Cultural Differences In American Beauty

For my final essay, I chose to write about The Beauty Myth by Naomi Wolf and her chapters about work, sex, and hunger. These were the chapters and topics that I felt had the most impact during my reading. The first chapter, work, is about the ways in which the Beauty Myth threatens the huge steps that women have made in the workplace. Wolf discusses how women are still being held back by having to work two shifts (one being paid for by employer and another for the unpaid work done at home) compared with the single shift worked by men – still made strides; and how the introduction of a third shift, the beauty shift, serves the purpose of keeping women down by keeping them tired and preoccupied. Too tired and preoccupied to be successful at work,

“Beauty is subjective yet American society creates an objective facade of what beauty is and how it looks and that is one does not fit in to it than they are not “attractive,” superficially over substance, Americans simply are uncomfortable being themselves” (Williams). The beauty standards for women are shaped by society’s ideas of beauty. When women try to fit these beauty standards to be accepted into society, men think they have the right to objectify women and their bodies. Of course, it’s never the man’s fault when he gets caught doing just that. Beauty standards for women are getting to a point where they are almost unrealistic, and often leads to someone objectifying a women’s body, which of course, society says it’s not the man’s fault.

American Beauty, a film that was written by Allan Ball and directed by Sam Mendes in 1999 is a unique piece that demonstrates many sociological themes throughout the development of the plot. The characters strive to portray themselves as the All American Family. They live in a nice house, drive nice cars and seem perfectly normal to the general public, but the audience is allowed to view the deep set issues that plague the main characters; Lester Burnham (Kevin Spacey), Carolyn Burnham (Annette Bening), Jane Burnham (Thora Birch), and Jane's best friend Angela Hayes (Mena Suvari). As the plot develops there are many obvious parallels relating the lives of the characters to Merton's Strain

Through the comparative study of “Of Mice and Men” written by John Steinbeck in 1937 and “American Beauty” directed by Sam Mendes in 1999, it is apparent that the concept of the American Dream is timeless and enduring. Mendes and Steinbeck use language techniques such as dramatic foreshadowing and filmic techniques to define the American Dream’s spiritual and materialistic aspects. However, from the context of the Great Depression explored in “Of Mice and Men” to the economic boom of 1999 which provides the backdrop to “American Beauty”, society has greatly evolved. Hence, as the context changes, so does our understanding of the American Dream and its perceived values.

American Beauty is a movie that sets in suburban America. The story is about Lester, whom is a middle-aged writer working in a magazine company. He was having a midlife crisis where he felt lonely and numbed by continuous unchanging routine of his everyday life. In the movie, his wife portrayed as a successful real estate agent, but she was also going through her own midlife crisis in both her career and personal life. Lester’s daughter, Jane Bumham had alienated her parents and was going through puberty. They have a new neighbor who is a U.S. Marine Corps Colonel Frank Fitts, and he has a son, Ricky Fitts, who is a drug dealer. Lester was going to get fired from his company that he had worked for fourteen

The two movies of the week, It’s a Wonderful Life by Frank Capra and American Beauty by Sam Mendes are a perfect portrayal of the American values in a positive and a negative way as I will explain in my discussion. Both movies got the idea of the Horatio alger myth, which is the American dream that everybody by hard work and determination can be successful and make it to the top to money and fame. Success in both movies is portrayed differently for example in It’s a Wonderful Life success was not the money and fame and the typical hollywood portrayal of success, but family and homeland, which are related to the german idea of heimat, which is the value of home. However in American beauty the typical American success was portrayed, which

I was six year old when I was uprooted from my village in Punjab, India. I was anxious to see the promised land, as my parents had referred to it. My father left for America before I was born so he could obtain a labor job to save up money for when my mother, brother, and I would arrive. I never expected my beliefs and perspectives to change upon arrival. Growing up in a very uniform culture I had a black and white view of the world. In our culture women were responsible for being caretakers. Their job was simply to raise the children, cook, and be domesticated. The men had the role of the breadwinner and they were the ones encouraged to get an education.

