Questionnaire Results

As part of my research on the topic of young women and body images, I carried out a fairly unscientific research project of my own creation: this twelve-point questionnaire. The answers were sent to me anonymously. Generally, it was completed by girls ages 12-25. Some of their responses seemed significant based on their ages, and those responses have the age of the respondent noted in parentheses at the end of the comment. Take a look--you might gain some new insights into how young women feel about beauty--I certainly did!

Share Your Thoughts About Beauty Questionnaire

On a scale of 1 to 10, how beautiful are you?

"God's scale: Perfect 10! World's scale: Maybe a 6. My scale: 8? Somewhere in the middle?"

How would you define "beauty"?

"Personality"

"Compassion"

"Thin."

"A confidence and peace that allows you to carry yourself and speak with others in a way which uplifts those around you." (57)

"Beauty is a reflection of our soul and the way we choose to present ourselves in terms of our values and beliefs." (21)

"The light that shines through" (18)

"Symmetry in your face"

"knowledge of divinity"

"confidence in God's love for me, and being kind toward fellow men"

"something that makes you feel happy when you see it"

"The quality present in a person that makes them appealing to others."

"ability to help/serve others"

"Maximized talent development that benefits everyone" (49)

"beauty is anything that adds to the world."

"attractive inside and out"

"confidence in one's self."

"Being able to smile, take care of yourself, and put effort into your looks. Also, keeping up with trends." (16)

"Beauty is being the best you can be physically and spiritually." (21)

"A woman's capacity to understand who she really is and behave accordingly." (18)

"Not just being pretty on the outside but kind, confident, and talented. It shines through extraordinarily." (19)

"Having a 'glow' about you, usually from the inside but beauty is also your outward appearance."

"Beauty is the level of attractiveness that someone else sees in you. Most often this comes from physical appearance but sometimes, usually once some time has passed, it comes from personality and intelligence as well."

"someone who is genuine and fun"

"well groomed, loving, kind, outgoing, skinny"'

"Outer beauty means taking good care of yourself and looking your best. Inner beauty means loving God, yourself, and others."

"Confident in yourself."

"An understanding and acceptance of who you are."

"Being sexy."

Do you feel pressure to be beautiful? If yes, how so?

"Yes, that every girl has to be like the actors"

"Yes, I want to be the best me."

"I want to look nice to give a good impression to people." (21)

"Yes, I do feel that it's important to present ourselves as clean and careful. This can really reflect a lot about how we feel about ourselves and how God feels about us."

"I did when I was younger in high school and middle school but now I am less concerned with others' opinions on my wardrobe or regarding whether or not I wear makeup." (21)

"Not that I'm exactly aware of it, but I do feel better when I take time to get ready and look good."

"Yes, I want to be liked and accepted."

"I need to impress guys with my appearance."

"No, but I want to be because it can build connections and bring personal fulfillment." (49)

"Yes, my whole family is skinny, and I used to be, too."

"yes, to be physically fit."

"Yes. It seems like the world expects women to be beautiful and if they're not, they are weird and different and an outcast."

"Yes, the media has a standard on what they believe beauty is."

"Yes. I think I feel the most pressure to be thin because of all the pressure in the media."

"I want to look like other girls." (16)

"Absolutely--I need to stand out."

"expectations of others--not seeing inner beauty first."

"commercials make me feel pressure to be sexy"

"I feel pressure to show that being beautiful doesn't mean that you can be a brat or stuck up. There needs to be people that are beautiful inside and outside and show both." (19)

"Sometimes. Mostly because I feel like people don't notice me." (19)

"Yes. Sometimes I feel like I need to wear certain clothes or weigh a certain amount in order to be beautiful."

"To some extent. If I like a guy then I feel pressure to be more beautiful than other girls so that he'll notice me. I more feel the pressure to be presentable however."

desire to be accepted

"I guess our society is so full of things to make you prettier than you don't have an excuse not to." (17)

"It's almost like a competition." (20)

"Fear of not being accepted or loved. Pressure from others to 'fit in' or be liked."

"Yes, so people don't judge me." (13)

"Yes, because I feel like how beautiful I look affects how confident I can be around others." (27)

57--"No, it's a personal motivation that is internal that gives me the desire to be the best I can be."

If you do feel pressure, what do you feel is the source of that pressure?

media, school, society in general

husband

"society's ideal female as displayed on TV, in magazines, on the internet, and through celebrities' examples." (21)

"I think there is some pressure from dating and a lot from other women. I think a lot of it comes down to pride and comparison, competition. And from me wanting to be the best I can be, always."

"inwardly, a desire to keep up. Other people compare, even if nothing is said, everyone compares."

"prettier girls"

"Boys are SO shallow"

"Popular people. They stare and laugh at me." (13)

"A sex-obsessed society."

"A masculine-dominated society."

"The worldly things, celebrities, worldly view men have of women, skinny people."

"Media and how men's expectations are portrayed"

"friends, family, myself (the image of how I used to look)."

"Being something or someone you're not based upon the "perfect" woman"

"The source of pressure is mostly from my mind. Other girls are very pretty and I just want to be the same." (19)

"The source of the pressure comes mostly from myself actually. It's not like I have people telling me that I'm not beautiful all the time but at the same time, I don't have a lot of people saying that I am."

