Beauty at it’s Finest

As Margaret Wolfe Hungerford once said, “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.” Someone can look beautiful to a person while others cannot see the attractiveness in them. Thus, the term beauty is a very subjective term.

Physical appearance plays an important part in the lives of people especially in today’s generation, where society dictates the beauty standards of a person. We live in a period where people can be easily judged by their appearance.

It is a fact that we often, or most likely, perceive others by just looking at them. This is the bane of the subjectivity of beauty. However, judging them because they are not qualified enough to the beauty standards of society is just an erroneous act.

Marlou Arizala, for example, was an internet sensation who later on became an artist. He has been ridiculed because of his looks. The Filipino society even labeled him as the “human pinipig” This was probably because of his skin that was as dark as chocolate, a nose as flat as plains, height as small as a child, and a face full of spots and craters around his cheeks. These are only some of his external characteristics that people point out to make fun of him and his appearance. These are some of his physical traits that are not beautifully accepted by the society.

“Old Marlou can’t come to the phone right now, why? Oh, ‘cause he’s dead” This line became viral after Marlou Arizala underwent plastic surgery, as announced by the TV show Rated K hosted by Korina Sanchez.

Perhaps he’s thinking that maybe people will accept him now that he’s Xander Ford - a dazzling man with a white blooming face, a pointed nose just like mountains, a pair of full and rich eyebrows on fleek, and kissable lips that every other girl would supposedly dream of. On the first few days it was raining praise for him, but after a few more, he was bashed again. Some say that they can still see his old face and will forever be Marlou, while others say that he became more arrogant than before.

Where will Marlou Arizala, currently known as Xander Ford, place himself in this looks-centered society? A society that bashed him when he was still Marlou, a society that still bashes him even after undergoing plastic surgery.

You don’t need to look far for an answer however, since ordinary people also experience struggles like this. Mr. Val Habagat was one of them. He was bullied when he was at the age of six until nine years because of his big ears, skinny body, and him being the smallest guy in class.

“At first, I wanted to fight back, but I didn’t. I was so afraid…” Mr. Val said. He didn’t want to fight back as he was frightened and scared since the bullies were big and strong. All he has to do was to endure the pain, thinking that all of it will stop soon. The incident caused him emotional discomfort that lead himself to reach out to his teacher about his struggles. However, the bullies threatened Mr. Val, promising that they would beat him up if he ever spoke about it again. “I never told my parents because I didn’t want this to be a big issue, that’s why I stayed silent.” He said.

“It hurts. It breaks my heart because I felt that I was so weak, dumb, and a loser.” He added. It really affected the way he interacted with others, which led him to prefer to be alone most of the time. “When I was eight, I had a suicidal ideation thinking that there’s nothing good in this world and that ending my life would be a better choice than to live in this cruel world.” He was emotionally devastated because the words were very powerful. So powerful in fact, that it affected him so much that even his grades became lower along with his self-esteem.

People should avoid making fun of the looks of other people. Especially us internet users, with a broader social network and access to information. Just because they do not appeal beautiful to you, does not mean that you should have the audacity to point out their flaws and imperfections. In the internet, it is still cyberbullying even it was just for fun. It will still have effects on people being intimidated emotionally and psychologically.

Of course, inner beauty is still the most important thing about a person. Our character is the center of our beauty, whether or not you look beautiful externally to others.

There’s a saying that goes: "Just because you don't fit society's standards of beauty doesn't mean you aren't beautiful." Being a person that displays righteous virtues can be seen by society as a person with an extravagant amount of beauty.

We all have our different definitions of what being beautiful is. Keep in mind that our appearance is our own art, and in art, there little to no boundaries. With the given subjectivity of how we see beauty differently, all we have to do is to accept and appreciate what is given to us and most importantly, to other people as well. That would be beauty at its finest.