If some horrible virus swept the globe and caused humankind to go blind, there would be no such thing as beautiful.

People today, especially in America, are so focused on looks that they will spend all their time, energy, and money on things to make them “beautiful.” We idolize unnatural beauty that the media shoves in our face 24/7, and then wonder why children develop eating disorders, or start taking steroids, or simply want to grow up too fast.

I was watching “The Price of Beauty,” a show on VH1 documenting Jessica Simpson and her two friends as they travel the globe in search of how beauty is defined in different regions of the world. So far, Jessica has traveled to Thailand, Paris, India, Uganda, and Morocco.

The first time I saw this show I was flipping through channels and stopped to wonder why VH1 was putting on a show about Uganda. Then I saw Jessica and thought, “Why would they ever give that dreadful ditz another reality TV show?”

Then, I watched it.

To my surprise, I started to learn things. In Uganda, there is the belief that “fat” women are considered the most beautiful. Ugandan men like their women like they like their cows – beefy.

Women spend the months before their wedding in a “fattening hut,” where the bride just sits and drinks milk and something called “ghee” until she gains up to 80 pounds (or more). Jessica and her posse were invited to attend a ceremonial wedding, and the beefy bride looked gorgeous.

So, is beauty really in the eye of the beholder? Or is judgment so clouded by outside influences that the eye tricks the brain into seeing something different?

My younger sister Bonnie just turned 14. Every time I go home and see her she looks more and more grown up.

She started wearing makeup on a daily basis, and when I went home for spring break I found out she pierced her ear up top in her cartilage. I asked her why she did it and she just told me all her friends have been getting piercings, and our mom wouldn’t let her go get it done so she just did it herself. I know some of Bonnie’s friends as well, and at their age they are already dressing in designer clothes, getting their hair and nails done, and piercing their belly buttons.

It makes me wonder how they got to be so focused on altering their appearances at such a young age.

Then I realized that once all little girls stop watching cartoons and kids’ shows, they start to watch MTV and VH1 and E!.

And what do they see on these channels? A plethora of stars and sex symbols that America sees as “beautiful.” The next thing I know my own baby sister is piercing her face, wearing tight clothes, and heavy makeup.

So I sat down and had a talk with little Bonnie, and told her something that every girl, boy, woman and man should hear at least once in their life. No one should ever make you feel like you aren’t beautiful, or smart, or talented. Do not idolize unnatural beauty because it is just that: unnatural.

You have to love yourself and believe in your own beauty and your own self-worth. Otherwise you may just fall into the stream of followers who waste everything in trying to perfect their looks.

Beautiful is simply you.