"The world and media. You aren't successful or desirable if you're not beautiful."

"People who look good sem cooler and they tend to have a better social life. I want to have a 'cooler' person give me a compliment." (16)

comparisons to others

"have to be beautiful to have a place in society."

Compared to your peers, do you feel more, less, or similarly beautiful?

"It depends on the day; sometimes more (which seems wrong) and sometimes less (which also seems wrong), and sometimes similar."

"It depends on who I am with. I feel like, typically, I surround myself with people who I don't think can look better than me." (16)

"I feel similarly beautiful with my peers. I feel like we are all conscious of what we look like but we care more about what we do than how we look." (Good peers!!)

"I don't think my beauty can be compared to others' beauty or theirs to mine."

"I feel similarly beautiful with both friends and strangers alike." (21)

Which two or three people's opinions regarding beauty matter most to you?

Answers included: boys, the boy I am interested in, my boyfriend, other girls, friends, parents, myself, the Lord, mom (by far the most frequent answer), sisters, future husband, my peers, my dad's, my older brother, popular girls', my children's, people I haven't met, my husband's, Grandma, nieces and nephews, fiance,

On a normal day, what factor(s) contribute(s) to how beautiful you feel?

hair, clothes, make-up, attitude, complexion, food I eat, occasionally the weather, the people I interact with, if I exercised, if I took/had time to fully get ready, got enough sleep, in a good mood

"if I'm doing good things."

"whether or not I have slept is #1!" (21) (VERY common answer!)

"if I'm wearing make-up, if I'm happy and cheery, what clothes I'm wearing."

"How I look, what I've said, how I've acted, and who/how I've served." (18)

"If I look good, how strong I feel, how much I've accomplished so far." (19)

"On crappy days, I feel ugly. On better days, I feel . . . less ugly."

"Saying 'hi' to people, talking with friends."

"how skinny I feel"

"my attitude!"

"when I am serving others I feel more beautiful"

flattering clothing, comfortable in my clothes

looking clean and nice

being healthy

"how many opportunities I have to interact with others"

"how well I accomplish my goals"

being happy

if I have been active, I feel better about myself

"Whether or not I get ready--I'm coming to realize taking time to prepare your physical appearance doesn't necessarily mean you're obsessed with your looks. It just helps you feel more collected and it helps you feel like you care about yourself." (19)

"Whether I get ready or not. If I like what I'm wearing. Serving others."

"If I've had a good morning prayer."

If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?

freckles

acne/complexion

"I would love to never complain again and never say another mean thing about another person."

"My ability to forget myself and serve others." (27)

body figure

my smile

"my constant comparing myself to others" (18)

taller

"spiritually--to be able to accept my own best efforts as good enough, always."

"my fat cheeks"

"ditch braces"

my weight, skinnier

hair color

"I wish I didn't care so much about what others think. I'm super self-conscious but I play like I'm confident. I wish I really did have that confidence that I pretend to have." (19)

"I wish I didn't care so much about what people thought of me. I always assume the worst." (20)

"I wish I was better at reaching out and making new friends/being a friend."

If you exercise, why do you?

to keep in shape/stay healthy/stay toned/to feel good

"exercise is my stress reliever, my energizer, and what keeps me comfortable in my skin and with my body weight. Plus I really value my ability to be active." (21)

"to do things without being out of breath"

"so I can feel absolutely confident in my skin" (18)

"I like to feel strong"

"to have a HEALTHY body--strong heart, muscles for the future--so I can be self-reliant."

"it's fun and makes me feel like I accomplished something"

to lose weight

"a mental break from school/work"

to relieve stress

to ponder and think

"It gives energy and feels good to have time with my body."

"because I feel better about myself and life in general when I do"

"I love feeling sore because I have worked hard and accomplished something."

"When you exercise with a group, you can make friends."

"I can eat more treats if I exercise."

What compliment makes you feel best about yourself?

"When people tell me that they think I'm cool or interesting. Just saying, 'you're beautiful,' doesn't necessarily mean that a person likes you. I like to know that people like me."

"When someone tells me that I am amazing. I feel like this term means something deeper than beautiful and that they are looking past my outer shell."

my hair

"that I look beautiful even when I didn't put any effort into it."

"when someone compliments my character, saying that something I said helped them or something nice I did made their life better."

"when people say I'm funny."

"that I look happy"

"that I radiate the Lord and His love."

"You're really strong, or good at a sport or something."

"You are Christ-like."

"Your eyes are beautiful." (Saw this answer FREQUENTLY!)

"when I am complimented without makeup while playing sports" (21)

"I like being told I'm beautiful, but I'd rather be complimented on something regarding my personality."

when people compliment me on how I interact with others

"You have really good style."

"When people tell me I am responsible. I like 'gold stars!'" (19)

"You look thin," or "Have you lost weight?"

compliments on personality

"Thank you. I appreciate you."

"Generally I prefer praises of my personality/inner self more than my face/hair/beauty."

