Becoming a Better Human: Embrace and Challenge Beauty with Elise Hu
Beauty isn’t a single standard we chase—it's a living conversation that unfolds in our daily choices, from the media we consume to the way we treat others. In conversations shaped with Elise Hu, the idea shifts from “how beautiful can I look?” to “how can I understand beauty’s impact on people—and how can I expand it?” The goal isn’t to abandon taste or curiosity, but to broaden them so they serve compassion, curiosity, and accountability.
Rethinking Beauty as a Practice, Not a Trophy
Traditionally, beauty has felt like a standard to measure ourselves against, a trophy on a shelf that many of us never quite reach. Reframing beauty as a daily practice makes it more humane: it’s about how we notice, how we respond, and how we show up for others. When beauty becomes a practice of care—care for the environment, care for the body, care for the stories behind every face—we unlock a more resilient sense of self and community.
- Notice without judgment: observe your surroundings with curiosity, not critique. Notice the textures, colors, and rhythms of people’s lives, and ask what these tell you about someone’s experience.
- Define beauty beyond aesthetics: include acts of kindness, generosity, and resilience as part of what you consider beautiful.
- Question the narratives you consume: identify what beauty stories exclude, and seek inclusive perspectives that widen the circle of who belongs.
Embrace, Don’t Exploit
To embrace beauty responsibly is to resist letting it become a weapon—whether in advertising, social media, or celebrity culture. It means celebrating beauty in all bodies, in all ages, and across different cultures, while also interrogating who gets to define what’s desirable. Elise Hu’s approach reminds us that beauty can be a force for connection when anchored in empathy and equity, not exclusion.
Beauty should be inclusive and a driver of connection, not a barrier that divides us. When we approach beauty with humility, we enlarge the circle rather than shrink it.
In practice, this looks like choosing representations that reflect diverse realities, calling out exaggerated or harmful standards, and recognizing that someone’s value isn’t diminished by the absence of a certain look. Embracing beauty in this expansive way becomes a bridge—between self-acceptance and the acceptance of others.
Tools for Everyday Betterment
If you’re aiming to be a better human while navigating beauty’s complexities, here are concrete tools you can start using today:
- Media audits: once a week, log the beauty norms you encounter in ads, films, or posts. Note who benefits and who is marginalized by those norms.
- Diverse inputs: deliberately follow creators who portray beauty in unfamiliar cultures or bodies, and listen for voices that challenge conventional standards.
- Kindness rituals: turn a compliment into a conversation about somebody’s character, not just appearance. Ask what you admire about their actions or values.
- Gentle accountability: if you notice yourself labeling someone by their looks, pause and reframe your thought to a more constructive observation about their contributions.
- Inclusive storytelling: when you share stories, foreground consent, consent-based beauty standards, and the humanity behind every image.
Practical Exercises to Nurture the Habit
Starting small creates durable change. Try these micro-exercises over the next week, then extend them as you gain confidence:
- One-week beauty audit: each day, identify one beauty narrative you encountered and write a short reflection on who it includes, who it excludes, and what change you’d propose.
- Compliment with context: offer a compliment that highlights effort, resilience, or skill. For example, “Your presentation was clear and thoughtful—your preparation made a real impact.”
- Celebrate diverse beauty: curate a personal checklist of at least five examples of beauty you find in unfamiliar cultures, ages, or body types.
- Dialogue across difference: have a conversation with someone whose beauty ideals differ from yours. Listen more than you speak, and reflect back what you heard.
- Mindful media choice: replace one beauty-focused post per day with content that centers community, care, or service.
These steps aren’t a replacement for taste or individuality; they’re a way to ensure that taste serves a higher purpose—humane understanding and mutual respect. By pairing admiration with critique, you become someone who can celebrate beauty while dismantling the barriers that keep people from feeling seen and valued.
Continued Growth: A Living Practice
Becoming a better human is less about reaching a final verdict on beauty and more about maintaining a living practice of attention, intention, and action. Beauty, when approached with nuance, becomes a catalyst for connection—an invitation to understand another person’s story, to question harmful norms, and to participate in a culture that lifts up the many forms of human flourishing. The dialogue with Elise Hu isn’t a destination; it’s a framework for ongoing reflection and real-world change. Each day offers a chance to choose kindness, curiosity, and responsibility in equal measure.