Author:Devesh Kumar

We come across phrases like 'Don't judge a book by its cover 'All that glitters is not gold’. These phrases describe the discrepancy or the gap between self-value and face value. Self-value is the assessment of self-worth based on many factors. Self-value encompasses various aspects of self such as self-esteem, self-confidence, and self-worth.

Each person has a varied way of forming self-value and it keeps on being different throughout the course of life, it is subject to constant change. Self-value is an absolutely vulnerable aspect of self during childhood and teenage times as it can be influenced by people or peers. Self-value can act both positively and negatively in shaping a personality. The concept of self can be classified into three types, the actual self, the ideal self, and the ought self. The actual self refers to the value that a person gives to oneself. The ideal self is how a person wants to be valued by other people. While ought self refers to how an individual thinks he or she should be valued by people. Usually, there is a constant drive between the actual self-value of a person to get to the ideal self-value.

Face value means entirely defining the worth of a person based on the physical features. History attests to the idea that face value has always been polluted and attached itself to the acceptance of fake beauty standards. The color, complexion, hair length, skin type, etc. don’t in any way contribute to the emotional and mental capability of an individual. Making a girl believe that she should maintain a certain kind of face to make sure that she gets married into a respected family while expecting a boy to not play sports much as due to the tan, the worth of the guy would drop many folds are the typical instances we observe in our society. Every action of the person is monitored by society and it is being altered in a way that would suit the already existing notions. These already-formed notions are called stereotypes. Breaking stereotypes, especially those centered towards face value is a task that not many in the circle of society try engaging in. Negative aspects of face value are further pushed forward by the spurs on social media, television programs, reading materials, and so on. Due to the digitalized day and age, it is extremely difficult for people to keep away from such arguments, and hence even if unwilling to accept these impositions people have to find ways of dealing with them. The specific culture and traditions that a person belongs to have a great hold on shaping self-value. The family structure and gender roles described in such institutions result in the betterment or the worsening of self-value.

In recent times face value is given utmost importance or at least comparatively way higher importance than that self-value. Right from newspapers to cinemas every aspect of daily life emphasizes how undeniable the place for face value is. Judging a person based on color, caste, creed, and race isn’t acceptable. Social media such as Instagram, Snapchat and so on add to the problem of decreasing self-value in people as it creates an issue of lost self-confidence as people would run after the glitz and glamour offered in the world of face value. One such potent example is newspapers publishing fairness cream advertisements which create a notion in the minds of viewers that only fair people get considerable respect. These kinds of soft imposition strategies are applied by television broadcasters as well. Excelling in any field isn't in the slightest of way dependent on the face value of an individual.

Keeping all religious things aside and applying logic to the concept of how self-value is more significant than face value, the fact that arises is that we have a good amount of scope to change our conceived self-value is, humans are gifted their physical features by the higher and divine authority while they form their self-value through the experiences they gather along living life whether happy or sad. Undoubtedly the gap between self-value and face value is humongous. But each day makes a difference and if steps are taken in the right direction there can be a notable decrease in the existing gap. 'Face value is made by humans but essential self-value can make beings into humans'.