In this novel, The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison, the author depicts a culture in which white people and white lifestyles are idealized and the standards for beauty are very generalized around whites. In this novel, the author questions the truths by which white standards of beauty are held and depicts the impact and growth it has on her characters and the long-term effects of these “beauty standards”. Claudia was much better able to handle rejecting the white, middle class America’s standards of beauty. Claudia and Pecola are similar in the sense that they both suffered from racist beauty standards and abuse growing up. However, Claudia was always the stronger of the two and did not feed into the standards of beauty set in her society.

Ever since its emergence in the early twentieth century, television has been used to manifest cultural and societal values. I argue that in the United States, Hollywood’s ongoing depiction of racist aesthetics has become the prime method for cultures to falsely portray people of color to it’s counter cultured audience. Such aesthetics, interpreted by overly emphasized mannerisms, often emerging from stereotypes, establish false interpretations of people of color and their role within American society. In this way, racist aesthetics, made visible through characters like Maria in the 1961 movie West Side Story , build on the embracement of such portrayals as a means of adjusting to the social and psychological discomfort that arises among melting pot populations.

The women in the 17th century were incorrectly accustomed to the necessity of becoming a picture perfect person; which is a bad habit that only a handful of people are able to fathom. Perfect is an expectation that you can’t achieve in life until you realize to accept yourself for who you are. The conjecture of beauty and our bodies is set at a level that is insurmountable. To fathom this we can look at today’s society, if we aren’t what society wants we aren’t accepted. Society’s idealistic view on beauty is something we should not tolerate because we should accept people for who they are within themselves. In the dramatic monologues “Barbie Doll,” “Cinderella,” and “Applicant,” they are expected to either be something they aren’t, or desiring someone who isn’t even real.

Beauty standards are portrayed everywhere: on magazines, social media, ads, commercials, and even flaunted among peers. While the ideals are supposed to promote health awareness, fitness motivation, and self love, it unfortunately results in many unfavorable consequences. Women are constantly “penalized for not being beautiful and at the same time are stigmatized, even pathologized, for not feeling beautiful, for having low self-esteem, for engaging in behaviors like dieting and excessive exercising, or for having eating disorders” (Johnston and Taylor 954). Beauty standards are unrealistic and unhealthy to pursue, and misinforms the public on what true beauty is. While not all beauty image ideals promote negative feelings and dissatisfaction, many believe that the negative effects far outweighs any positive effects.

Before understanding the correlation between current Brazilian beauty standards and racial whitening, I need to establish modern day beauty norms and epitomes in Brazil. The first, most obvious, westernized beauty norm in Brazil is hair. The majority of Brazilians have dark, curly hair; However, it is deemed more beautiful to have straight, lighter hair. Edmonds cites in his ethnography, “…the cultural rule seems to be the straighter (and often blonder) the better…” (Edmonds, 143) when referring to beauty ideals. Although, most women in Brazil have curly hair, it is considered a “rarity” for women to be seen with curls because curls are known to Brazilians as a “black hairstyle” ( Edmonds 150-151). Additionally, there is a common saying in

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.

“I have lost something...It’s never too late to get it back,” stated Lester Burnham, the main character of American Beauty. American Beauty is a 1999 film that provides a look into the lives of a modern married couple that is dealing with issues within their relationship. As the story progresses, it is easily identifiable that the roles of the husband and wife are not what the viewers would expect. On the other hand, the homosexual couple presented throughout the movie seems to be the normal pair. Furthermore, society’s definition of beauty and contentment is questioned. Throughout American Beauty, the homosexual couple has a healthier relationship than the heterosexual couple and beauty is falsely represented.

Beauty standards have been socially constructed in diverse and various shapes in every society or culture in the world, and cause people to think they are not beautiful if they do not fit the common standard of beauty that has been set by the society. Most people are pressured into the standard by the social milieu. The people who are different from the socially pursued standard of beauty do not think the standard itself is absurd, but they rather tend to be insecure about their appearance. Once people see the beauty through individual’s perspective, not through the socially constructed standard, they would realize how much they have unconsciously forced each other to be fit in the beauty standard. This is something that I have also experienced. I was not a person who fit in the standard of beauty, and that made me shy and timid. However, once I saw myself through a different perspective of beauty, I could see it as a social problem that unconsciously forces one particular standard of beauty.