by Barbara Ehrentreu

Created on: June 16, 2008   Last Updated: March 11, 2009

Is real beauty on the outside or the inside? From my own experiences I would say it comes from the inside. However, society doesn't seem to care and rewards outer beauty in pageants and in the media. If you fit the standard for outer beauty you might live a much different life than someone who doesn't.

I've seen women who should look beautiful. Their features are perfect and they smile beautifully, but unfortunately they only look pretty. Their beauty is only on the surface, because when you look into their eyes they are vacant, and their smile is phony. So even with the best makeup, hairstyle and outfit, they are only looking good. Yet, someone who is wearing only jeans and a tee shirt can come along without makeup and be beautiful. Her smile is a shining beacon for all who come in contact with it. That is inner beauty and when someone has it, clothes, makeup and hairstyles are only window dressing for that beauty.

When I was a little girl and looked in the mirror I saw none of the things that I thought made women beautiful. The girl who stared back at me had hair so curly the only way my mom could tame it was to put it in pigtails or the worse alternative - cut it short. They called the style the poodle and when I saw myself I was even further from what I considered beautiful. I didn't look like Cinderella or Snow White who both had straight long, wavy hair and hourglass bodies.

I knew I was ugly and resigned myself to living alone and never finding my Prince Charming. But my father looked at me as If I were the most beautiful creature alive. "Daddy," I said, "I look so awful with my new short hair." He took my ten year old self onto his lap and told me that I was beautiful. He said he could see inside of me and there was so much beauty there that it didn't matter about the outside. He said my beauty came out in my smile and my eyes.

As a teenager I had no confidence in my own looks and teenage boys of that time didn't help. I thought a big bust was what made a girl beautiful. Since mine took longer than most to develop I always felt inadequate and not beautiful. Most boys went for the cheerleader types with the curvy bodies, so I was pretty much ignored. Yet, my father kept telling me that the right man would come along and see my inner beauty.The standard of beauty at that time was Miss America and Marilyn Monroe, Elizabeth Taylor and Doris Day. I knew that I would never look like any of those women.

As I grew up I kept my father's words in mind. Around the

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