What truly defines beauty?

This question has troubled me for so many years, and I have never found an answer.

Who originally had the idea that, "Oh, this is what a beautiful person should look like" ?

Did one person decide that someone else is more beautiful than another based on a few characteristics?

To me, that is absolute rubbish.

Women and men everywhere are constantly put down for not fitting a typical "beauty standard", and it's getting quite old, honestly. We all seem to be pushing for that "everyone is beautiful" idea, yet we are still falling short. If everyone is beautiful, why are we still shaming people for being too tall, too short, too skinny, too fat, too muscular, too weak, too ugly, or even too beautiful? When does the madness end?!

Everyone looks different for a reason, we are all completely unique and beautifully made. So, there should never be a time where you look in the mirror and hate yourself because of how you are.

Comparing ourselves to others is the worst thing we can do. If you wake up, look in the mirror and say, "You know, I look great today", then walk outside and see someone else you consider "more beautiful" than yourself, your self esteem drops, and you feel as if you are no longer beautiful. But this is absolutely not true! Just because you deem someone else as beautiful, that does not make your beauty fade!

The one thing I think everyone needs to grasp is this: We are all different for a reason. What's the fun in having people who all look the same? There would be no more uniqueness. Everyone has beauty, but it's often extremely hard for us to see it in ourselves. However, it shouldn't be. I believe we need to accept other's beauty as well as our own. Who said beauty can't coincide with beauty? So instead of bringing yourself or another person down, think to yourself, "Yes he/she is beautiful, but so am I".

Another concept I will never understand is this: What makes a person look more beautiful than another? Is it their hair, eyes, nose? I will never know, and I feel like I can't be the only one. So, if none of us can truly say what makes someone beautiful, then how does a beauty standard exist?

Did someone get up one day and say "Oh my gosh defined cheekbones are the most amazing beauty feature you could have!" ? I mean literally they're the bones in your face why should it matter if they are defined or not? (That's just an example. People with defined cheekbones, don't think I'm picking on you. You're awesome). But there has to be something more.

The concept of beauty is more complex than just simple features.

To me, beauty comes from your personality.

To me, beauty comes from being happy.

To me beauty comes from loving yourself.

To me, beauty comes from looking in the mirror and saying, "You know, I am beautiful. I am me, not someone else, and that is all that matters".