Beauty or the Beast?

Remember when (if you're a girl) you were little... imagining that you were a princess? Obviously, YOU were Sleeping Beauty... or Belle... or Cinderella... the sought-after, beautiful prize to be won. Some say that Disney movies and Barbies communicate to girls that they must be beautiful and that they will have "Happy-ever-after" endings. I don't. I think it gave me the mindset that I was pretty... just like Barbie! Or gentle and kind... just like Belle! Therefore, who wouldn't want to be my friend? Who wouldn't want to hang out with me?
Somewhere along the line, though, we (at least I did) lose that mindset. For some reason we begin thinking of ourselves as unlovable, hideous beasts.
I have begun to accept the fact that I will not be going to Winter formal. I don't know why it had become such a bit deal here... it's like people's self-esteem and self-worth are riding on it. It's ridiculous... and, I must admit, I have fallen into it a bit. The truth is, I would go with just about anyone that asked me... but I don't think anyone will. Therefore, I am not banking on it. I am not sitting around beating myself up, nor am I letting it take a toll on my self-worth because it has no power to do so.
Instead, I shall work. I shall work all the harder on my studies, thank God for my singleness- although I find it lonely at times, and I may even work at the mall or at church instead of wearing a dress I can barely breathe in and trying not to break my ankle in the heels that I had to wear with the dress.
I suppose there's still hope.
The bottom line, which I believe many young men are ignorant of, is that young women need to know that their company is enjoyed. They need to know that they are not hideous, but treasured by the Lord. It doesn't take much.... "thanks for spending time with me"... "you're fun to be around!"... I know guys don't completely grasp why girls struggle with self-esteem so much... but I don't completely understand why guys struggle with lust so much. I still try to help them.
All this to say... never under-estimate encouragement or small gestures of kindness. Speaking from experience, sometimes you need to know that people care. Also, if you haven't asked someone to your formal... get off your butt. Be sacrificial. I don't care if you don't want to go. You could dramatically transform a girl's self-talk.
Please just be our friends. The flirty girls never seem to lack friends, escorts to formals, or boosts to their self-esteem...
but the girls that spend their Friday and Saturday nights studying for exams are often over-looked. The girls on my hall have begun saying "Walker 2... we're QUALITY!" as a result of 2/21 girls being asked to the formal. If the guys got to know the girls on my hall, they would find a gold-mine of compassion, humor, intelligence, beauty, adventure, desire for purity, and an intense hunger and thirst for the Word of God... and God himself.
I shall now step down from my soap box. I was not planning on writing this... it practically wrote itself as I listened to the joyful laughter turn into a discussion about what God is going in my hall mate's lives.