Society's hyper-valuation and scrutination of a girl's appearance and weight is deeply disturbing. The belief that much of mankind asserts on women can be discovered in this quote, "People never tell the truth to rich men or beautiful women". Why isn't it written, "Handsome men and affluent women?". There are definitely more than a handful of self made wealthy women. Examples include Judy Faulker- the CEO of a 2.7 billion leading medical record company used by acclaimed universities; Zhou Qunfei- a girl born into an extremely poor family who somehow managed to navigate her way into becoming a major touchscreen provider; and Oprah Winfrey- whom many are familiar with, an articulate and hardworking public figure who definitely deserves her rise to fame and wealth. If there are so many smart and talented females, then why does the saying seem to only account for beautiful women? Therefore, I can only conclude that the reason lies in an innate, subconcious belief that a woman's appearance is more memorable and commendable than her talents and intellect.

         In addition, in many cultures a girl's weight (a girl as young as 10) is often brought up in insensitive ways, ways that can cause an ED. Many girls as young as 12 are forced by their parents to skip dinner just so they can become skinnier and fit the ideal body standard. In fact in some Southeast Asian countries, girls over the weight of 120 are deemed as overweight, undesirable, and "too fat" regardless of their height or high muscle mass. Why are perfectly healthy and mobile girls asked to go on diets and engage in intensive exercising routines? Shouldn't society encourage girls to pursue a passion or less superficial goal, so they can become successful and affluent in the future?

       Last of all, I want to add that beauty standards change drastically over decades, and vary across different regions as well. For example, in one point of Japan's history having pit-black teeth was regarded as attractive. At one point in China, having tiny feet was desirable and so, many wealthy young women started purposefully restricting the growth of their feet- painful and also restricting their athletic abilities. Since the West( Europe and North America) have grown in influence over the past few decades, many countries have come to believe looking paler(basically a skin color closer to white) as beautiful. On the contrast, Australia, England, and America have grown in numbers of people who want to look tanner(sunbathing and tanning). So, what does "beautiful" even mean when their are so many contrasting definitions?