Day 32: Beauty

I'm writing Ann Dee Ellis' 8 Minute Memoirs in place of #NaNoWriMo.

Beauty. What is beauty? I've been thinking a lot about the way that societally we do a disservice to literally everyone by talking about beauty.

I think about Marilyn Monroe and the myth of her size 16 pants that really don't match a modern size 16 anyway.

I think about Audrey Hepburn and how her slight frame, admired by so many, was caused by war and poverty and prevented her from returning to her passion, ballet, after WWII.

I think about Farrah Fawcett and the way hundreds or thousands of girls worked tirelessly to get their hair to sit in just that same way around their faces.

I think about Winona Ryder and how quickly the world dumped her over a five-finger discount.

I think about Janet Jackson and the cruel comments I heard about her wardrobe malfunction at the 2004 Super Bowl.

I think about Britney Spears shaving off her hair, a marker of female beauty, in a desperate act after being marketed and sexualized for nearly her entire life.

I think about Ariana Grande and how no matter how incredibly she performs, everyone wants to talk about the length of her skirts.

I think about Rihanna doing her damnedest at New York Fashion Week this year to broaden the scope of what can be beautiful.

I think about the men sitting behind closed doors, deciding what women will get to wear this year.

I think about the hundreds of teenaged girls I've interacted with over the past years and how desperate they are to feel beautiful.

I think we need to delete the word beauty from our vocabulary.

Actually... maybe we'd be even better off if we were all blind.