"I love when people call me something other than 'CUTE.' Being called 'beautiful, perfect, and intelligent' is great!"

"when an unbiased man says I'm pretty."

"When people tell me I am always smiling and happy."

"compliments about my testimony, non-temporal attributes"

Who decides what's beautiful?

"I do."

"I guess ourselves"

"God does, by His love for us. But we also LET others define it for us--whoever that may be, friends, boys, society."

"you should"

"media, and me."

"the Lord"

"I do. I form my own standard of what beauty means to me and live by that meaning."

"Society/culture to some extent--but then we need to decide if the things the media portrays as beautifully actually are."

"Society/social media tells us what is beautiful, but we decide what is beautiful."

"Society, even though it shouldn't be like that."

"I think everyone has their own interpretation of beauty but, above all, Heavenly Father knows what beauty is and it's the best definition."

"The media plays such a big role, but when it comes down to it, we all do."

"I guess that I eventually decide what beautiful is and remember that I am a daughter of God. But, many times . . . I feel like popular girls decide, and boys decide." (16)

"those who love you for who you are"

"The world makes us think Hollywood--But I disagree! We decide because beauty is an inside job. There are many people who spend excessive amounts of time and money striving for beauty. But no matter what they do, if they are selfish and think more of themselves than others, then no amount of money will make them beautiful. How veery sad it is to watch those people grow older and not be able to keep up with the changes in their physical appearance. Their search is never ending!" (57)

Do you have any additional comments you'd like to share about your feelings regarding women and beauty?

"The media controls too much of what beautiful is. The true beauty should shine from within. It is however often times covered up by the worlds concept of what is beautiful." (18)

"Thank you for having me do this and learn some things about myself, like . . . I AM BEAUTIFUL!" (18)

"I think women and girls need to recognize their own beauty. Everyone has something about them that makes them beautiful. I'm guilty of this as well but I can see the beauty in others more easily than in myself." (19)

"As much as you try to not care about trends and celebrities and the media, it can be so hard to forget and be your own kind of beautiful. But I think if we remember that we are daughters of God, we can be confident in our own beauty."

"Every woman has something that makes her beautiful. It breaks my heart when I see a girl who is so dependent on men to judge her own self-worth. It shouldn't be that way. We are all made as we are for a reason and we should love ourselves. I wish more girls realized that no boy is worth self-mutilation or anything like that. The right boy will think that you are beautiful. Not the person that you're pretending to be."

"It is so easy to say that weight has 'no say' in whether or not someone is beautiful. But it is difficult to actually believe it!"

"I've never felt like a stunningly beautiful person, but I've pretty much always had good self-confidence. Attitude/confidence is key!!"

"Outward beauty should be a reflection of inner beauty."

"The minute I decided to embrace who I am and emphasize my best attributes rather than try to become someone else, I have become much happier and more confident." (19)

"Anyone can be beautiful--it comes from a deep spiritual place. Our Heavenly Father wouldn't make anyone ugly--we need to remember that for ourselves and how we judge others."

"Honestly, society. BUT I feel that we should each, individually, define beauty and it should be less superficial."

"Most of the time, I feel pretty! It truly depends on my attitude. It can be difficult to disregard others' opinions, but it can be worth it. I don't tell others how great they look often enough! I wish that I did."

"I think beauty comes from confidence and love of self."

"I think it's ridiculous how much women beat up on themselves and compare themselves to magazine ads or neighbors or friends. True beauty comes from first having confidence in yourself and being comfortable with who you are, and then letting that sine through. The girls that I see as truly beautiful, as opposed to just attractive or pretty, are the ones who let their inner confidence show in their good actions. True beauty is caring more about others than yourself, being sincerely interested in the lives of others as well as bettering yourself. The inside is more important than the outside when it comes to beauty, not just prettiness" (17)

"It's all in your head. If you think you're beautiful, you are."

"You decide what's beautiful!! And I am not being cheesy. I 100% believe this! I wish more young women understood that they are in the image of their Heavenly Father! You don't have to be a size zero in order to be beautiful to him!" (19)

"Put more thought into what you do than how you look. It is important to look good and take care of our bodies but it is not something that we should dwell on the rest of the day. Make yourself beautiful before leaving the house, then go help others to feel beautiful."

"What is the purpose of lingerie? What implications does it hide? Is it right if only women wear it? Does it place an unbalanced emphasis on the woman's physical beauty and on her role in a relationship? I'm holding a bridal shower for my 20-year-old friend. Do I need to buy her lingerie? Why do we introduce these girls to these very animalistic clothes at a time when they are only just beginning to form identities/personalities that will stay with them for the rest of their lives?"

"The most 'homely' of people are beautiful when they maximize the individual worth God has granted them."

"Beauty is felt, not seen. Beauty is not seen in a mirror, it is felt inside."

"I think having a strong understanding of our relationship with God allows us to be confident in ourselves which in turn allows us to feel beautiful. When I feel God's love, I feel beautiful and accepted of Him, no matter what anyone else thinks." (20)

"Women are beautiful when they believe in themselves and present themselves in a clean, modest, and classy manner."

"Sometimes I have to remind myself it's okay to not be perfect." (21)