Real Beauty

Well, here goes my first opinionated post. I guess the wait wasn't too long. I hope it's worth it.

So, recently, I was on Youtube (I know, who goes there anymore?) and I was, like everyone does, watching a video. This video was of a young lady singing a cover of a song that she liked. Well, suffice it to say that this young lady did not meet the standards that society has set for someone to be deemed beautiful and she is not the best singer on Youtube. Because of this, she was receiving some of the most disgusting, vile and downright cruel comments I have ever seen in my life. Some of them I won't even repeat because it would hurt my dignity but some of the more mild ones (and I use the word "mild" EXTREMELY loosely) were along the lines of "Kill it before it lays eggs!" She was called a "thing" and "fat" and "ugly" and "disgusting."

If there had only been one or two comments of that nature, I would have just left it alone. I would have just thought them poor idiots who probably weren't loved enough in their childhood. But it was almost EVERY comment. She was being grossly cyber bullied. One or two people (out of the thousands that had posted) were standing up for her, and I was very proud of them, but the amount of hate she was receiving by cowards who were only acting that way because they could hide behind a computer was making me sick to my stomach.

Well, that made me want to say something. I didn't want to just sit there and watch it. I posted in her defense, and suddenly, I'm the bad guy. The bullies turn on me, attacking me for coming to her defense. It was just sad. They kept justifying their bullying by saying she was ugly. They acted like if they could only get me to understand that she was "ugly" and "disgusting" then I would be okay with them treating her like she was some sort of vile creature not worthy of life or respect instead of a young lady posting a video of herself singing a song just like thousands of other people. I'm okay with cowards bullying me over the internet because I just don't care what bullies think, but I don't like watching them hurt other people and acting like only pretty people deserve kindness and respect. Those people are SO shallow. Please don't be one of them. They are half of what is wrong with this world.

I think people who society claims aren't pretty should be able to post videos of themselves on the internet without worrying about being bullied. Is that too much to ask?

It makes me so sad for this girl. We don't know anything about her. If she was or is struggling with self esteem issues, the comments she receives will only make everything worse. I can't believe that there are people in this world who just care about appearance. It makes me sick. I pray that she never sees those nasty comments but she probably will.

I would like to say to all the people who are nasty to those they don't deem attractive: you have no idea what real beauty is. None whatsoever so don't even go around telling people who is and is not ugly. Real beauty is not on the outside and from what I saw, that young lady was more beautiful than every single person posting negatively about her. Real beauty does not come from how you dress, what makeup you wear, what you do with your hair or how much you weigh, it comes from the way you treat others. And the way you people were acting is the definition of ugly.

Now I see why young people hurt themselves. They cut their hair, change their style, even become anorexic or bulimic because they think there are certain ways they have to look to be accepted by people and it's a sad, sad thing that they are right. They shouldn't be right.

And tell me, even if you do think the girl ugly, what is bullying her over the internet going to do? Does it bring you personal satisfaction to put others down?

Cyber bullying is never okay. People have killed themselves over it and even if it's a stranger, your words can still hurt. I hope people will see how very wrong it is to be cruel to people just because they don't meet the social standards of beauty. There is nothing wrong with looking different. But telling people they are disgusting and should be killed just because people don't think they are pretty? That is what is really disgusting and ugly. Don't be a bully, be a friend.