Definition Essay: Society's Perception Of True Beauty

Beauty is hard to define and is said to be in the eye of the beholder, but desire for women to be beautiful and stay beautiful is a goal in our culture today. Though our society and loved ones emphasize that beauty lies within one’s character, our society also contradicts this idea because they tend to focus on physical appearance more. Beauty perception has evolved from embracing natural qualities in earlier decades to promoting superficiality in today’s society due to cultural changes such as the discovery of new beauty products and procedures and depictions made through mass and social media. The evolution of beauty from previous decades is drastic. Tracing back to the 1900’s up until the 1940’s, ideal beauty involved natural qualities

One’s perspective about such a controversial topic like beauty can be easily influenced by everyday situations. The theory of social comparison states, “women are negatively affected by constant exposure to models that fulfill the unrealistic media ideal of beauty”. Society has been corrupted by the negative messages portrayed in the media. As beauty continues to evolve the media and other social networks begin to introduce the concept of universal beauty. People continuously create an image and portray it as an ideal self.

It Is What Is On the Inside That Counts As Amy Davis says, “True beauty lies deep within. No matter what you look like on the outside, if you know you are beautiful, nobody can change that.” Society today has created a difficult beauty standard for women to attain; therefore, women feel bad about themselves if they do not fit society’s ideal image. In her article, “Face it, ladies: We can’t all be beautiful,” author Elissa Strauss describes the impossible beauty definition we have in the world today.

“Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.” People hear it all the time, but is this really true? Is one’s perception of beauty defined by their own standards, the world’s standards, or by the standards of the One who created us? For centuries, philosophers have questioned the meaning of beauty, but do not know that the true meaning of beauty is plain and simple. Despite have far we’ve come in society, many still question their own worth and beauty.

Mapping a Conversation on the Standardization of Beauty Many people in this world have their own definition of what beauty is. Beauty can come from inside or the outside. To me, beauty is not only something that pleases the eyes. Beauty is a quality that pleases or delights the senses or mind from one’s own perspective. Unfortunately, society makes it nearly impossible to see our own beauty.

Next, as Helen Keller explained, “beauty is not always seen, but it is also felt in the heart.” Beauty felt by the heart can also be found anywhere. This attribute of beauty can define a person’s heart and personality; not described as an inspiring view, or it can explain a person’s actions. In fact, a person can be beautiful just front the way they act towards others or the way they go about their daily lives. For instance, a simple smile from an individual helping a homeless person can be defined as beautiful. Additionally, someone sitting in a coffee shop lost in thought while reading a book or a child playing in the park. Beauty can also be found in a baby sleeping peacefully or even an elderly couple walking and holding hands. During these unintentional moments, the viewer is allowed to see past what society wants people to think is beautiful and is truly able to catch a glimpse of what Keller describes as beauty being felt by the heart.

Beauty is something that everyone has different opinions of. Different people would have different view of beauty. It’s something that people in the body/physical world can’t decided on or comprehend. Beauty is also something that the physical body will never truly be able to know, because to know beauty we have to sense it with our five senses. Our five senses though are not perfect. Therefore even if we ever find true beauty we many not be able to see it for what it is, because of our flawed senses. The only way we could ever find this true beauty would to be removed from our body. In the physical world there also can’t be perfect beauty, because no matter what there will always be some flaw in it. The object may not have a perfectly straight line, or it could be faulted in some other

There are many misconceptions about beauty and its importance, in todays society. In a time when physical beauty can be of utter importance, we seem to be at a loss of it. What is beauty and where can it be found? Can we see it in the air we breathe, the brilliant oceans, in the striking sunsets, or even in one another? With the weight of beauty in today's society, the common use of expressions used to describe life's brilliance is expected. The many expressions used to discuss beauty such as "beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder" and "beauty runs only skin deep" all stimulate different opinions and create controversy, but the most notorious of all, being that "beauty doesn't last forever." Sheri S. Tepper's Beauty reinstates the many

The philosopher Edmund Burke said, “Beauty is, for the greater part, some qualities in bodies, acting mechanically upon the human mind by the intervention of the senses.” (Burke, On Taste. The Harvard Classics. pg. 96). Just like no two people will perceive the color red as the same shade, no two minds will solely recognize the magnitude of beauty as the same. The impact of ones’ culture and media influence combined with the brain’s neuroscientific perspective, beauty truly is in the eye of the beholder. There is plenty to be explored to what people find beautiful and to the extent they find beauty in themselves and others.

How do you identify beauty? From a young age, girls are constantly being told how to be “beautiful.” Magazines and media throw unrealistic images into young women's minds telling them exactly what they should look like in order to be beautiful. What number they should see on the scale, how much they need to eat, what to wear, what not to wear. When a young girl sees a “perfect” model in a magazine, she’ll most likely see a young pliant white woman with long hair, long legs, a flat stomach, flawless complexion, and when she turns the page she’ll see the same thing. When in reality, these ideals are almost impossible.

The term ‘beauty' may have very relative significance. Something can be beautiful for us, but ugly for other people. The external beauty of a person is often the first thing that we pay attention to. This is the result of the association of beauty with good and ugliness with evil. Through the outer appearance we make a general opinion about a given person. Such a way of thinking may be very misleading. In order to get to know the person we need to look to the inside – into the soul. This is the place where the real beauty and ugliness are hidden.

Together, we can lower the numbers of people dying from eating disorders and cosmetic surgeries by resisting the beauty ideal. We can choose “to not participate in the beauty rituals, to not support the industries that produce both images and products, and to create other definitions of beauty” (WVFV, pg. 232). The most crucial and easiest solution is to create other definitions of beauty. Ultimately, it is up to the individual to decide what is beautiful. What if someone decided that the only thing that could contribute to one’s beauty is who someone is on the inside? Wouldn’t our world be a completely different place? Instead of

The definition of beauty is a characteristic of a person, animal, place, object, or idea that provides a perceptual experience of pleasure, meaning, or satisfaction. Beauty has negative and positive influences on mostly people. Beauty is described by the inside and outside of us. Due to beauty, our self-esteem has been hurt dramatically, especially towards girls. Beauty is not always about our outside looks but it’s about our inside personality also.

What makes someone beautiful? This striking question has always had a complex answer rather than simple. Society makes their interpretation of beauty with many standards that qualify for the “most beautiful people” in the world. America's picture of the perfect lady is extremely thin however full figured. America’s picture of the perfect gentleman is also thin, yet very fit. It’s always one thing or the other, never one choice. The public has their own particular rendition of what beauty looks like, yet american beauty happens to have a stance amongst the most startling standards. These standards of beauty that women see each day impact their confidence and self-esteem negatively only to push them to discover ways to fit into these unrealistic beauty criterias. Beauty standards in America are ever-changing, but society has yet to absolutely accept the average, everyday woman.

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