People like to surmise that our current definition of beauty is a complex, three dimensional word, or that it’s philosophical and hard to grasp. Beauty, however, is probably the simplest word in any human language. In today’s society, the beauty of something can easily be qualified by asking, “Does it conform?” or “Does it make me feel comfortable?”

If something is similar- similar to what you know, what you’ve seen, or what you’ve heard- it is considered beautiful. When something is not the same, it is often painted as ugly or strange. Racism, sexism, and xenophobia- these are the offspring of people’s failure to see beauty in what is not similar to them. Can you blame them? Foreign means unknown. And many people hate the unknown, they hate not understanding. How can something someone doesn’t understand ever be beautiful?

To me, beauty is a realization. A dance, a song, a book, or person might not first appear beautiful to the eyes of anyone other than the natives of that culture. But once the story behind the dance is understood to be based upon centuries of folklore, or when it is revealed that despite overcoming personal hardships, a person continues to devote themself to serving their community- how can that not be beautiful? To say it is not would be to say human nature itself is not beautiful. A more scrutinized look at anything almost always reveals the beauty behind it, foreign or native.

Beauty is an understanding of the complexities of human nature and its diversity. Beauty should not be qualified by its conformity. In fact, it should be based on anything but how similar it is to what is already known. As a society, we should strive to see the beauty in all things. Afros are just as beautiful as straight hair. Dark skin is just as pretty as light skin. Thin eyes are just as nice as round ones. Large noses are just as cute as small ones. Tall and short and fat and skinny are equally beautiful, because they are all characteristics of people. Humans are beautiful, and to be human is to have beauty.