We live in a culture where beauty and appearance take a greater value than ever before. Our preoccupation with being the prettiest, the skinniest, or the best looking, driven by the media, takes over our minds and bodies, leading us to the paths we had hoped to never go down. The Department of Mental Health estimates that eight million Americans suffer from an eating disorder, and 95% of those people are between the ages of 12 and 25.

According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the average American woman is approximately 5’4 tall and weighs around 150 pounds. However, it is rare that we see this size of women shown as being the epitome of beauty, as the average American model is 5’11 tall and weighs around 117 pounds. Beauty is one of the most subjective things in our world, and yet our media outlets are shoving the tall and skinny models into our brain. We admire these girls, for no other reason than their ability to have what seems like an impossible figure.

We define beauty as “the combination of qualities that make something pleasing and impressive to look at…. personal physical attractiveness.” As I have stated before, it is one of the most subject thing in the world. Everyone has a different interpretation of beauty. That is one of the great things about being human. Not everyone is attracted to women who seem to be just skin and bones, and that is something many women fail to realize.

It hasn’t always been this way. Venus, the goddess associated with love, beauty, and sexuality, is depicted in a 1486 painting (The Birth of Venus, painted by Botticelli). She is shown with the body type of the “average woman,” having a healthy and full stature, and can only be defined as beautiful. This painting was created long before the obsession with our looks came into play. Venus would never have dreamed of running miles and miles to make her thighs a little smaller or going on an intense diet make her stomach as flat as can be. She was the goddess of everything women wanted, why would she want to change herself?

Diets are an invention in our society. In 1826, Minister Sylvester Graham linked lavish eating choices to the sin of gluttony, and said the answer to good health was to follow a bland vegetarian diet. He believed that gluttony led to a state called overstimulation, which in turn would cause illness. Now, there are thousands of different diet plans available for anyone willing to put in a little research.

Every woman in the world could learn a little something from Venus. We are often so obsessed with all of our flaws (most which no one else notices) that we cannot focus on the positive things we have to offer, both with our appearance and with who we are. Whether you’re a size 1 or a size 21, you’re still you. Dr. Seuss once said “today you are You, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is Youer than You.” Embrace who you are, what you have, and be YOU. We’re not all that far away from Venus anyway.