Imagine a world where people looked exactly like their personalities. Weird right? Ponder it for a second: who has ever overheard “That girl over there must have a kick ass personality”? or “Wow, that girl seems like she would tell really funny jokes!” Yeah, I haven’t heard that either. It is all about looks, whether we would like to admit it or not. Humans are constantly trying to measure up to a standard of attractiveness that is set unattainably high. This high standard comes from the American culture becoming beauty obsessed. Everywhere you turn there are ads and images of these flawless people being thrown in your face. I even find myself constantly comparing my flaws to these stunning idols.
As I pass by a mirror before I leave for the day, I always stop and glance at my reflection. Almost everyone does it. I check myself out and see a face full of zits staring at me and it’s like I am going through puberty all over again. I then notice what I am lacking, the colossal boobs that I do not have, but I do make up for what I lack in breasts on my lower body. The famous singers, J-Lo and Beyoncé, have set the standard quite high for the perfect ass so I am content with having a little extra junk in my trunk; however, I am not so lucky with my humungous legs, also known as, “thunder and lightning”. If I didn’t have the long thick hair I do, I could probably pass for a boy. All these flaws of mine have led me to trying extremes just to look as good as the flawless models in the magazines. I have tried many of the crazy dieting fads, and went to the extremes of not eating anything at all. Every day since my freshman year in high school I have not once left my room without inspecting my body and think to myself on how I can achieve ...
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...t beauty is defined by what pleases the eye. Beauty in my mind is maintaining a healthy lifestyle and accepting myself for what I have to work with. I will never measure up to the 5’9 flawless model that only weighs a whopping 115 pounds, and I'm okay with that.
All these unrealistic body images the media has drove into the heads of Americans has become detrimental; however, I feel like instead of us focusing on an unrealistic standard of beauty, we should promote more of a healthy lifestyle. Although I will never be the perfect perception of today’s standard of beauty, I am finally learning to accept my imperfections.
Works Cited
"Definition of Beauty in English:." Beauty: Definition of Beauty in Oxford Dictionary (American English) (US). Oxford University Press, 2014. Web. 26 Apr. 2014. .
Living in the world today is a totally different experience than it was decades ago. Today’s society has become judgmental and closed minded, seeing things for only what they are and not what they could be; it has become a society opposed to change, and obsessed with perfection. A major part of this societal perfection is being “beautiful,” but what constitutes beauty? Defining what beautiful is could not have been a simple task, because it is something based on personal perception. A perfect example of this was a line recited by the Prince in Rodger’s and Hammerstein’s Cinderella: “Do I love you because you're beautiful, or are you beautiful because I love you (1997)?” As individuals, determining what beauty is and why someone is beautiful is a complex, ever-changing process, with a rationale behind it no one seems to understand. Meaning, perception is subjective and therefore the perception of beauty is also subjective.
We hear sayings everyday such as “Looks don’t matter; beauty is only skin-deep”, yet we live in a decade that contradicts this very notion. If looks don’t matter, then why are so many women harming themselves because they are not satisfied with how they look? If looks don’t matter, then why is the media using airbrushing to hide any flaws that one has? This is because with the media establishing unattainable standards for body perfection, American Women have taken drastic measures to live up to these impractical societal expectations. “The ‘body image’ construct tends to comprise a mixture of self-perceptions, ideas and feelings about one’s physical attributes. It is linked to self-esteem and to the individual’s emotional stability” (Wykes 2). As portrayed throughout all aspects of our media, whether it is through the television, Internet, or social media, we are exploited to a look that we wish we could have; a toned body, long legs, and nicely delineated six-pack abs. Our society promotes a body image that is “beautiful” and a far cry from the average woman’s size 12, not 2. The effects are overwhelming and we need to make more suitable changes as a way to help women not feel the need to live up to these unrealistic standards that have been self-imposed throughout our society.
Society is obsessed with fitness and weight loss. Ever since I was in sixth grade I have had issues with my weight and self-image. The article “Fat Is a Feminist Issue”, by Susie OrBach focuses on how our society puts this unrealistic image of what women should look like into everyone’s heads. The media and magazines urge women to conform, at any cost, into a constantly changing expectation of what is beautiful. Women are taught to look at themselves from an outside view, to be a sex image for men and fuel the diet and fashion industries. Society thinks if women do not fit within the unrealistic image something is wrong with them. The highly glorified concept of beauty marketed by the media contributes to the concern over body image that causes many women, including myself, to eating disorders and poor self-image.
Deanne Jade believes that the media does its part to keep us informed on "valuable information on health and well-being," (Jade 8). I agree however I feel that is done in such a manner that girl feel as if they must exhaust the media’s advice on fitness and health and use these methods in order to obtain the picture perfect body image that they see on TV and in magazines. A cou...
