Sociocultural standards of feminine beauty are presented in almost all forms of popular media, bombarding women with images that depict what is considered to be the "ideal body." Images of thin, attractive and
The concept of beauty can be hard to define, as it is an ever-evolving notion. What people perceive as beauty has varied through time, across cultures (Fallon 1990) and can also vary based on individuals. To a culture, beauty can be its customs and traditions, and to an individual it can include physical appearance (outer beauty) or personality (inner beauty). However the word beauty can also defer according to gender, Ambrose Bierce (1958) once wrote, “To men, a man is but a mind. Who cares what face he carries or what he wears? But a woman’s body is the woman.” Despite the societal changes achieved since Bierce’s time, this statement still holds true. Attractiveness is a prerequisite for femininity but not for masculinity (Freedman, 1986).
But I have come to the conclusion that it is more of a personal understanding rather than straight examples. Another common phrase associated with beauty is, "beauty is in the eye of the beholder". This statement holds so much truth because not everyone sees the same beauty. The definition of beauty by dictionary.com is, "the quality present in a thing or person that gives intense pleasure or deep satisfaction to the mind, whether arising from sensory manifestations (as shape, color, sound, etc.), a meaningful design or pattern, or something else (as a personality in which high spiritual qualities are manifest)". (dictionary.com) Beauty appeals to an individual's senses, therefore, creating a personal preference. Due to the fact of this term being so vast, the state of beauty changes. Associated words include charm, allure, grace, style, and many others. Clearly, the definition and synonyms together mean that beauty is not strictly appearance, but how one
What is beauty? I have heard this question many times. I have heard the judge ask the contestant at a beauty pageant on television. I have heard professors ask us students in thought-invoking classes. I have heard it inside my head, my own inner voice, asking myself at night when I am left alone and the deep questions start coming in. What is beauty? And how are we to criticize or judge if one possess beauty or not?
“Beauty is in the eye of the beholder,” a phrase that everyone has heard of at one point in his or her life. Walk by a cashier aisle in a supermarket and a there will be magazines shouting “How to lose 30 pounds in one month!” “Buff up with this weird new workout routine!”. “Fashion that’ll slim you down!” and the like. Is the concept of beauty and ugly really homogeneous, or does it vary? Is it just weight that’s considered? Exploring different ethnic groups prove that what one person thinks is beautiful may or may not be the same as the next person. (The article will mainly be focused on the women though, since their “worth” is judged more on their appearances than men. It will also be rather general on each ethnicity.)
What is beauty? Beauty is defined as “the quality of being physically attractive or the qualities in a person or a thing that give pleasure to the senses or the mind” (Merriam-Webster dictionary, 2014, para. 1). Heine (2012) has found that beauty and attractiveness can vary across cultures. Although, there are specific features of a person that seem to be considered as beautiful and attractive across all culture spectrums. These features are: complexion, bilateral symmetry, average sized facial features, and biracial faces. However, weight in regards to attractiveness and beauty varies drastically across cultures. Through this discovery, there may be a correlation between the perception of beauty and attractiveness in each culture and its effects of body dissatisfaction and eating disorder rates. Is beauty really in the eye of the beholder? We will examine how what is considered to be attractive and beautiful can have both similarities and differences across cultures. In addition, we will examine eating disorders, and how they are influenced by the beauty standards that are set in specific cultures.
Beauty, how do we define it? Why is beauty so important among us? These are some of the questions that will be discussed in this paper, leaving a clear understanding of what “beauty” is and the many qualities which define “beauty”. We are regularly challenged with “beauty”, trying to define what it is and what it’s supposed to be, who is and who is not, and what is and what is not?
