What is Beauty

Today you can open any magazine and find a picture of a beautiful girl, with gorgeous skin, flawless smile, and wide bright eyes. But is really beautiful? Is she smart? Is she caring, does she make people laugh? We will probably never meet her to find out, yet we consider her beautiful only be her physical appearence. In today's world to many people physical 'beauty' is all that matters. Tall, skinny, gorgeous featured women are all that matters. And same goes for men tall, handsome, and fit. But appearence hasn't always been the only thing that matters.

Back in Shakespeares time beauty meant a different thing. It meant soft pale skin, volumptuous curves, and a perfect reputation. And who you were meant everything, not what you looked like. In many of Shakespeares plays the beautiful women with a clean slate is slandered and made to look unfaithful or to be a 'slut'. People took reputation to mean everything. Othello was soo in love with Desdemona but the second he heard she was cheating he wanted to kill her! Shakespeare uses this theme often. In a Winter's Tale, Leontes loves his wife Hermionie so so much until he gets jealous and convinces himself she is having an affair with his best friend! And in Much Ado about Nothing Hero and Claudio are to get married until Claudio is fooled into thinking Hero is not a virgin and he belittles her in front of the whole town.

In early times women were supposed to be flawless, but not by the way the looked or dressed. But by the way the carried themselves and the decisions they made. In todays times a lot of men see a beautiful woman and look at her like she's a piece of meat. It's not flattering or charming and more often then not it makes the women feel bad about themselves. Why does our world look at only physical beauty? When did standards change? Why can't men see the things we want them to see, our straight "As" and our fabulous personalities? Why do we try so hard to please the one's who belittle us? And since when has it been ok for women to make fun and harrass other women? Comparing ourselves to each other the way you look at fruit in the grocery store, only ever choosing the flawless ones.