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
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?
In Leslie Marmon Silko's "Yellow Woman and a Beauty of Spirit", true beauty is not a physical or mental state, one separate from the other. Rather, beauty is a culmination of characteristics that include honesty, friendliness, and caring, outward behaviors with inward feelings and intentions that cause or intend harm to others. In this particular reading, beauty is evident in your relationships with nature and fellow human beings and how you relate to those around you. While I was born in the United States, where the term "beauty" is often used to describe a person's physical characteristics, I see it as coming from within as well as in how a person interacts with others in their community and world. In fact, I would agree with Merriam Webster's definition; “the quality or aggregate of qualities in a person or thing that gives pleasure to the senses or pleasurably exalts the mind or spirt.” (Merriam) This definition encompasses all of the senses that one has available to them in order to determine what beauty is to each individual.
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?
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 defined as “the quality or aggregate of qualities in a person or thing that gives pleasure to the senses or pleasurably exalts the mind or spirit.” The secret of beauty has been a quest of humans for centuries. It has been determined that women and some men spend up to one-third of their income on products and procedures that enhance their looks. We spend way too much time looking in the mirror, scrutinizing, worrying, fretting, and wishing we could change something about ourselves. We dream of looking like the girl at work because she has great hair, or the girl we met at a party because she was skinny, with the perfect nose. This happens because we are constantly being bombarded with messages from social media. We look at magazines that show us airbrushed models and TV shows that consist of actors that spend hours in hair and makeup. Daily we see ad campaigns for stores that feature women whose looks are unattainable. Do we put ourselves through the torture because we think outer ...
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.
Each year, billions of dollars are spent on cosmetics, facial firming, bacterial injections, double eyelid surgery, and the list goes on. All in the name of beauty. But, what is beauty? What defines it? Is there a universal beauty? Can it be obtained?
What is beauty? People have always attempted to find, create, and pursue it. A quick checkout at the grocery store will reveal a plethora of magazines devoted purely to what they call beauty and the proper pursuit of it. Most have an idea of what they might personally define as beauty, but not as a general, sweeping definition. That which one might label ugly another might call absolutely stunning. Some find beauty in cats, others in dogs, just as some favor early morning mountain ranges over a sun setting over the plains. “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder” is the favorite adage quoted by many to explain for this discrepancy, but what does that quickly-spat out phrase even mean? In reality, while the adage is partially true, beauty is not relative or subject to our human whim - it is an ideal created and truly attained only by God, which as His children we are to reflect in love.
Beauty, as defined by the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, is the qualities in a person, or a thing that give pleasure to the senses or the mind. If asked to describe beauty, there’s no doubt that a great number of minds would fly straight to the images of the countless women whose elegant faces and long, slender bodies have been plastered everywhere from Times Square to the fashion magazines on their coffee tables. So what does that really mean and why is it that everyone’s perception of beauty is the same? It means that image of beauty has been altered in the minds of not only today’s youth, but in every generation. The improbable ideals that have been engrained into the minds of people worldwide have left the human race feeling like they will never be good enough. The culprit is the advertising industry, and Photoshop is their weapon. Many activists have begun to take a stand and make it their mission to stop this phenomenon before the damage spreads.
“Define beauty? One may as well dissect a soap bubble. We know it when we see it—or so we think. Philosophers frame it as a moral equation. What is beautiful is good, said Plato.” When you hear the word beauty or beautiful what do you think of? The way a person looks on the outside or the who they are on the inside. Or does it not even a human attribute but things that occur in nature. The definition of beauty has a very broad definition, this is due to the belief that beauty is subjective and is traditionally found in the eye of the beholder. After extensive research and interviewing two people, one male and one female, I have gotten a better idea of what beauty can mean to other people. In this paper I will discuss what can not only be seen
Perhaps the biggest issue in defining beauty is deciding whether it is an objective definition applicable to all people or whether it is subjective to individual opinions. Some aspects of beauty can be objective, as it would be strange for someone to deny the magnificence of a bold sunset or a sky filled with stars. In contrast, it is wrong to assume beauty is always objective. David Hume claims, “Beauty is no quality in things themselves: It exists merely in the mind which contemplates them; and each mind perceives a different beauty” (Sartwell). ...
Throughout history, civilizations have admired the beauty that the world has presented, but isn’t beauty held in the eye of the beholder? The word can be used to describe a variety of things. It can describe places, animals, objects, people and even ideas. However, the one beauty our society embraces today is human beauty. Because the perception of beauty differs from person to person, different ideas of beauty developed throughout history, which in turn formed standards for human beauty, and these standards have had a massive impact on today’s society.