The University of Idaho Argonaut

I seriously doubt anyone is going to try to tell me we do not put enough value on youth and beauty in America today. Our society is quick to criticize based on appearances and is always ready to pass judgment about weight, hair, skin, teeth, fashion and everything else.
Women especially are subjected to harsh and unachievable expectations with regards to their appearance, reminded daily of what they should look like by the celebrities who fill the news and the Photoshopped models who fill the advertisements. Everything we see tells us our worth and our attractiveness are based on our physical appearance.

However, this is all old news.
We’ve all heard people tell us we as a society and as individuals are too shallow and too focused on appearance. We’ve all heard we place unrealistic expectations on women. We’ve all heard our value should not be based on how we look.

And that’s not all, because we’ve also heard many times what the solution is. Who hasn’t heard somebody say we should be focusing more on brains than on bodies? We are all familiar with the charge we should be less concerned about a person’s appearance and more concerned about what’s going on inside his or her head. We are supposed to be attracted to a person’s mind rather than his or her looks; otherwise, we are just being shallow.
This is pretty much conventional wisdom. Most of us don’t put it into practice, but we would probably still admit this is the way it should be. We all know it should be brains that really count. Deep people value intelligence the most, right?

Wrong.

Intelligence is a wonderful thing, just as physical beauty is a wonderful thing, but neither of them should be the standard we use to determine a person’s worth. If we decide the real measure of value is intelligence rather than looks, then the only thing we have done is to replace one superficial characteristic with another.
Sure, intelligence isn’t physical, but it is just as superficial a standard as outward beauty. Under the standard of appearance, we humiliate those who are not naturally beautiful, and under the standard of intelligence, we humiliate those who are not naturally smart. How is this any better or deeper?

Of course, some will say there is a difference because anyone can make an effort to improve his or her mind if he or she so desires, but the same can be said of improving our bodies and our appearances. As I said, intelligence and physical beauty are both excellent things, but they are not what we should use to assess a person’s worth.

So, what is left? Once we have eliminated both body and mind, is there anything we have that is not superficial?
There is one place left to look if we are trying to find real beauty. If the body and the mind are both out, then we must turn to the soul. Character. Compassion. No matter how nice your figure is or how high your IQ, these are the things that make true beauty, and these are the things which should attract us. I know women in their 70s and beyond who are very beautiful, not because of a nice tan or because of intellectual pursuits, but because of their hearts.

If there is anything that should attract us, it should be noble character and a gentle, quiet spirit. If we want to be deep, we have to look beyond brains.

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