I am beautiful

[dropcap]I[/dropcap] am beautiful.

It’s worrying to consider that, if I was in your shoes, I’d probably also be thinking “what a cocky bitch!” but please bear with me, read this article and then feel free to Facebook stalk me and judge at will.

My initial curiosity developed quickly into anger as the faces British people, supposedly, consider the “epitome of beauty” repeatedly appeared on my various social media feeds.

My reaction is perhaps unsurprising considering I in no way resemble the ‘perfect’ female, nor male for that matter. Yet I need only point to the fact that both faces are white before the problems beyond my own personal self-consciousness become apparent.

If we thought Photoshop or even just make-up were bad enough for creating unrealistic expectations of physical appearance, these images have reached a whole new level.

May I just remind you they are not real, but they look it, and, thanks to the growing plastic surgery industry, they could be made into a reality for anyone with enough money.

To create an average of British opinion seems to undermine a fundamental aspect of beauty (apologies in advance for the cliché): that it’s in the eye of the beholder. These faces we have been shown are not, in fact, the epitome but the average of many, varied perceptions of beauty. In short? They are average.

Sure, it’s fascinating to discuss what we find beautiful and we already point to, often heavily edited, photos, of celebrities or models as being attractive or having a desirable appearance.

However, we tend to find more than one ‘real’ person we find attractive, and even if for you they all adhere to a certain ‘type’, they will have some difference. Not to mention whether your opinion is the same as your friends or not: “*Insert name here*” “Really?! Them?!”

The creation of these faces feels kind of like a kick not only in my own oversized and not-typically-beautiful buckteeth but also to those attempting to undermine both traditional ideas of beauty and those in favour of celebrating beauty in its most unique and diverse forms. It’s also a blow to those who are working to undermine this very concept of beauty as an objective criteria.

Work like that of Desigual and model Chantelle Winnie (who has autoimmune, a partial depigmentation of the skin) and Calvin Klein who featured size 14 (typically too large to be a ‘normal’, too thin to be a ‘plus-sized’) model Myla Dalbesio.

Beauty is subjective and – at least the new Dove campaign argues – it is a choice. It is something we can choose to apply to the way we perceive ourselves and others.

So call me a cocky bitch, but that is why I am beautiful.

Watch the video here