Beauty: Is There Such a Thing as Pretty Privilege?

Hello guys, harini punya topic is a bit subjective lah and I think it is a great topic to discuss because I know everyone has different views. Let me start by asking you guys, is there such a thing as pretty privilege? For me personally, I think there is and I'm going to tell you why I think so and why we as a society not doing anything about it.

I remember sometime last year I ada tweeted about Adib Pisang Goreng tu and the response was wild. I said in the tweet that Adib does have the pretty privilege and I attached a video of him to further clarify why I said so. Dalam video tu, dia tengah buat live and was eating something and dia haus ke apa tah and then someone commented in the live saying that they will send him drinks. Minutes after that, he got a few bottles of mineral water. So, I tweeted the video with a quote "This is what pretty privilege is". Lepastu ramai lah yang replied to my tweet cakap I dengki lah apa lah. But the replies just menguatkan lagi the fact that pretty privilege does exist.

Let me tell you what majority of the replies that I got. One user said that "Orang suka dia bukan sebab dia elok je, tapi dia baik and soft spoken". What's wrong with the reply? Nothing, he/she just agreed that Adib is elok (good-looking) and the ayat after that doesn't matter anymore because he is good-looking, to begin with. That is a fact.

I think that is the reason why people berlumba-lumba nak cantik, obses nak kurus sebab these people want to be seen and heard. They want to feel that they matter and are important to society. But why? Because society only pays attention to people who look a certain way aka pretty. Sometimes they don't even care how bad your personality is, how bad you are at doing your work, or how mean you are as a person. As long as you are pretty, they'll invest in you.

So why is this happening? I think dah memang lumrah kejadian manusia kan suka tengok benda cantik terletak but is it not enough untuk kita admire god's creation? Must we put them on a pedestal? And for what? I bukan lah nak cakap I'm better than anyone because I pun suka tengok benda and orang cantik but let's put a limit to it and actually focus on what's really important here. I suka orang yang cantik with a cause. But I find it odd that pretty people talk about being pretty or how to be pretty. Why?

Dia macam ni tau, bila you dah cantik and you will have millions of eyes on you and people are willing to hear what you have to say. Please don't go and tell people that they need to be pretty as well. I know you might think you're motivating people to be a better version of themselves but what you're doing is, you're succumbing to society. You didn't change society's perception of beauty, you're changing yourself to fit the society's perception of beauty. Lepastu you dare to tell a sob story on why you changed yourself while in the same breath hoping the society would change? You're fighting two different causes here.

Kalau you nak society to change its perception of beauty you need to embrace your beauty first. Now, you have to read carefully, I'm talking about beauty right now okay. Jangan pulak nanti serang I cakap "Oh I changed sebab I want to be healthier". Baguslah kalau you berubah dari berisi ke fit untuk sihat, but just advocate health and fitness. Don't talk about beauty. Because there are people yang berisi tapi sihat but they still don't feel good about themselves based on the society's beauty standard.

Sebab tu lah when I saw videos yang orang share pengalaman dari hitam ke cerah, berisi ke kurus, buruk ke cantik. I macam malas nak dengar sangat sebab the only thing I'm getting from those videos adalah, you need to be pretty to be seen and heard. How is society going to change its perception of beauty when the advocates are mostly pretty people? Not just any pretty people but people who changed themselves to be pretty.

So don't wait or berubah untuk jadi cantik baru nak advocate beauty. I rather listen to people who embrace their flaws and talk about the diversity in beauty. Beauty is not just a pretty face, beauty can be anything and for me the most beautiful thing is confidence. If you want to advocate being beautiful, be confident and make others feel confident too. To those yang dah berjaya jadi cantik, alhamdulillah. I'm not trying to discredit your effort untuk mengubah diri you menjadi lebih baik. But I want you to help change the society. Once you dah dapat the voice to advocate for something, please advocate for acceptance and kindness. Because honestly, those are the things yang kita lacking. Once kita can accept people and be kind to them, being pretty will be the last thing people should worry about.

But then, yang paling penting sekali ialah kita, the society. Let's change the beauty standard or better yet get rid of it. Let's see people for who they are and what good can they bring. Always remember that pretty is what you see and beauty is how you feel.

Till next time.