What does Beauty means ?

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Beauty. What does this word conjure up in your imagination? For most, the word “beauty” directly correlates to human aesthetics, specifically in women. The question is: why? Why do people link “beauty” to women more than to men, landscape or creatures? What is the source of the “manipulation” that connects beauty to feministic appearance? The American Heritage College Dictionary defines the word “beauty” as “[t]he quality that gives pleasure to the mind or senses…”. (125) Therefore the simple definition of “beauty” is just something that evokes a feeling of “pleasure” to a person when something strikes their taste. Likely, T. E. Jessop explains that “[t]he study of beautiful objects has become the study of their origination in a mind and of their effect on a mind.” (159) Beauty is something of personal taste and is something that has results in some sort of “effect” (i.e.: feeling of pleasure) on the mind. But is this definition the reality of what beauty really is today? Those who have studied history and the role beauty, specifically feminine beauty, in society, have come to the conclusion that beauty in theory does not encompass only the simple definition as stated above. However, beauty plays a large part in the status of a person in society, even more so with women. Baker-Sperry and Grauerholz write extensivly on this topic. They say that according to Kirsten Dellinger and Christine L. Williams, society “socially rewards” women who are more attractive. They also talk about the studies of Dawn Currie where adolescent girls expressed that they only feel “good about themsleves” if they “look good”. Baker-Sperry and Grauerholz go on to conclude that as a woman’s status in society increases so does her “reliance” on beau... ... middle of paper ... ... Ludwig and Wilhelm Carl Grimm. "Cinderella." 1812: 1-6. Pink Monkey. Web. 17 December 2013. Hanafy, Erin. "New Study Questions Fairy Tales' Preoccupation With Beauty." 13 January 2004. AZCentral. Web. 16 November 2013. Jessop, T. E. "The Definition of Beauty." Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society 33 (1932-1933): 159. JSTOR. Web. 15 Dec 2013. Langlois, Judith H. and A. Chris Downs. "Peer Relations as a Function of Physical Attractiveness: The Eye of the Beholder or Behavioral Reality." Child Development 50.2 (1979): 409-418. Web. 20 Nov 2013. Miller, Laura. "Japan's Cinderella Motif: Beauty Industry and Mass Culture Interpretations of a Popular Icon." Asian Studies Review 32.3 (2008): 393-409. Academic Search Complete. Web. 26 Nov 2013. Patterson-Nuebert, Amy. "Experts say fairy tales not so happy ever after." 11 November 2003. Purdue News. Web. 26 November 2013.

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