I Am Whole as I Am.

There are so many extreme issues I’ve noticed over the past decades and today are caused by beauty
standards. The Hollywood actress, Julia Roberts, exposed hairy armpits at the 1999 premiere of Nothing
Hill at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and then many sitcoms and magazines made fun of her armpit
hair. Worldwide dark-skinned people are being teased especially black people because of the Eurocentric
features people preferred. K-Pop and Korean culture are known for having incredibly harsh beauty
standards and when a Korean idol does not fit their standards, they get heavily bash not just by the
netizens but also by toxic fans. And why do many Filipinos seem to define the beauty standards with our
skin color? “Maputi ka lang, hindi ka maganda.” “Maganda ka sana maitim ka lang.” The whitewashing
industry is toxic. Unlike the west wanting to tan, I feel as though Asia puts more pressure on needing to
look a certain way. Promoting and advertising light skin to an audience with a majority of tan skin is
harmful, especially to the youth. We shouldn’t be okay-ing this. Let’s be real, being light is a privilege. It’s
no longer just a preference, but a mindset we should go against. There are many people who try their
hardest to mold into a body type that is simply so unobtainable and unrealistic just to fit in the “beauty
standards” and please others. Why do we have to have a specific body type in order to be acknowledged
as beautiful? Why are we doomed to be ‘ugly’ when we don’t match the standards? Why make barely
achievable standards when we can just love our bodies as is? The real problem is that we always find
ways to discriminate. No matter what we look like, people will always have something mean to say.
Why should we have to alter the natural state of our bodies to be classified as beautiful? Why follow
society’s standards when you can make your own beauty standard? Such variations in ideals of beauty
often reflect the roles men and especially women are expected to fulfill in a given society. It’s time for
people, especially the media to realize that beauty comes in a wide range. It is time to demonstrate how
people’s differences are beautiful and how amazing it is to live in a world where everyone has their own
uniqueness, qualities and features. This beauty of ours are not defined by our figure, skin color nor body
hair. There’s no need to follow society’s unrealistic beauty standard because you have the ability to give
yourself your own standard that fits you and benefits you. Set up goals to meet your own standards and
work for them. Be your own standard of beauty. Embrace who you are in your most natural form. Be
confident that you different and most especially, you are you.
To summarize all of this, our bodies will have our own qualities and features that make us unique and
beautiful. We do not have to mold ourselves into the body type beauty standards set up because those
standards are unrealistic. We must learn to love our bodies and others’ bodies the way it is. Everyone is
beautiful. You are beautiful. And let’s keep this thing simple. If you don’t fit the beauty standards, then
set your own standards.