The Trap of Beauty and Excellence
If all under Heaven know what it is to be beautiful, then this is only ugliness; if all under Heaven know what it is to be excellent, then this is not excellent.
天下皆知美之為美, 斯惡已; 皆知善之為善, 斯不善矣.
What defines beauty and excellence? There is certainly a set of standards promoted by popular culture and the media, and yet when everyone in society is convinced that they know what the standard of beauty is, the result is quite ugly, for such impositions of socially constructed standards of beauty (such as the airbrushed, rail-thin young ladies that regularly adorn the covers of numerous magazines at the checkout aisle of your local grocery store) place unfair labels and expectations upon our children to measure up to an arbitrary and mythical standard that rarely exists in real life and is not the only form of beauty to be found. Indeed, the very construction of an ideal of beauty creates, no, demands that everything else be ugliness. Such is the obsession of popular culture, but it does no justice to the true beauty of our children. For if history tells us one thing, it is that such arbitrary standards will change (At best consider the changing fashions of our own lifetimes and at worst think of the atrocity of foot-binding in China and other equally atrocious activities elsewhere in the world, until we get to implants, liposuction, and botox injections today).
The same can be said for any artificial and external standard or definition for determining excellence, intelligence, athleticism, or even health. Such quantitative standards are not "objective" nor do they consider the qualities and characteristics of the individual. They are highly biased, motivated by particular agendas, and often political. As such, skinny does not equal healthy; standardized tests often do leave children behind (and at the very least, they determine what “behind” is); glamour and fashion do not leave beauty to the eye of the beholder; there is more to life than "winning." It is reprehensible that such burdens are dumped on our children at such young ages and serves to prevent them from discovering their own unique beauty and excellences. As parents we must watch out for our children to ensure that they are not forced into such a rat-race, which can only lead to an unsatisfying life.
The same can be said for any artificial and external standard or definition for determining excellence, intelligence, athleticism, or even health. Such quantitative standards are not "objective" nor do they consider the qualities and characteristics of the individual. They are highly biased, motivated by particular agendas, and often political. As such, skinny does not equal healthy; standardized tests often do leave children behind (and at the very least, they determine what “behind” is); glamour and fashion do not leave beauty to the eye of the beholder; there is more to life than "winning." It is reprehensible that such burdens are dumped on our children at such young ages and serves to prevent them from discovering their own unique beauty and excellences. As parents we must watch out for our children to ensure that they are not forced into such a rat-race, which can only lead to an unsatisfying life.
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