I COME FROM a long line of beautiful women. This short, simple statement raises immediate questions: why am I so sure? How is this beauty defined? I am sure because I have observed others’ responses to my mother, my grandmothers, and my aunts and have been the unwitting apprentice of the great importance and burden of appearing beautiful.

Definitions are often debatable, but if the appreciation of others is proof of beauty, the physical appeal of the women in my family is certain.