The Academy Awards are on Sunday night, and I can’t wait for… the red carpet! If you’re like me, you’ll be looking more at the Oscar De La Rentas than the Oscar statuettes, right? The glamour, the gorgeous gowns, the good-looking men.In fact, it’s so much fun to see what the stars are wearing that years ago, one of my friends created a Fantasy Football-like draft to monitor the fashion. We got a point when “our” chosen stars made Joan Rivers’ best-dressed list and lost a point when she dubbed them a disaster.I won’t lie—it was fun—but it also felt like crap judging these human beings on such a superficial level. But such judgment is human. According to Princeton University researchers, we are hard-wired to judge people based on their appearances, which makes sense considering our evolutionary desire to breed with the best possible mate for survival. However, according to a 2010 study by Wake Forest psychologist Dustin Wood, the way that we judge others reveals a great deal about ourselves. If we feel good about ourselves, we see the good in others, and when we suffer from insecurity or depression, we are more likely to judge others harshly. Often we judge others to make ourselves feel better. What research tells us is that when we compare ourselves to someone who is less fortunate, it can make us feel more grateful for our lives; but when we compare ourselves to someone we deem has more than we do, we end up feeling worse.So why do we spend so much time judging the stars’ outfits? Certainly, their glamorous lifestyles let us dream and live vicariously through them. But what happened to judging them based on gifts? The Oscars used to be about talent, not tulle. With the 24-hour news cycle we read more about an actor’s hairstyle and dress than we do about her acting chops. Have you actually seen the movies up for Best Picture? I haven’t.But I’d like to. And if I’m going to judge actors on anything other than acting, I’d like to begin judging them on their character. What if we gave an Academy Award to the celebrity with the best heart, most generous soul, greatest courage and most significant contribution to society? Who would win then? I give Macklemore and Lewis my award for using their talent and platform to spread worldwide acceptance with their song, “Same Love.” And grace under pressure goes to Sandra Bullock, who found out weeks after winning her Oscar that her then-husband, Jesse James, cheated on her. She was resilient and showed utmost class throughout the media spin. Most generous: How about country singer George Strait, who is giving mortgage-free homes to wounded veterans at each of the 21 venues on his national tour, in conjunction with Military Warriors Support Foundation?What about awards for inner beauty? What if we “celebrated” inner beauty in the same way we honor external appearance—would our current “celebrities” even be our heroes? Or would we give credence and cash to everyday heroes? To your friend who spends her free time playing bingo at the nursing home or to your mother for surviving her third bout of breast cancer? I’d like to see those women glitzed up in gowns walking the red carpet.And if you were given an award for inner beauty, what award would you receive? Would you receive the award for being the most compassionate friend in your posse, for being the most spirited mom on the soccer team, or for being the kindest soul in your neighborhood?Those achievements matter. Your true beauty matters.More than the gowns, more than the glamour, your goodness within is worthy of reward. So as you watch the Oscars this weekend, ask yourself, What is inside of that gown? Has this person’s heart touched humanity? And then look within to find your own award-winning beauty.
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