Beauty : The Eyes Of The Beholder

As of recently, the media has been flooded with positive interpretations of beauty standards all over the world. According to various sources, beauty ideals, in women especially, are socially constructed in order to judge a person’s value based on physical attractiveness; therefore, it is highly encouraged that people pay attention to their looks and take care of themselves, in order for others to create a positive first impression of one’s character. It is no secret that beauty standards vary from one culture to the next and it is difficult to establish a universal principle of what is considered beautiful. Many countries’ ideals contrast one another and, as a result, allow for stereotypes to emerge. This is the case between American

One of the most common human characteristics is the impulse to make sense of things by asking: why are things the way they are? Whether it’s from judgement or just plain curiosity, it’s in human nature to ask why one is wearing this or doing that. The essay "My Body is My Own Business" is written by Naheed Mustafa, a Canadian Muslim woman, who discusses the stereotypes and judgements that Muslim women in the western world are subject to because of the hijab. Mustafa talks about how it is unnecessary for women to follow the beauty standards that have been predetermined for them and also how true equality could only be achieved without women displaying themselves to the public.

“The Hijab limits me from doing certain things. When I have the Hijab on…as a Muslim woman, I consider myself basically representing the whole community” (Ruby 29). Aspects like this set this woman apart from her peers because she is now labeled as just one thing, a Muslim, when in fact she is much more than that. Women who wear the Hijab, Muhajibah, living in the western world, I believe, have it harder than they do living back home. Here, they are subject to a lot more attention when not necessary such as weird looks walking down the street and subject to stereotypes ie. being a terrorist. Islamic women are not the only ones being oppressed by their choice of clothing; in fact every woman around the world is target towards oppression. Islamic women are just targeted more than women of other religions. This is because of the strict faith that they endure from the Qu’ran telling them that they need to dress a certain way. However, it has been debated that the Qu’ran actually doesn’t mention anything about a women needing to wear a Hijab to be a good Muslim. (Kawaji)

Raina Kelley covers society's issues and cultural controversies for Newsweek and The Daily Beast.’s. In her article “Beauty Is Defined, and Not By You” aims to convince her readers that women success or not is not depends on beauty. “When I’m on m deathbed, I hope to be smiling in satisfaction about all I accomplished, not that I made it to 102 without any cellulite.” One of her goals is to remain all girls do not get influence by this society, just be brave and continue to reject that beauty is the only way to get ahead. Kelley used personal experiences, facts and examples, also counter argument to create a convincing argument.

Since the beginning of civilization there have been beauty standards, but as time has gone on, they have continually evolved and changed into what they currently are now. What was once beautiful two hundred years ago may only be average or desired by some, whereas in the past that may have been the most popular look or body type. However for decade’s women put beauty to the side and focused on the evolution of their rights and equality, but now since they have attained many of the same rights as their male counterparts the importance of gender equality seems to be changing. Currently many women are resorting back to issues of beauty and looks because of the societal norms that have come to be popular and important to the masses.

They felt that some natural aspects of their bodies are not good enough to look beautiful” (Karupiah 11). This illustrate how women in the media serves as a reflection on ordinary women. Women idolize the beautiful women on tv and all the love and attention they get and try to mimic their physical appearance to have that feeling of beauty and acceptance. Any women who does not fit up to the latest beauty trends or the qualities of the mainstream standards of beauty will have a feeling of being isolated from society and a feeling of not looking good enough for society standards. Feelings like that can only lead up to low self esteem and a anti social attitude taking away their chances of having a happy life.

The development has created much controversy because how it decides to present its perception. Humanity is at fault for how the beauty industry decides how to advertise the perfect image. Yet, in the twenty-first century, there has been a turn of events. Those have educated imaginations are realizing how one standard of beauty is not enough for the millions of versions of beauty there are. Despite, wanting to have no standards of beauty, the educated know that this is no physically possible. Frye perfectly summarizes, “ The fundamental job of the imagination in ordinary life, then, is to produce, out of the society we have to live in, a vision of the society we want to live in. Obviously, that can’t be a separated society, so we have to understand how to relate the two.” (86) The educated imagination interprets how they want their society without losing the connection to what we live in. The beauty industry represents the society we live in: superficial, materialistic, and self-indulgent. The educated imagination represents the ideal society: accepting of all and self-confidence. Although it cannot be the ideal society, there are still possibilities of a society where beauty is not a forced by people sitting at a board table. The mixture of these two societies can develop into a society where beauty is not only external but internal. Having the educated teach the weak imaginations how to comprehend the repercussions of the beauty industry, but still, understand it is difficult to change a hundred-year-old tradition. Standards of beauty will always be part of society, it is just how will society determine what is an illusion and

This history shows how society since ages has focused on the beauty of women discussing how a woman should appear, objectifying her and setting up standards for a beautiful life for women. It is hard to follow the standards when all that is presented by the world is not hundred percent true, instead, it is a made-up need and not all women want to or need to follow these beauty standards. But however, women worry a lot about beauty that the how they appear physically, which is worthless after death and women should be prouder of herself as she is, rather than aiming to achieve a certain standard of beauty that is set up by society by the means of media where common people see models in each shape, size, color, dress, makeup, and much more. Models have a living through this looks where they die to get thin, tall, pale, long hairs but no body hairs.

Standardized beauty in any culture highly affects an individual's appearance because a country can have different ideals of what is considered beautiful. In the

Beauty is something that can be interpreted completely different from person to person. A famous quote that goes along with this perfectly is “beauty is in the eye of the beholder.” I think a person’s inner beauty should be taken into account when deciding whether or not a person is beautiful. Wikipedia’s definition of beauty is, “a characteristic of a person, animal, place, object, or idea that provides a perceptual experience of pleasure or satisfaction” while Oxford Dictionary states, “beauty is a combination of qualities, such as shape, color, or form, that pleases the aesthetic senses, especially sight.” As you can see, inner beauty could be paired with Wiki’s definition and outer beauty could be paired with Oxfords. Of course, there

Beauty standards have been a major issue for many years now and women have been willing to change their bodies over and over to please themselves and others. Beauty standards are often defined in terms of hairstyles, skin color, and body size. The measures involved in having to live up to these standards are often risky in nature. For decades, what is seen as beautiful is centered around a women’s weight and size. Today, that standard is often defined as being thin. Women often resort to drastic means to attain that ideal image. However, achieving these standards can be expensive, can lower self-esteem and can be a threat to a woman’s health and life.

Debate over the definition of art has developed for hundreds, if not thousands of years. People have spent millions of dollars and given years of their lives to the craft called art. However, there has not been an agreement on what the definition of art is because it tends to be a very vague concept incorporating many cultures and ideas. It has proven itself to be an effective tool in the human expression over the years preserving deep and personal feelings along with history. Art can be defined as the creation of beauty through expression with skillful use of creativity, design, and manipulation of the viewers’ emotions.

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

have been finding ou I t more and more as I grow older, that people have different views about everything. Nothing in this world is perfect and it shows through mans disagreement about everything. They all have their own definiton of beauty. I find it is good to have your own opinion about things. Then you can hear other opinions and still have your own.

Natural beauty, in this day and age, is a term that has many definitions because it is a controversial term. With the way people dress, act, and express themselves, it is extremely hard to find the true denotation of natural beauty. This is also true with the growing popularity in makeup in both genders. When asked to define it, people have formed their own opinions of the term along with the commonly known denotation, connotation, synonyms, and antonyms. The definition of the term also can be described and derived from my personal experiences along with others’. Though there is much evidence for and against the belief, natural beauty is more than what’s on the outside.