Sheri S. Tepper's Novel, Beauty Essay

Beauty. What is it? Where does it come from? What should we do with it? These, among others, are questions widely debated in today’s society. As Charles Darwin once said, “It is certainly not true that there is in the mind of man any universal standard of beauty with respect to the human body” (source G). Using this and many other points from varying sources I will answer these long disputed questions. So what is beauty? People most often think of beauty as a very specific standard you have to reach or you don’t fit in. You know those rules: long hair (preferably blonde), long legs (tan, of course), very slender, and a great fashion sense. In fact, 57% of women agree that “the attributes of female beauty have become very narrowly

know the feeling one can have when one hears a beautiful song that brings joy to ones heart, stand in a field of flowers that excites ones eyes, or admire a face that is visually pleasing. 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 experiences through a person’s character. Beauty is defined as the quality or aggregate of qualities in a person or thing that gives pleasure to the sense 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. People spend way too much time looking in the mirror, scrutinizing, worrying, fretting, and wishing people could change something about themselves. People dream of looking like the girl at work because she has great hair, or the girl people meet at a party because she is skinny, with the perfect nose. This happens because people are constantly on social media. A pretty face is not a complete definition of beauty, nor is the quality of one being kind and compassionate. To contain beauty, someone or something does not have to be physically beautiful. Beauty is everywhere. Take a simple flower.

There is a cliché quote that people say, “Beauty is in the eye of beholder.” But in the essay “The Ugly Truth About Beauty” (1998) Dave Barry argues about how women who spend countless hours on their so called “beauty” whereas men seem not to care. Barry uses juxtaposition and exaggeration to poke fun at men and women behavior and shed light on the harm that the beauty industry is doing. When Barry argues his point of his essay he addresses both genders, but more specifically teenage to middle age men and women, but he writes about it in a humorous and light-hearted manner.

What really determines something to be beautiful. In Lucy Grealy’s narrative, “Mirrors”, she describes her journey of finding her own idea of beauty. As a child she had cancer in her face so she had surgery to remove but it caused her face to be deformed. Consequently, she was bullied because of the way she looked, which caused her self esteem to lower immensely. As a result, she had undergone many surgeries and even went as far as to travel to another country to try and fix her face. Therefore, as she gets older she not only alters herself physically but mentally. She finally realizes that how people see us should not influence how we view ourselves not only physically but mentally as well. So she decides to never look at a mirror because she feels she does not have to to know what she looks like anymore. She finally accepted the way she looks and started focussing on her personal well being and recognizes that's what is actually important. Society has a critical impact on the way we see ourselves because of the way social media shows us that we should look a certain way, people telling us we should look a certain way, your negative thoughts about how you look, and how society determines your value based on looks.

Beauty’s innate commentary to Society Concepts of beauty can be portrayed in everyday life. Jane Martin’s play entitled Beauty is the perfect example of how society perceives beauty and the subsequent benefits of possessing these unrealistic attributes. ‘Beauty is in the eye of the beholder’, this is a phrase that many may relate to and Jane’s play is a representation of this, making it a commentary to society’s unrealistic views of beauty. An in depth look, at how society’s perceptions of beauty affects not only those who measure themselves up to these standards but also those who fit into the mold themselves and this will be the aim of this essay.

People have contributed to the physical and cultural view of beauty in societies all around the world. Each country has different beauty standards that reflect off of each other to display diversity: “Beauty is informed by values, culture, religion, background and societal influence. Concepts of beauty has change over time depending on environment, culture, etc”. Through the different standards of other cultures, societies are able to learn that there is not only one form of beauty. The evolution of beauty around the world allows people to compare opinions with another to form individual perspectives of beauty.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, is a phrase commonly used in today 's society to make a politically correct assessment of our judgement of beauty. The popularity of this quote has helped convinced the general public that it is an universally truthful statement. This statement suggests that, the perception of beauty is based on an individuals subjective judgement rather than an any empirical justifications. If the majority of the worlds population believes this statement to be true, then why is beauty treated as if it is universal? When we analyze beauty campaigns, it is evident that major corporations are capitalizing on the predominate Euro American standard of beauty. Ad after Ad our minds are bombarded with notions of a hierarchical beauty standard. These ads function as representations of societies cultural values and thus help promote an unattainable standard beauty. This prompts the question of why does our theorization of aesthetic judgement not coordinate with how an individual makes judgements on beauty in the real world? One notion is that society has adopted the theory of eighteenth century philosopher Immanuel Kant 's judgement of taste. In Kant 's book Critique of the Power of Judgement he lays the foundations for the belief that our judgement of beauty has both subjective and objective properties. He supports his theory by claiming that our judgement of beauty is dependent on four main factors quality, necessity, universality, and purposiveness. In

“Beauty” is an elementary word that has a multitude of definitions, depending on the individual and the subject at hand. It is an abstract word that is mostly used to describe a commodity that brings peace of mind or cheer an individual. It may be used to describe numerous characteristics in person, but the word “beauty” will create a stance for all the distinguished values possessed by an individual or substance. This essay is, therefore, going to give a more concise and precise definition of the word “beauty” and what it symbolizes when put in use.

The concept of beauty is one of the more intriguing and important concepts in the study of gender and sexuality. Beauty has held a prominent role in shaping people’s personal lives and by extension, the lives of society and humanity at large in both positive and negative fashions. Charles Darwin’s Descent of Man and Selection in Relation to Sex (1871), Sigmund Freud’s Three Contributions

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

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 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

(I) The concept of beauty has been around for thousands of years although, it wasn’t until almost one hundred years ago that modern society was determined to judge one another’s, primarily women’s, beauty.

Tobias Hürter, a Philosopher said, “Beauty is at the core of our utmost desires. We strive for 0fulfillment through beauty. Obviously, that beauty can look different in various cultures and eras. But the very longing for beauty is a constant.”