FB Most Beautiful Teenager... WTF?!?

Sadly, this is not my usual type of post.  I felt compelled to write something about this and here it is.  In all it's ugliness...


I'll admit when I first saw the whole "Most Beautiful Teenager" thing on FB I wondered which pedophile thought of this one.  I mean seriously?  Encouraging teenagers to post their picture so the world can tell them whether or not they are beautiful.  Yikes... that poses a million different problems but I am going to focus on just a couple. 
First of all, most of these kids are indeed gorgeous.  What is saddening is that they need the rest of the world to adore them as well.  They know they are attractive... they can see the pictures as well as we can.  What makes them want to still gain the approval of the universe...well...human nature and insecurity I guess.  But still, it is disturbing.
What I find more disturbing is the trend to post pictures of kids that are either handicapped (sorry, not sure what the latest PC description is)or disfigured from either a disease or accident.  So now we must crawl into the head of your average teen, which is frightening in itself, and try and sort out the thought process.  They look at this person and know they are not what society deems as physically attractive. Whether these standards are fair or not, I don't want to discuss, it is a personal opinion.  However, these people do in fact look very different from what this contest is looking for.  So if a kid looks at this picture and DOESN'T vote for them they automatically think less of themselves for being so shallow and picking the girl with the perfect little nose and big brown eyes.  It is messing with their heads.  Lets imagine two pictures... one of the gorgeous girl and one of a girl who is disfigured in some way.  The contest is for the most beautiful right?  It is safe to say they mean physical beauty because if that wasn't what they wanted you to vote on, then you would need more than a picture. 

What do they do in their spare time? What are the persons moral beliefs? What are their opinions on social issues?????

Most people would pick the brown eyed girl in private but if their choice was made public they would choose the other one.  This causes self esteem issues for everyone...
They aren't picking the person they want to, they are picking the person they think they should because honestly, yes, the perfect looking kid is more attractive. In order to make this choice we need to know more about the person.
That being said... we are assuming that the pretty girl is a raging narcissistic beast and the other girl is a warm, caring child who would do no wrong.  What if that assumption if wrong?  Just because a person looks one way on the outside, it doesn't mean that automatically look the opposite on the inside.  We all know people of different levels of outward beauty and I think we can agree that some are indeed evil and some are in fact the nicest people we know.  At the same time, who's to say the untraditional looking person isn't a bad person on the inside.  We all know these people too!! 
I know I sound heartless towards some of these kids and I don't mean to.  The few that I saw that looked different we submitted by friends or family.  They are trying to convinve their friend/child that the whole world thinks they are as beautiful as their friends and family.  Why do they need this reassurance?  Not everyone finds the same thing beautiful and I don't know these kids well enough to make that judgement.  It results in votes out of guilt, because no, they aren't as physically attractive as some of the others.  With that being said, who cares?!?!  A lot of people find Angelina Jolie beautiful... I think she looks like a bobble head doll with facial features much too large for her head.  So what does it matter??
This whole contest is ridiculous I think has the potential to create more harm than good in the brains of our children.  If it were a contest about who is the better person, (which btw is a better idea) then all looks would be considered because it would have no bearing.  Because it specifically asks for what we deem "beautiful" I think it should remain that way.  Perhaps a contest on the most "Beautiful Soul" should be considered?? 

 Or, perhaps, we just leave this sort of thing alone and each enjoy beauty in its own way without having to compare and create winners and losers out of every ridiculous thing on the planet.

So here's the deal.... EVERYONE is beautiful in their own way.  Some in a traditional physical manner others by who they are and what they do.  Having the planet vote on this will make no difference.  Do not seek approval from the planet...it lies, it's shallow.  Trust the opinions of those who love you unconditionally. 

A person is as beautiful as the person they see when they close their eyes and see themselves from the inside.  Unless of course it is only important to you that you are physically beautiful and that the FB world agrees with you.  In that caase, congrats on your gorgeousness...enjoy it now, because when you are 85 and no longer have your smooth skin and shining hair you will be miserable.  And with any luck you will get to know that person who has had inner beauty their whole life and finally understand the meaning of the word.