Margaret Hungerford's 'Beauty Is In The Eye Of The Beholder'

“Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it.” – Confucius. Beauty has had a specific image or ideal for the past 100 years from the help of pop culture and advertisements that women are constantly viewing daily. We can go through the different ideas of beauty through idolized women in the past who were often considered to be the ideal beautiful. With the help of makeup and the aid of different styled clothing, women were able to fit in to form into the ideal beauty.

In the media today skinny models are pictured on the covers of magazines with their faces covered in makeup. Sometimes models are photo shopped to look smaller than they are originally. This portraying the perfect woman to be skinny and very beautiful. Allowing kids to believe that you have to be small and covered in make-up to be beautiful, when in reality beauty comes in all shapes and sizes.

Throughout the years, the definition of beauty constantly changes. In our society today many children are told to be true to themselves, to be unique, to be who they are, etc.; But on the other hand social media and the celebrities on there are a constant reminder that there is a certain type of beautiful. The juxtaposition between being yourself and being what is “beautiful” has consistent grey areas and blurred lines making it almost impossible to keep up with what’s “beautiful”. The media, whether intentional or not, portrays this certain body image that you have to be in order to qualify as beautiful.

One of the biggest promoters of “beauty standards” is social media, such as instagram.snapchat.twitter,etc. Online trends, like the thigh gap, make many girls create unachievable goals. These trends can also lead girls to have insecurities about how they look and feel. Throughout time beauty standards have changed, in the 1920’s was all about being super skinny and no curves, but in the 1950’s it was all about being curvy. Beauty standards always change, if a woman from today was transported to the 60’s she would be considered unattractive.

The Fashion Industry is affecting the way many people look at themselves. In today’s society there is always an ad promoting fast food, clothing brands, Cars. Etc. almost all of them have a model to promote their products. These fashion models are usually, extremely thin, tan, tall, and gorgeous. This set a negative standard for many women on what they should look like and can often cause to self-esteem issues. The Media is having a negative effect on body image by choosing to settle toward an unrealistic persona. In Addition, this has created many young girls, to have eating disorders such as bulimia, anorexia, and fasting. However, some businesses have started gravitating toward plus size models to stop the affects it has on society. Plus, also many companies are limiting the amount of photo shopping and airbrushing. The issues are far from being resolved but numerous people are working toward making a change.

What is beauty to you? Is it having perfect teeth, amazing hair, and the hourglass figure; or is beauty what makes the person they are today. Everyone has a different opinion on beauty. Raina Kelley makes an argument over beauty in an article called “Beauty Is Defined, and Not By You.” Although she makes a somewhat valid argument, I find that there is much more to this topic. Yes, body image is becoming more of an issue in today’s world, especially within young girls and women. In a study that was done by the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry in 1999 found that twenty percent of nine year olds and over forty percent of fort-teen year olds reported wanting to lose weight. In addition

In the 14th century the word beauty was known as “physical attractiveness,” also “goodness courtesy,” from Angelo French beute. Beauty was once known as how someone looks to

The Beauty Myth is the last (and most dangerous) of a long line of lies concerning the "rules" of feminine attributes and behavior. It is the most dangerous because it has succeeded in effecting women's internal sense of themselves. It has created a standard of

The problem is millions of teens believe the lies that these models have not been airbrushed or weigh twenty three percent less than the average woman. So because of this they resort to unhealthy measures to try and fit themselves into this impossible mold. What do we do? We should have more social groups to help younger girls with body positivity and body acceptance.

As you’re walking down a street you may notice a young group of girls or women walking and they see a huge billboard of a beautiful model. They might stop and stare at her and then discuss about her perfect her body is. Not knowing in the next five minutes they’ll be comparing their bodies to the model and feeling bad about themselves wishing that they had her body. Not to mention, that the photo may be photoshopped to make it seem as her body is perfect, or she had plastic surgery to fit the idea of having the perfect body. The fact that the media thinks they’re encouraging young girls and women to embrace their beauty, they’re influencing them that they have to have a perfect body in order to get attention. The media has put a lot of pressure on young girls and women to look perfect and second guess their bodies, when plastic surgery is never the answer to build their self-esteem up.

The main reason the word beauty has been used to describe external features rather than internal ones, so much more in the recent years, is the media. The media has evolved into something extremely influential, and the most clear message people recive from this, is what they are supposed to look like. For instance, magazines often create young girls who believe that thin as paper models seen in any magazine are what they are supposed to look like. Also, another component adding to the superficial terms people have are the celebrities that we idolize who are coached to not have even one single hair out of place; all those celebrity’s with perfect skin, hair, and body have been accomplices in the media’s outrageous spread shallow opinions. The outcome of the media’s bar being set so high is people all around doing whatever necessary to preserve their physical appearance regardless of the effect it has on their health or bank accounts.

Beauty sets standards for society through appearance, especially in younger generations due to use of social media and picture editing. “Beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder” is a saying that has been around for ages (Plato, n.p.). It is an accurate phrase because of contrasting views within particular individuals. Beauty is present in the good deeds of community members as well as the unity exhibited through dreadful events. It is a flower bud breaking through the dirt into the fresh, spring air. To clarify how beauty is viewed, it is often times the exposure of evil accounting for the new appreciation of something beautiful. After recognizing the privileges we acquire, the existence of beauty is revealed and expressed more easily. In current society, appreciating beauty is substantial to

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

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

“If the world was blind how many people would you impress?” Boonaa Mohammed. This quote speaks volumes and is prevalent to the beauty problems that have existed in the past and still exist today. But what is beauty? Beauty is a combination of qualities such as shape, color, or form, that pleases the aesthetic senses, especially the sight. That’s how the world looks at beauty and that is how the children and this generation will look at it. Instead of school being a main priority, the youth today focuses more on enhancing the outward appearance. How could we let happen? We have allowed ourselves, who we declare so great to poison the children of society today. By allowing them to believe that beauty comes from outward appearance and glamorous things we have set a standard where one has to be in order to be deemed beautiful. But when it all boils down, where do we look to define beauty? We in this society today look to define beauty in the movie , TV shows, the internet, social media, and pageants, places where ideal beauty are more prominent. Worst of all is that we look to actors who play roles or act a certain way in order to entertain. The sad part is no matter how good those people are playing their role it isn’t real. thus , where society looks to define beauty isn’t real. People don’t want to see what’s real because the reality of it is that perfect isn’t real, and real isn’t perfect. So if the question is where we society look to define beauty the answer is