#RealBeauty

#RealBeauty

Alicia Keys, pianist, singer, actress, has started a new movement called #NoMakeup. Her face has “gone naked.” Alicia is advocating natural, unembellished beauty appearing in the spotlight unadorned by makeup. I am reminded of another unadorned beauty.

Eleanor was an unattractive child. Her mother called her “Granny” because she had an old face and demeanor. Orphaned before she was ten, Eleanor was sent to live with her grandmother. Grandmother dressed Eleanor in old-fashioned clothes. She made her wear a brace to improve her posture. Eleanor grew up believing that she was ugly and clumsy.

Shy and insecure, Eleanor was sent to boarding school in England where the headmistress, encouraged her to develop her gifts, to speak up in class, and to express her ideas. Eleanor learned to stand up for herself and for others. 

Later, Eleanor started a school in one of the poorest neighborhoods in New York where she taught children and their mothers to have confidence in their own abilities and to share their strengths with others. She grew so confident in her work that when she met the man she would marry she invited him to join her in working to solve the problems of the poor and disadvantaged. 

You have probably guessed that Eleanor’s last name was Roosevelt. Eleanor continued to work for the rights of women, the poor, minorities, and the disabled for the rest of her life. She stood up to her many critics while the wife of the President and after. She became the first American delegate to the United Nations, helped craft a Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and became known as the “First Lady of the World.”

The work Eleanor started continues. Still honored for her intelligence, compassion, and dedication to the cause of human welfare, she is an inspiration to the downtrodden and oppressed everywhere. Eleanor’s inner beauty shone so brightly that all who knew her bathed in its light.

As a teacher, I realized that the little folks gazing up at me from the carpet every day were not checking out my makeup or hairdo. They were checking out my soul. I soon realized that it was much harder to dress up my insides than my outsides. I needed to look for models outside of the fashion pages. 

My class began studying American heroes. We learned that Johnny Appleseed shared all that he had. Martin Luther King, Jr. worked to bring rights to everyone. Abraham Lincoln showed compassion for animals, those in bondage, and those in mourning. Helen Keller campaigned for equal opportunities for the disabled. Every hero we studied was a hero because each wanted to help others. 

My students especially loved Eleanor, who “always lent a hand to the hungry and the homeless, all across the land,” was happiest when “lend[ing] a helping hand,” to those most in need, because she had “a heart that had to give.”* We decided that we wanted hearts that wanted to give too. 

I hope that Alicia and all of the celebrities who are joining her #NoMakeup movement will now focus on #RealBeauty. Inner beauty, coming from a heart that has to give, shines brighter than any spotlight. 

*Lyrics from Jonathan Sprout’s “More American Heroes” CD.