Beauty is the Beast

So I was just at work, on break, enjoying my lunch one day

When one of my co-workers came up to me to say

"You're really gonna eat all that?" With a face of disgust

And even though I know I've seen him eat that much

I just smiled and said "um yeah, I like to eat"

And without even missing a beat

"I don't find that attractive" he told me, as if he was giving me some bad news

"Well then, good thing I'm not trying to attract you"

It's funny, everyday we women get judged

By men on how we look, and as if that wasn't enough

Women judge each other too

So what's a girl supposed to do?

I mean you can't even go to the supermarket without seeing some magazine

Be it Cosmopolitan or Seventeen
Telling you the "5 Reasons Why You're So Fat"
Or "How to Get Rid of Your Wrinkles" or something like that
Or maybe they'll tell you the "Reasons Why You're Still Single"
And it's probably because you're fat and you have wrinkles
So we buy the diet pills and we buy the skin creams
Cross our fingers and hope to find the man of our dreams
But even that's not enough to do
Cause now they've got "Why Your Man Hasn't Said I Love You"
Or my personal favorite from all the fine selection of readings
"How to Get Your Guy to Stop Cheating"
Really? Find a guy that doesn't cheat, for God's sake, you're worth it
But  there's a whole industry designed to make women feel less than perfect
See sex sells, but insecurities are like a gold mine
Keep creating flaws and we'll be coming back in no time
Just to be one step closer to this beautiful ideal
This model on the cover that isn't even real
She's just that, a model, cause on top of all that make-up on her face
Photoshop will make sure all of her imperfections are erased
They'll take that bump out of her nose and full out her lips
Elongate her neck and shrink down her hips
And if they want to add a little "diversity" by making her black
They'll just lighten up her skin cause no one really wants to see that
See even Oprah's skin was once lightened as they blended her with another woman's body
I guess no matter how much money you make you can never escape misogyny
Now in ads aimed towards men where it gets a little more erotic
Minorities are a lot more prevalent cause we're supposed to be exotic
So in the commercials, the black girl's out somewhere in an African jungle and the spicy Latina's on a tropical beach
And the Asian girl is cute and tiny and has an accent in her speech
Put them all together and it could cause insanity
Appealing to the white man's sexual fantasy
In urban media, though, there's a different ideal for beauty
Where skinny girls ain't it, nah you gotta have a booty
But truly, there's a thin line drawn at "thick"
Sure she doesn't look like a stick
But she's got a cute face and slim waist to go with that big behind
We ain't talking Mo'Nique thick, we mean the Beyonce kind
So if you pass the thick but not too thick test, you can be in this video
All you gotta do is let the champagne pour over what little bit of clothes
You have on, you can show some skin right?
But only if your skin's light
They said "dark skin is in ya'll", but not if you're female
Guess that's just a minor detail
Light-skinned is a compliment, you know "yellowbone" and "redbone"
A black girl once told me she was jealous of my skin tone
And I was confused, see I didn't understand it yet
That when it comes to Hollywood beauty, Kerry Washington is about as dark as it gets
And that's not even as dark as it gets
At least we've come a few shades away from the paper bag test
You wanna know why your girl has low self-esteem
Just turn on the TV
If you're a confident female then I gotta give it up
Cause not letting them get you down can be tough
But next time a magazine tries to sell you some beauty tips
I want you to laugh at them, cause they don't know what beauty is
If you're a strong, independent woman with a personality
That doesn't need a man to keep her happy, see
If you refuse to mold to their idea of what makes a woman suitable
Then I dare them ever try to tell me that you're not absolutely beautiful