually appealing; the most beautiful ones. I find that in many of

these conversations, the discussion begins with a beautiful boy but ends with an ugly personality.

Likewise, I hear high school boys saying a girl is hot but has no personality. In the eyes of my peers, and

admittedly myself, beauty is all about appearance.

 On multiple occasions, I would watch with horror as my guy friends scrolled through their

Instagram feed with each other, “Hey man, check this girl out, look at how hot she is.” Scroll down a few

pictures and say, “Wow I feel bad for this chick look at how ugly she is.” I sat in silence, eyes bulged,

wondering, ​what do they think about me? ​Was I one of the girls boys would call hot, was I beautiful? Or

was I one of the unlucky girls who boys pitied and called ugly?

My girl friends and I always scroll through Instagram on prom night. We fantasize about the days

when we would get to go to prom ourselves. Dressing up, looking our best, posting pictures for everyone

on Instagram to see us. We scrolled through our Instagram feed together, “Wow she looks gorgeous, I

loveeee her dress!” Scroll down a few pictures and say, “Yikes I feel bad for her, her dress fits her wrong

and her hair looks a mess.” Now I nearly dread the thought of prom. Will I be one of the girls people

would call gorgeous, hot, beautiful? Or will I be one of the unfortunate girls who people pity and judge?

The social standards for beauty are constantly changing. Even just ten years ago they were not the

same as they are today. People’s perceptions of beauty are ambiguous. I have caught myself and my own

convictions to be obscure. I remember the first time I saw a pair of combat boots one day while shopping,

I wondered who would ever buy them. Sure enough, within a month nearly everyone I knew had a pair of

combat boots. I gave in and bought them. They ended up being my favorite pair of shoes. Social standards

affect my opinions much more than I realize, even though I often pride myself on being able to form my

own opinions not based off someone else’s.

Still, Instagram and social standards are laws to live by in my teenage society. It is easy to get

caught up in the Instagram angles and makeup and filters that help boost a person’s physical beauty. It is

easy to call something beautiful when everyone else is calling it beautiful. When I think of something

being beautiful, I picture a boy calling a girl beautiful, or I picture a beautiful landscape. I picture people

or places that are universally beautiful. There may be social standards which define beauty, but it will

never really be universal.