Day in, day out, I hear comments like: Oh that lady is beautiful. Oh, this other lady has fine features, and many people turn around to see for themselves. Sometimes, the spectators agree with the one who passed the comment, other times they disagree. On the other hand, someone can pass a comment: Oh no! Here comes the ‘Chimpanzee’ referring to an ugly person in the midst of people and there’ll be silence, many eyes watching in disgust.
Here are my questions: Who is a beautiful person? Who determines who is beautiful? What are the features of a beautiful person?
The Collins Dictionary defines Beauty as the state or quality of being beautiful,
The Collins Dictionary also explains that a beautiful person is very attractive to look at. If you describe something as beautiful, it means that it is very attractive or pleasing. It also defines ugly as very unattractive and unpleasant to look at.
Many people discriminate against people who are considered ‘ugly’. They shun their company and rudely shield their eyes from the so called horrible sight. We have many people surfacing and fighting for the rights of women, children, homosexuals etc… We also have people coming together to appeal to other people to desist from ethnic discrimination, racial discrimination and so many other things considered unacceptable in the society, but these same people discriminate against people they consider ugly. Did they choose their features before they were born? Derogatory comments like this force many people to have plastic surgeries, maiming themselves or dying in the process.
In the first place, I know every human being is born. I know the gestation period of every human fetus is nine months. Though some are premature, babies are born between the 6th and 12th months (6th in extremely complicated cases). They tend to need the same care and love to grow, they have the same blood flowing through their veins and they grow to become men or women. So how can one boldly tell another human being that he or she is ugly?
At first, I thought being ugly entailed not dressing properly (but I grew to know we must wear what makes us comfortable, except we want to impress or fit into our working environment or simply keep up appearances), so I endured when my school mates in secondary school teased that I was ugly. But some of these same students saw me years later and couldn’t close their mouths as to how beautiful I had become. Was it the hair I had left to grow that determined my beauty status? Or the clothes (which were not expensive) I was wearing or the fact that I had gained some reverence by furthering my education?
Anytime I hear people shamelessly talking about people who are not beautiful, I itch to ask if there is a way to pick the beauty gene when next someone is being born, but being a bit reserved when it comes to open conversations that are not directly linked to me, I keep mute and listen helplessly.
I will say this, beauty is in the heart, no one chooses to be beautiful, depending on how well you know yourself, you can dress to suit you, or you can dress to please the eyes that search for beauty. It is absolutely wrong to look at a body frame and facial structure to determine who is beautiful and who is not. I read something about Rain, the South African pop star and actor, that said he was branded ugly and unfit for the entertainment industry because he didn’t have double eyelids. When he had his breakthrough, still without the double eyelids, he became and still is one of the most attractive people in South Korea and the world at large, gracing the covers of many international magazines and featuring in local and international movies.
Remember that what you say may lower someone’s self- esteem or may make someone kill himself or herself.
So let those who know all about beautiful people “pleeeeeease” shut it when they see the ‘ugly’ ones. After all, they will not force you to live with them, will not force you to feed them and will not force you at gun point to talk to them. Take note of the fact that true beauty emanates from the deepest part of the heart, and can show through one’s attitude. Thank you.
Amoafowaa Sefa Cecilia 2014.
Mum Cee 