According to a 2017 survey conducted by the Dove self-Esteem project, 5 in 10 young females feel pressured to look “beautiful”, and 6 in 10 females feel pressure to always look at least “acceptable”.

Teens and young girls are given praise for how they look a lot more often than they are for their actions or thoughts. They are constantly interacting with images through the media of unrealistic standards. Most of which have been altered using technology, causing young females to strive for body ideals and beauty that do not actually exist.

The pressure of societal beauty standards has led to the exacerbation and development of various mental health issues.

Negative body image leads to low self-esteem. It has increased the rates of unhealthy eating habits and eating disorders. It is the background of anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa (in majority cases). I remember a classmate of mine who was very slim yet exercised excessively and followed strict diets. She often fainted in class and her grades were slipping too! We would often tell her she was beautiful but she didn’t believe us and continued torturing herself.

A survey conducted in 2017 found that 5 in 10 young females have put their health at risk by not eating.

Beauty standards have also lead to social isolation. Girls don’t attend social gatherings in fear of being judged for their looks and when they do, they wear masks of makeup, refusing to leave their homes without it.

Dissatisfied still, thousands of women opt for surgeries. And I want to highlight this growing issue in this article.

They market: Cosmetic surgery aims to improve how people look and feel about themselves. Many people who choose this type of surgery hope it will boost their self-esteem.

92% of all cosmetic procedures in 2019 were performed on women. To give you a rough idea about much these “beauty standards” affect women: Women underwent 1.5 million surgeries and 13.4 million minimally-invasive treatments.

If you would analyze the statistics and pay attention to the type of surgeries being performed in a given time, you would realize that the surgeries undertaken by women are in order for them to look the way the public and the media is hyping at a given time, which is often baseless, unrealistic and very temporary.

If this is required for one's self-esteem, then such a person has to undergo a complete surgical procedure at least every decade, which makes 6 procedures in an average life!

We started off by fighting for not having to hide who we are, and have come to wishing to look like whatever look the society hypes. We escaped curtains seeking freedom and proceeded to holistically enslave ourselves, by seeking external validation.

Nobody is born dissatisfied and wanting to change their looks. It is the repetitive exposure to unrealistic beauty standards throughout childhood, and into adulthood that leads young girls and older women wanting to change their perfect appearance.

A lot of women who go through multiple surgeries and turn into AI dolls say that they feel ‘empowered’. The fame and appreciation they receive after losing part of their true self is simply an insult disguised as respect.

We must understand that beauty is vast. Beauty encompasses every look, every color and every shape. We must not be fooled by what we see on our phones or by the random comments of people who have been consumed by their social media feeds.

From everything that you read of my mentioning in this article, what pained you the most?

I was totally disturbed by the selection of the word ‘empowered’ in association with physical appearance and society’s acceptance.

Really? After all these women empowerment struggles this is where we’ve gotten?? In order to feel confident, worthy and respected we are losing ourselves to what the media hypes and masses like? To be empowered we need to fit into the society’s beauty standards now?

It is upon us to redefine the source of a woman’s power. A woman’s strengths are internal. A woman’s power lies in her brain and her talent and not in her physical appearance.

If we are valued for something so superficial and temporary, are we even being valued? If we have to give up our modesty in order to be “empowered”, are we even being empowered?

Empowerment should return the lost femininity of women. Yes, femininity is a woman’s strength. but hold on, femininity is not sexuality. It is something that transcends the mediocrity and banality of the mundane, it is the gentleness, kindness and generosity that only a woman can show.

A woman’s worth is ‘in’ her, and not ‘on’ her. Her worth is rooted in her self-awareness, self-acceptance, and her unique abilities and talents. The world need not see our superficial beauty to honor us if they really intend to honor us.

We are only truly empowered when our self-acceptance and pride doesn’t depend on society’s standards and when one is truly empowered they won’t lose themselves to what others think is right.

‘Looks’ have become an addiction and in order to get out of any addiction, practice is required. Here are some ways one can get over the looks-addiction and come back to reality:

. Being mindful about the images one sees online and how they make one feel when they look at them.

. Avoiding or deleting social media apps that cause distress over one’s image.

. Modeling positive self-talk.

. Being aware of the language one uses among peers and friends and the effects it can have.

Before I end this article, I want to remind you that you are beautiful. Love your reality because it’s PERFECT.