Beauty is a subjective experience and no child should grow up rejecting his or her own face. How can we create a society that accepts the beauty of each individual?

Pratyusha is a recent graduate from the School of Natural Sciences at the University of Texas at Austin, and is currently attending the UNT Health Science Center Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences to pursue a Masters in Medical Sciences. She is an alumnus of Alpha Phi Omega and a volunteer with the American Heart Association. She also serves on the Board of Directors of Atlantis Educational Services, Inc.

Colorism is a lesser known social issue describing discrimination purely on the basis of skin tone. She hopes to bring to light the harmful nature of colorism and redefine beauty as a subjective experience. Raising awareness for this issue is the first step in alleviating the damage it causes. Together we can hold the media, cultural standards and society as a whole accountable for placing an undue premium on lighter skin tones. You should never think that you have to change yourself to be beautiful.

This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at http://ted.com/tedx