Tonight I watched the great Tornatore’s film Malena, which really got me thinking about the meaning of beauty to each and every one of us, based on society and our perception of it. Of course, this is a broad statement that can bring about many different opinions, from men and women, but I think the idea surrounding beauty has been very poorly constructed.

In the film, the main character of Malena is just like any other stereotypical Sicilian woman: she’s a wife who she takes care of her family. But, because she is beautiful, she is singled out by being stared down as she goes about her daily activities. Men think Malena is a whore, sleeping around with every man in town with a sexual desire, while her husband is at war. Women believe that she is trying to sleep with their husbands and is only around to disturb the peace in their close-knit town. Unfortunately this isn’t just a problem in films. Beautiful women are often criticized as being a certain type that often doesn’t include character strength, intelligence, determination and kindness. If you’re beautiful, you must be sleeping with every man you can get your hands on, and if you’re average, you ought to be smart to compensate for the lack of so-called beauty. This quote from the movie sums the idea up very well:

“Here is her crime: her beauty! And from here, the envy, the lies, the disgrace that have deprived her even of a father’s trust! And yet, she herself is still in silent agony […] Does she have the right to yearn for, and to write a new ending to her own love story?”

This film really hit home for me because I didn’t always see myself as beautiful. I had acne in Grade 4 and onward, and I had braces in university. But, even when I was past those phases and moved a few steps close to “perfection”, I figured I must not be beautiful because I love things such as philosophical novels and always seemed to be pretty good at anything thrown my way. I concluded that a nerd could never be beautiful because of the way I was raised. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not blaming my parents; I’m blaming the circumstances that have surrounded me up until this point in my life. It’s never easy to break away from the stereotypes that are set for women, but it’s important to try and push them away with an outright slap as opposed to ignoring them.

Over time I learned to appreciate everything that makes me the beautiful individual I’ve worked hard to become. I try to grow from the experiences I’ve been through to construct my own beauty and not live in an image of duck face poses and impossibly white teeth. Like Malena, I go about my day as though the attention I receive, negative or positive, doesn’t matter. I’m not saying I’ll refuse a compliment or support from my friends, but building and recognizing your own beauty is the biggest battle you will ever encounter on your own, as you should. We’re all the same because we live every day in search of a purpose, but we all differ in our acceptance of true beauty and how it affects our perception of the world.