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Society's beauty standards
Societal standards of beauty
Society's beauty standards
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American concept of beauty vs. Korean concept of beauty 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 …show more content…
This is a concept that most Americans do not believe in. As tiny as this skin may be, it forms a great part of the concept of beauty according to the Americans. Most Americans have taken for granted the possibility that one might have a crease or a fold above their eye and be considered beautiful. The Americans have no substantial name for the tiny piece of meat, but the Koreans refer to it as ssanggeopul (쌍꺼풀). Most people in Korea have gone for surgery or the double eyelid tape so as to get rid of the piece of meat and achieve the western looking eye. Others argue that it is just for the sake of beauty. Big eyes and double eyelids should not be the basic measure of beauty. Most people who have mono eyelids look distinctly Asian and there is simply nothing wrong with that. They are still viewed as …show more content…
It has brought a huge effect to our understanding and beliefs on the concepts of beauty. This should be the most important thing as we try to compare the perception of beauty by any two countries or cultures. It is almost impossible to pinpoint what an ideal beautiful woman looks like considering the many different skin tones, body sizes, face shapes, hair colors, eye colors and hair types that women have. Differences in looks and what people believe in should not create barriers in their
Approximately about a decade ago, Japanese, Chinese, Korean and Vietnamese women all had a distinctive look and features. Single eyelid, thin lips, short-bridged nose and oval shape face are few of the features that distinguish Asian women apart. However, these distinctive features are slowly fading away as the new westernized features are coming in. Through the mass media and their
“Remember those posters that said, “Today is the first day of the rest of your life”? Well, that’s true of everyday but one – the day you die.” – Lester Burnham
How do we standardize female beauty? How do beauty standards differ globally? Can society function without beauty standards? Before we can answer these questions, the first thing we must understand is what beauty standards are. Essentially, beauty standards represent an “immutable essence” of femininity (Beauvoir, 279). What is femininity? It is a hypothetical criterion that one must observe to be considered a woman. At least, that is what it is alleged to be. The true question that we must ask ourselves is if femininity exists at all. According to Judith Butler, a contemporary feminist advocate, femininity is “a kind of imitation for which there is no original” (Butler).
By having an impossible ideal female look, society is beating us as women. We have no time to come up in world through politics, business, or any other power related structure because we’re spending all of our time trying to maintain, or achieve this beauty. The ideal woman is ever-changing. Different features and different characteristics are valued at different times and throughout different cultures. And each time the ideals change, or one changes the culture they live in, a woman must change too because if she’s not the ideal beauty, then she is less of a woman. For instance, in Judith Ortiz Cofer’s case, she was beautiful, tall, and light skinned in the Puerto Rican culture, but in the American culture, she was short, dark skinned, and not the most beautiful. Beauty is relevant to time and place. And often, we forget this and are manipulated by society to think the beauty of the time and place is the most important thing for a woman to have.
All cultures value and revere beauty. Whether it’s different types of hair, skin color, body type or makeup, each and every culture holds unique standards for physical attractiveness. Women seem to always be at the center of this natural, human interest in beauty. Men idealize the woman they want and women idealize the woman they want to be. It is a human need that is constantly at odds with the desire to be accepted, either internally or externally.
Does It lead to the question What is Beauty? Should we be influenced by Culture, Media or Plastic Surgery to modify what
Some Asian girls would even potentially go through dangerous surgery to make their ideal face. In fact, the social norm that was driven by advertisements showing a product with slim models draws a false assumption on Asian girls. As a result, it has led many Asian girls to achieve this unrealistic beauty standard that no one could ever achieve.
The old saying “beauty is in the eye of the beholder” has always been the ideal of what society believes beauty to be; versatile and able to be interpreted as anyone likes because it is something that is unique to every person’s own taste. This sentiment, as true as it may seem, is just an illusion. Oxford Dictionaries may define beauty as “a combination of qualities, such as shape, colour, or form, that pleases the aesthetic senses, especially the sight”, which seems vague enough to be interpreted any way someone wishes, yet society has been instructing standards onto what is deemed “beautiful” for centuries. It is these mass opinions that then culminate in the “real” definition of beauty, which, though they can be ephemeral, is really seen
It also investigates the social effects and results of beauty
Relating beauty with youthfulness or relating it to suitability for a given purpose. Both definitions can apply in different situations, one aspect of beauty that stands out determined by the level of attraction it is to the human eye. The level of beauty perceived by the male will most likely determine the choice of a mate he makes. Thorough psychological research, a person’s demeanor may affect how his or her beauty is perceived by others. Showing the definition of beauty determines by the person holding it.
...y within South Korean culture has become so great and common that according to Ms. Chang,(a plastic surgery patient), the “…[eye surgery] is not even considered surgery…” (qtd. in Choe “closet”). She is referring to the fact that eye surgery is one of the most basic, and insignificant surgeries one could get to improve their looks; it is so common and minuscule, that it does not even constitute as a “major” surgery to her, as well as the public. Thus, the term “the basics” (which include an eyelid surgery to create larger eyes and a nose job to create a longer thinner nose) was conjured by the Korean people to classify these two very common procedures (Willet). The shift in beauty standards and the willingness to change is crucial in understanding the reason and justification to the extent to which the Korean people have altered their values on outwards appearance.
I think beauty and attractiveness can be influenced by cultural perspectives. Bottom-up refers to the way it is built up from the smallest pieces of sensory information. When people look at a person we innately look for symmetry line in their face. It is stated that symmetry in faces and objects determines beauty. Top-down processing, on the other hand, refers to perception that is driven by cognition. Your brain applies what it knows and what it expects to perceive and fills in the blanks, so to speak. I believe attractiveness is a top-down process. When I look at a woman I break down her physical features and build them back together and I decide if I am attractive to her physically. My culture influence is women with voluptuous figures so that is my
The definition of beauty is varying among different people in the world. Even though almost everyone knows the term beauty, many people are struggling in defining it and persuading others to agree with their opinions. Beauty is defined by a combination of qualities existent in a person or thing that fulfills the aesthetic feels or brings about profound gratification. Many people define beauty as a term to describe a person’s physical appearance; they often think that beauty comes from magazines, video girls, or even models. Although the term beauty can define a person’s physical appearance, true beauty lies in the way one acts and thinks rather than the way one look.
What is beauty? What makes someone beautiful? When growing up in a halfway decent environment it is taught that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. What one may consider beautiful someone else may not but that does not change the fact that something and/or someone is still beautiful. Does what we watch on television hold women to an unrealistic standard of beauty?
There are so many different opinions on what beauty is. The idea of beauty is purely opinionated. Beauty is your own idea, skinny or thick, long hair or short hair, light skin or dark skin. How people define beauty is unique in many different ways everyone has a different opinion. No ones idea of beauty is the same. In society today it has become more materialistic based if you wear the latest designer or you have the newest pair of sneakers out and the true meaning of being beautiful has escaped our souls. Beauty is not just what we see on the outside it is so much deeper then what we see its what we also have to offer on the inside.Your intelligence is beauty your mind, body, and soul. Beauty is not a single image, but the active embodiment