Obviously, it is not a term applied to outward appearance in cases such as this. From this, one must ascertain that "The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched - they must be felt with the heart.” (Keller) So, is beauty a physical characteristic? Is it a state of mind? Each person has their own idea of what beauty is and what it entails. Each individual must measure their values of others and themselves, their ideas of what true beauty is to determine what beauty they wish to be and to bring into their worlds. While a person can be pleasing to look at, it is what they do, how they treat others, how they treat us that determine how we will continue to feel about
What is beauty? How do human beings decide who is attractive and who is not? Society is full of messages telling us what is beautiful, but what are those definitions based on? Do we consciously decide whom we are attracted to, or is biology somehow involved? The issue of beauty and how we define it has been studied for centuries. Scholars from all fields of study have searched for the "formula" for beauty. Darwin in his book The Descent of Man wrote, "It is certainly not true that there is in the mind of man any universal standard of beauty with respect to the human body. It is however, possible that certain tastes in the course of time become inherited, though I have no evidence in favor of this belief." (1) Science has tried to look at beauty beyond the conscious level. It has tried to determine what roles biology plays in human attraction. Scientists have discovered that symmetry and scent play a role in defining human attraction. (3) But while this can begin to explain beauty on the most basic of levels, what accounts for variations in the standard of beauty? The idea of beauty varies within different societies and communities. Do these cultural preferences have a biological basis? What is the relationship between biology and society in relation to the idea of beauty? How do they relate to each other, and how do they differ? In particular what role does science play in the preference that many societies, (in particular South Asian, East Asian, and North American Cultures), have for fairer skin?
Beauty isn’t subjective. It’s one of the only things in the world that cannot be denied. Things are either beautiful or they are not. Art is beautiful. Art is not always meant to be interpreted, sometimes you just need to admire it for its beauty, not for what it means. Oscar Wilde, an Irish writer best known for his book The Picture of Dorian Gray and for writing plays like The Importance of Being Earnest, wrote this and almost based the book earlier mentioned on the whole ideal that beauty doesn’t have to mean more than just beauty. I feel like Oscar Wilde’s greatest strength is his play on words and often use of caricature that really livens up what he writes. He lived during the Victorian era, when art was meant to be used to teach and to influence the minds of society, so as he wrote the book The Picture of Dorian Gray, he strived to prove a great point and contradiction to the era he was living in, as well as the way he uses Dorian’s two best friends to show the hideousness of the bigotry he was living in, as he was arrested and imprisoned for being gay. Oscar Wilde’s use of irony, foil, and symbolism really portray his total disgust towards the age he was living in by rebelling and contradicting the use of art as a tool and the intolerance he was surrounded with during this Victorian age.
Beauty has differed through time, different cultures and perceptions of the world. It’s not easy to define beauty, you could say that there are “a thousand” definitions of beauty. And there are numerous degrees of each. “Beauty depends on the eye of the beholder”. This saying is correct because what one individual considers beautiful is not necessarily what another individual may consider beautiful. Someone “beautiful on the outside” can be “ugly inside”. The media and the society are constantly using the conception of “beauty” to show us what we should strive to be. They assert that we have to appear a certain way to be viewed as beautiful. This is wrong, so what is beauty, really, and what different ways of looking at beauty are there?
Variations of this question are timeless, and without ever defining beauty, we are constantly attempting to achieve it. Hundreds of years ago the essence of beauty was a philosophical question. Plato was one of the first to conjecture that beauty may be due to what he called the "golden proportions." Plato went on to describe that the "width of an ideal face would be two-thirds its length, while a nose would be no longer than the distance between the eyes." (3) Although all of Plato's ideas were not entirely defendable, it was the first recognition that symmetry might play a part in what humans deem attractive.
To determine what it means to posses beauty, one must keep in mind that the appeal of the flesh will always leave people with the desire for something more. “Western women have become pre-occupied the with concepts of beauty, image and appearance” (Shabaat 6). Society has caused many individuals to believe that the main characteristic of beauty is physical appeal, causing inaccurate interpretations of beauty to become globally accepted. “I concluded that beautiful and perfect women are on the increase and so are the women who feel ugly on the inside” (Gale 1). In order to break free from all misleading exemplifications of beauty, one must always remember that the person in the mirror is not what defines self-worth.
What is beauty? How do we decide who is attractive and who is not? Society is full of information telling us what is beautiful, but what fact is that information based on? The topic of beauty has been studied, analyzed and controversial for centuries. We all know the feeling you can have when you hear a beautiful song that brings joy to your heart, stand in a field of flowers that excites your eyes, or admire a face that is visually pleasing. As human beings, we are all drawn to beauty, but what is it that makes something beautiful? The controversial issue that surrounds beauty is that some believe that true beauty is defined by someone’s outer appearance, while others believe it is something that is experienced through a person’s character.
I disagree with Ludwig Wittgenstein when he states that aesthetics “draws one’s attention to certain features, to place things side by side so as to exhibit these features” because of the logic that gives birth to the thoughts that led to this statement. This logic questions the ability of a person to ascertain what “beauty” is, what contains the quality known as “beauty”, and the levels of beauty and how they can be measured and compared.