Within our culture, we often equate beauty and health. We want to set the record straight, the shape of your body, and how much muscle or fat you have does not make you beautiful. What truly makes you attractive is your inner beauty. By definition, inner beauty may be described as something that's experienced through a person's character rather than by appearances. It's the real beauty of a person that goes far beyond just physical appearances. You may think it's a chiseled face or a gorgeous physique that makes a person attractive. But more than anything else, it's a person's inner belief that they're attractive that makes them more appealing to others. We know that for many people, the idea of inner beauty has been exhausted, but it truly is the most beautiful thing about a person. Just think about someone you consider physically beautiful, now imagine that they are incredibly mean and inconsiderate of you. Obviously, you would not want to be friends with this person. This shows that physical attractiveness is not the main form of beauty in a person. Having a beautiful personality and values will always beat out an ugly one.

    Even though we know that inner beauty is the most important form of beauty, society still promotes, what they consider, "perfection." Both societal images of beauty and health can have devastating effects on everyone. The impact of beauty and appearance bias has been around for centuries. For example, in the 16th century, women deliberately wore corsets to receive a small waistline. In China, women bound their feet to make them smaller, which was what was considered attractive at the time. In our day and age, there are still ways that we wear clothing items for beauty, such as high heels. We also have seen surgery for appearance purposes, such as facial and body enhancements.

    Along with these changes, there seems to be a more significant shift towards healthism to reach societal beauty pressures and ideals. Don't get us wrong, eating your daily five, raising your heart rate through exercise, drinking water, and getting enough sleep will benefit your internal health and your happiness. However, the push towards striving for nothing but "clean eating" and extreme exercise has caused many to face the consequences of appearance bias. We are always surrounded by advertisements that enforce societal pressures and appearance bias. Through the strive to look like these advertisements, many have cut out anything considered "unhealthy" while eating unbalanced low-calorie diets. Due to this, the health business is booming and profiting off of our insecurities. We see advertisements plastered over social media saying, "drink our tea and your tummy will be flat," or "if you buy our appetite suppression lollipops, you can skip a meal a day." 

    Of course, there is also the issue of social media. Many of us may follow "influencers." An influencer is precisely what the title suggests, they influence people. Often times, this influence can be devastating. Many people don't realize that their accounts are just one snapshot into their life which often can be fake. Even their physical appearance may be false with the mainstream use of facetune and photoshop. We know that seeing these images may be disheartening to many, but we hope that with the information provided, you can grow as a person and take a stand against these harmful practices and appearance bias.

    Overall, the most important form of beauty in a person is their inner beauty. For health, the most important thing is your internal health and happiness. You're beauty and health should in no way be acquainted together. Despite all of the social pressures and messages telling you otherwise, you do not have to change, you only have to be yourself.