Abstract
Historically, societies have divided people in many ways, one of the biggest ways being those who are perceived to be beautiful and those who are perceived to be ugly. Both men and women in the 21st century find people who are overweight unattractive. In modern day media, many villains have some kind of physical defect that causes them to be disabled, thus creating the notion that people with disabilities are evil and ugly. 90% of young women reported on using filters and other forms of editing before posting their pictures on social media. Those who are considered beautiful suffer from being sexualized and objectified by society, and either feel forced to meet society’s standards or shy away from their communities in an attempt to stay away from the labels that are put onto them. Once the label is branded onto a person, this can deeply affect their self image of themselves, as much of one’s self image is formed based on what those surrounding them have called them. People who have been ostracized with one or both of these labels have been noted to develop eating disorders, self-harming tendencies, and have low self esteem that affects their behavior and relationships with others. Many often overexercise and spend a lot of time editing their photos before posting on social media. Many of these behaviors have been normalized and even idolized through our trends on social media. This is an issue that is talked about but hasn’t been truly explained to the world. My creative project is an audio drama telling the story of Ameera Habiba, a fictional character depicting and retelling many of my lived experiences as someone who is commonly perceived as ugly. The story tells how Ameera, the Ugly Duckling, understands and perceives the notion of ugliness as a disabled woman living in modern times. The solution posed is that beauty is subjective and understanding that leaving a mark on the world has very little to do with outer appearances and much to do with the way you interact and support others in order to make the world a better place.