So beauty is something that is pleasing to the senses. Perhaps music that is pleasing to the ears, or art that pleases the eyes. But again, there is a problem. If we follow this definition, beauty is subjective. What is beautiful and what is not beautiful will change according to the person being asked. What is pleasing to one’s senses may be different to another’s.
The term ‘beauty’ is synonymous with the female face and body, it is rarely applied to men in the discussion of aesthetics. Beauty is theorised across art, aesthetics, sociology, psychology, and scientific and cultural studies.xxxxxx
It is our nature as human beings to desire being seen as attractive. Both women and men will go beyond barriers to make themselves more aesthetic. Scholars define beauty as the quality of being attractive physically or having in you the qualities that give pleasure to the mind and the senses of other people. Everyone has their own definition of beauty. Therefore, there is no standard measure to determine or judge if someone or something is or is not beautiful. There can be a great variation in the definition of beauty in America while compared to the definition of beauty in other foreign countries. Despite these differences, most countries share a number of ideas regarding what beauty
Beauty, how do we define it? Why is beauty so important among us? These are some of the questions that will be discussed in this paper, leaving a clear understanding of what “beauty” is and the many qualities which define “beauty”. We are regularly challenged with “beauty”, trying to define what it is and what it’s supposed to be, who is and who is not, and what is and what is not?
People pay too much attention to appearance, it is important in some situations and the general population seems to put more of their focus on how good someone looks or what the newest trends are, instead of concentrating on greater issues at hand, which are often not discussed. For instance, there are problems with our health care system but many people have a greater knowledge of what is going on with the death of Michael Jackson. In our society where image and presentation is everything, it is impossible not to care about our appearance. We find ways to beautify ourselves, such as not eating properly which leads to anor...
All things considered, with the recent obsession with body images, media had added extra stress. Many people in today’s society use this media as external validity, when in actuality when they don’t get the results they desire it ends with a lower self-esteem and a lack of self- efficacy. These standards are unrealistic and todays generation is having a challenging time realizing that
Beauty means something different to different kinds of people and cultures. The meaning of beauty is influenced by our environmental surrounding, society, media, peers, culture and experiences. When people think about beauty they think about the physical visual appearance. Actually is “beauty in the eyes of the beholder” (Hungerford, 1878), but perhaps it is more accurate to say that beauty is also in the geography, as cultural ideals of beauty vary drastically by region.
The advertisements, the movies, the television and the music industry should also take the blame for this. Wherever you go you’ll find advertisements, whether it’s commercials or print ads. In these advertisements, they advertise their products and the promises never stops. These products will “apparently” make you appear like a perfect model with “perfect” long hair, smooth skin, white teeth, “delightful” lips and a “wonderful” face. Similarly to the media, advertisements spreads false hope that makes the people think that if they buy the same makeup as Megan Fox or Jessica Alba they will be as “beautiful”. From what I know of advertisements, that can’t be true when it’s publicly known that the most of the advertisement images are photoshopped or edited. Women but also men will never be good enough in the eyes of the media and the advertisements. Have you ever seen a woman who has some “excess weight” in an underwear commercial? Just think about it for a moment. My answer is no, and probably yours too. The same goes for
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 character.
The first and most popular interpretation of the word “beauty” is seen as outer appearance. On that perception, “beauty” and “attractiveness” have a significant difference even though they are word cousins. A beautiful looking person may be attractive, but an attractive person does not need to be beautiful. One person may look at someone beautiful with “deep satisfaction in the mind” because that person admire how beautiful the other is. Someone, who is not striking beautiful looking, may attract other people just by how they express their personalities. The others who are attracted to that particular individual because they feel connected, happy, and comfortable around that person. While attractiveness may result in long lasting relationships, physical beauty only brings short term pleasant feeling in the mind. Yet, beauty as outer look conquers many societies around the world. For instance, American culture tends to value the way a person look. That value is transmitted from one generation to the next by families, peers, and media in the process of enculturation. Young children come to adapt ways of thinking and feeling about physical beauty from their families first. The show
Physical beauty is merely an illusion of who someone’s true self and is always noticed first. There are countless examples of people being beautiful with a nice body yet a terrible person inside. When someone looks at a physically beautiful person, they often think of them as friendly and caring because their physical beauty is giving off an illusion to others. Although physical beauty is an illusion, people are attracted to physically beautiful people. When someone we think is attractive walks into the room, we are drawn toward them. However, this is only superficial because once you talk to a physically beautiful person and they are unkind, unwelcoming, and only worried about their appearance, most people do not want to be around them.