And a commercial with Ellen Degeneres came on for make-up and she said this: “Inner beauty is important…but not nearly as important as outer beauty” and then went on to advertise whatever product it was that was being sold.

      And the thing is, I get that she was probably joking (despite saying it in a somewhat serious tone) but I still have an issue with this ad. I mean, little girls who watch ANTM probably don’t fully get the concept of sarcasm, especially when it sounded as serious as it did. And I don’t like the fact that the beauty industry is now outright saying that what you look like is more important than who you are.

      This is exactly the kind of thing that can end up being so detrimental to girls (and boys) as they grow up. Girls who believe they have to rely on their looks in order for anyone to care about them, girls who think that if they’re not pretty or skinny enough, that they will be alone and unhappy for the rest of their lives. Girls who end up cutting themselves, binging and purging food, or just simply starving themselves so that they can live up to some manufactured ideal of beauty. It makes me sick that we encourage this kind of behavior when it’s already as huge a problem as it is. If anything, we need to teach that you do not have to look a certain way or be a certain size in order to be beautiful. We should teach that who you are is the most beautiful and everlasting thing about yourself, so you should focus on that above everything. And we need to work on making girls believe this about themselves.

      I know several girls, including myself who don’t feel like they measure up. Even though they are drop dead gorgeous and have bodies that several girls hurt themselves to attain, they think they’re ugly. They can’t see past the mirror because they’ve been taught that people care about looks. When really, their beauty relies on who they are and who they perceive themselves to be. 

      People need to learn how to accept themselves and try to accept others as well. We’re all stuck with one another, and we end up doing pretty shitty things to each other as it is. Why can’t we try to make being with one another a bit more pleasurable instead of degrading?