Beauty: Beheld in the Eyes of Society Essay

There is an old saying that â€Å"beauty is in the eye of the beholder.† However, there are definite social concepts of physical beauty. Most of the time, people associate beauty with something that is seen, instead of tasted, or smelt. Therefore, a more precise definition of beauty would sound like, beauty is the quality or set of qualities that give pleasure to eyesight. Many things may not be as beautiful to one person as they are to someone else; people have many different outlooks on what beauty really is. Females in particular have historically faced pressure to conform to a particular standard of beauty. The media presents society with unrealistic body types promoting people, especially women, to look like them. The desire to be beautiful has received more attention by blinding the public with images of the â€Å"beautiful people.† The extent of the message the media portrays to our society is more harmful than beneficial to the average person. Many people will s ay that â€Å"beauty is in the eye of the beholder,† however society has a great impact on today’s standards of beauty. Beauty is a collectively undecided conception, which implies that each individual may interpret the idea of beauty based on his/her own biased opinion. Humans appreciate beauty in many different ways. Some consider beauty to be seen through nature, others may see beauty in the ancient Grecian statue of the Venus De Milo. Someone, or something, that one finds beautiful another person may not. Beauty is something subjective. It has various meanings to different people because no one person is the same and their standards and tastes differ as well. In her essay Perceptions of Female Beauty in the 20th Century, Louise Wood references the great German philosopher Immanuel Kant by saying; â€Å"the judgment of beauty is different from cognitive or moral judgment because it is affected subjectively, that is, exclusively in reference to the person making the judgment. For a judgment to be truly â€Å"aesthetic†, rather than merely idiosyncratic, the person making the judgment must be adamant that their opinion be consensus.† In simpler terms, Wood is saying that, one’s perception of beauty is different from their mental or moral perception because, it is based on emotion instead of reasoning. This statement is what has lead to the many different interpretations of what true beauty is. Since there are many conflicting views, the true meaning of it has been lost and therefore skewed by the opinions of others, and in some cases for the worse. Cultural standards have led to perceptions of beauty or the lack of beauty for as long as the human race has existed. Culture is defined simply as a way of life, or how people do things such as, how they eat, celebrate festivities, their behavior, their attitudes, moral values, and religion. People will tend to look at their own natives in their culture as beautiful because their notion of beauty may be different than another culture’s perception of what is beautiful. In some African countries, a big body and big buttocks would be considered beautiful for women. In western countries however, there is a tendency for women to starve themselves to comply with the misconception that being extremely thin or slim is beautiful. Many people might share the opinion that the standard idea of beauty includes being tall, thin, and light skinned, but this mindset might not fit everyone’s standard of beauty. Paul Ford states in his article Beauty in Different Cultures that: In Nigeria, women are encouraged to be more full-figured as it demonstrates fertility and the ability to carry and birth many babies. In some Southeast Asian cultures, wherein war resulted in a lack of food, a more full-figured woman demonstrates a higher social status. Being thicker in frame can boast of being well fed and healthy. In these ways, beauty implies superiority and cultural status. However, standards of beauty depend upon the social conditions of the times in which one lives. Still, different cultural groups think, feel, and act differently. There is no right or wrong standard for considering one group’s idea of beauty to be superior or inferior to another. Either way, the essence of beauty is pervasive throughout the many distinct communities around the world. The majority of this eras perception of beauty is spread throughout the media. Since the beginning of â€Å"The Age of Media† media has both empowered and limited woman. The media constantly alters how individuals view themselves and others. In the Social Psychology Quarterly volume 62 it states, â€Å"With their power to frame, define, and neglect aspects of the social world, the mass media are a principal social and cultural institution† (Milkie 191). It has been proven that media images do have a powerful effect on young women today, due to the extensive reinforcement on our everyday lives. Milkie states in her article that; â€Å"The central position of the media in everyday life ensures that symbols distributed through the media become points of focus and interaction in the population† (191). Television, magazines, and advertisements are the most common medium for which these standards are displayed. A person cannot escape these magazine covers, constant adv ertisements, or the entire entertainment industry in general. All aspects of the entertainment industry overwhelm today’s society and are highly responsible for its changing perceptions and trends. Images of female bodies are everywhere. Women and their body parts sell everything from food to cars. Popular film and television actresses are becoming younger, taller and thinner. These media outlets are all setting standards of beauty that are not only unrealistic but could prove to be dangerous in an effort to be attained. In Frank Biocca and Philip Meyer’s article in the Journal of Communication, they listed that â€Å"When Glamour magazine surveyed its readers in 1984, 75% felt too heavy and only 15% felt just right. Nearly half of those who were underweight reported feeling too fat and wanting to diet. Among a sample of college women, 40% felt overweight, while only 12% were actually too heavy† (125). This article also reported that women’s magazines have ten and one-half times more ads and articles promoting weight loss than men’s magazines do, and over three-quarters of the covers of women’s magazines include at least one message about how to change a woman’s bodily appearance by diet, exercise or cosmetic surgery (125). While television can be said to reflect the standard of beauty for women, it seems to portray them in a light of approval or disapproval, positive or negative, that affect women’s views on how they should look. It is clear that throughout history, the role that society plays has had a great impact on what is considered beautiful. Although physical beauty is unquestionably important in the minds of today’s society, more people are willing to embrace it in many different forms. Today’s â€Å"Pretty Woman† is gradually stepping away from the mannequins with sex appeal and glamorous movie legends that are shown worldwide. Today’s beauty represents a new breed. Though the criterion of what is considered beautiful has come a long way some still feel that the standards of beauty remain subjective. Because of this, no one person’s perception of beauty is considered superior or inferior, right or wrong. However, as long as society’s standards continue to play a significant part in American culture society will always have a great impact on what one deems as beautiful. Works Cited Biocca, Frank A., and Philip N. Meyers Jr. â€Å"Journal of Communication.† The Elastic Body Image: The Effect of Television Advertising and Programming on Body Image Distortions in Young Women 42.3 (1992): 108-33. Print. Ford, Paul. â€Å"Beauty in Different Cultures.† N.p., 22 July 2009. Web. 16 Apr. 2012. . Milkie, Melissa A. â€Å"Social Comparisons, Reflected Appraisals, and Mass Media: The Impact of Pervasive Beauty Images on Black and White Girls’ Self-Concepts.† Social Psychology Quarterly 62.2 (1999): 190-210. Print. Wood, Louise. â€Å"Perceptions Of Female Beauty In The 20th Century.† Home Page. N.p., n.d. Web. 9 Apr. 2012. .