Redefining Beauty

• Hiba Bennegadi, Grade 11
• Poetry
• 2019

Beauty is starvation.
It is dieting, pills and exercise.
Beauty is visible ribs and thigh gaps.
It is clenched waists, legs that go on for days and flat stomachs.
Beauty is flawless skin and straight white teeth.

However beauty is not stomach rolls, thick thighs or fat arms
It is not acne or crooked teeth.
Being fat is not beautiful
Being short is not desirable.
Having thighs that touch is a travesty.

It is time to redefine beauty.
To teach little girls that they are beautiful regardless or their size or skin colour.
It is time to be content with ourselves.
We are good enough.
We are beautiful.