What is beauty?

Has anyone ever thought of why we think people are beautiful? Is it not just how we perceive one another but there is another force driving it? Why does Hollywood get to stay who is beautfiul or not? Then we as people agree with them, are we agreeing because we believe thats what popular soceity believes also? Our perception and definition of beauty is miscontrude because if everyone  has different opinions then why do people think the stereotypical blonde, blue eyed, skinny woman is beautiful? Why does a curvy woman, who in model's eyes be fat, with thick dark hair and dark eyes not considered beautiful. Why do we put one above another when they can be equally as beautiful? In the society I live in today because I am of another race I am not as beautiful as a white woman. I am considered "beautiful for a black girl". Why can't I just be pretty period? Its almost as if they are insulting me and coplimenting me at the same time. Woman are put under great pressure to look a certain way and act a certain way. They dye their hair and participate in various weight loss programs and work out plans. If all of a sudden magazines and Hollywood thought that thick curvy woman who were not the typical blonde hair blue eyed would the rest of society agree witht them and shift their ideals? If you were to google beauty in google images the first page is all white woman with light eyes or blue and light or blonde hair. Society has driven what is deemed beautiful for so long that is has become one set type. There used to be a time when curvy women were beautiful but that time has gone and past. So what does that mean for girls that are shapely, and are not within the strict brackets that society forms for us? Are we now considered the "ugly ducklings"? We now are altering our hait and our appearance so that we may fit into these brackets instead of loving ourselves for who we are and believing in our own beauty. We must see beauty as something that is inwardly and outwwardly instead of just on the inside. We must change the standard definition of beauty as blonde and blue eyed becuase it comes in all different forms because we are only hurting ourselves and our self-esteem. In the Bluest Eye all Pecola wants is to have blue eyes so that she could be beautiful and accepted into soceity. She adorded those with blue eyes and blonde hair. The image of that type of beauty was everywhere it was on the cup she drank from, it was on the wrapper on her candy, and even her father Cholly pictured Jesus as a white man with blonde hair and blue eyes. This image was drilled into her head of what beauty was. She did not think anyone of her color was beautiful nor did she envy them. Women of color now have been altering their appearance in great lengths. They are now wearing weaves more often and getting their hair permed at a younger age. They wear contacts that change their eye color. We are attempting to look like the standard type of beauty that has been made for us instead of accepting ourslelves and our natural beauty. I dare to wear my hair natural in an unnatural world and at time I have been looked down because of it. I am always asked the question of why; why would I ever want to wear my hair in an afro or in curly waves. It is simply because I want to I would rather wear the hair I was born with and rock it and show that black people do not have just 'nappy" hair we can wear our hair natural and it still be just as glamourous. It has been been drilled into our head to appreciate beauty, our society puts such an emphasis on the worth of beauty that it is now no longer beautiful to me. It has turned and been twisted into a negative. In the book Pecola is outcasted because she is not beautiful but Maureen Peel who is pretty is easily accepted by everyone simply because she is in their eyes beautiful. It is a shame that she was treated so poorly just because of her looks and she was a sweet girl who only wanted to be accepted. There are many  Pecola's in society today who desire for their skin to be a little lighter, their hair to be straighter, and their eyes to be lighter, but we must stop chasing after this and create our own image of beauty that does not disclude anyone.