Beauty? We know it when we see it. But what is it? Interestingly no definition or research seems to capture it entirely. Although the definition of beauty is debatable, the experience of finding something beautiful is not. It starts with a feeling. It makes you happy, or admiring, or excited. But how is this feeling emulated? Is it conscious or unconscious? On the other hand, science shows that responding to beauty is physical and biological and not just a rational contemplation. Human beings are sexual, social and aggressive creatures (Strugatz, 2016). The sexual attraction is thus determined by diverse factors including environmental, relational and organic factors. Both and culture and media tend to succeed in discovering the concept of what is visually attractive despite our instinctive depiction. However, looking at the modern time and the entire history, since the apparition of the human being, the definition of beauty or ideals of beauty often changes depending on time, space, culture, socio-economical and political events, as well as influencers (Robson, 2015).The essay seeks to understand how were and still are these standards of beauty established.
Ancient Egypt to modern day’s ideals of beauty
It is interesting to notice that throughout history, in different times, places and cultures, the meaning of beauty has varied significantly over centuries. From Ancient Egypt to modern days the ideals of beauty are different. The ancient Egypt was the vainest ancient civilization besides being one of the countries to ever developed oil, perfumes, and various beauty treatments. They placed greater prominence on the general physical appearance. “N” and “nfr” were primary adjectives adopted to portray attractive people, or beautiful things throughout the Ancient Egypt (Rutherford, (n.y). The relationship between youth and beauty is the critical part of beauty concept. Egyptians held the belief that beauty is synonymous with youth. On the part of men, clean shaven was seen as being beautiful and that the most beautiful skin on men was brownish or red as evidenced in most ancient artworks. Further, from ancient Egypt, heavyset men were considered to be less attractive compared to the slim ones while the aspect of symmetry was an important concept of the male’s beauty. Women’s body hair was sulked upon, and wigs highly elaborated compared to that of men. According to Rajvanshi (2015), the beautiful skin tone for women was perceived to be golden rather than the reddish-brown. Nefertiti was one of the greatest queens of ancient Egypt and presumably the most attractive woman throughout the ancient world. In her depictions, her face is perfectly symmetrical and is an ideal of the female beauty even in the modern day.
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Influence of political events on beauty
The definition of beauty has always influenced by society, political events influencers. Research has shown that the political discussions can have the significant impact on the beauty standards. In most of the presidential race, cultural standards have gained greater significance such as women in addition to ways they are viewed by the larger society (The culture of beauty, 2013). There has been the increased expectation of the females to obtain the desirable height, weight, and reputation. Such a case was experienced during Trump’s scandal as a candidate when he used disrespectful and demeaning language directed at women. Despite the fact that people might not support Trump on attacking women, it shows that the supporters are enthusiastic to focus past his behavior towards women and support his political perspective. Beauty has continuously being evaluated and re-evaluated and has continued to stay the same (Penrice, 2012). Both magazines and presidential debates have extensively supported beauty standards. It points out that most people often misinterpret the concept of beauty and have the capability to spread the misconstructions (Wolf, 2002). The overall country’s culture primarily relies on its standards while the idea of beauty is profoundly ingrained standard on which the American women are perceived.
Influence of Society on beauty
Nowadays these notions of beauty are rapidly shifting with the globalization and the digitalization and always influenced by society and environment. Digital influencers have substantially reshaped the entire fashion and beauty industry (Scheel, 2014). In an event where our brain is manipulated into believing what the contemporary media tells us with regards to the physical attractiveness then human beings would continue looking for ways to be beautiful. Media has significantly conditioned human’s response that the ideal body is always perfect. However, the media has the potential to result in a new response when they refrain from using Photoshop in their advertisement (Jain, 2005). Both men and women used to construct and deconstruct the idea of beauty based on a single camera frame; however, media-driven culture has changed this and determines who is beautiful and unattractive.
According to Ford (2009), the beauty industry has taken advantage of these dynamics and not only supports the new ideal of beauty that is being created, but more interestingly brands dare to define their own identity and ideals of beauty. Majority of the fashion and beauty companies such as Dove have further pushed for a real-sized model while creating the ad campaign for body image positivity (Robson, 2015). What it more obvious is that socio-cultural environment shapes ideal of beauty. This is simply because today these are not just one ideal of beauty for people living in the same society. Therefore, today brands have the power to promote a dramatic makeup look versus a naked makeup look (Deocadiz, 2011). Further, they can promote a thin body versus a well-rounded body. Based on the notion that not everyone has the same ideal of beauty concept, the facial beauty standards have remained general, but the body beauty standards have remained cultural. Based on the views of Glenn Wilson, the overall standards of beauty seem to be constructed by the evolutionary biology. For studies show that symmetry is attractive to the human eye; however, the issue raised is whether we can we generalize this to all human being. It is certainly harder to identify and to justify this (Jain, 2005).
Reading scientific research in cognitive science and evolutionary psychology such as Survival of the Prettiest, Etcoff, it is noticeable that part of human beauty view might be programmed into our brain circuit and established over the history of humanity. However, it is hard to accept that the insight of beauty entirely originates from something we biologically have and at the same time acknowledge that culture has similar principles of beauty irrespective of their race or ethnicity. The beauty business is booming globally, in particular in North America and Asia (Gerdes, 2013). It is true that genetics influences humans and no one could work to counteract or even overcome their particular genetics. We can purchase different beauty brands and even have plastic surgery with the aim of enhancing, beautifying our looks or even keeping to ourselves attracting in our culture but there are still limitations. These products and surgery can only improve and create out self-esteem (Strugatz, 2016).
The interesting common observation besides understanding the genesis and definition of standards of beauty is that women and men strive for beauty over history for different reasons. For themselves and for other plastic surgery cosmetics (increase, the industry has not experienced a slowdown even during the economic crisis). More than an ideal of beauty there is beauty culture. Currently, the principles of beauty in addition to the evolution plastic surgery technology have transformed as a result of both global and multicultural influences. Despite the fact the in most cultures the definition of beauty has changed significantly over the years, several notions and ideals of attractiveness have endured. In China, for instance, a glowing complexion, oval face, slender waist, agile delicate fingers, arms and legs in addition to smooth hair are commonly desirable. For example, it is interesting to note from Ancient Egypt to modern days the concept of perfectly symmetrical has continued to be an ideal of the female beauty. It is true that the beauty industry is highly resistant to the economic downturn while on the other hand, consumers are price conscious during downturn but still manage to spend on beauty products. Consumers are always aspired to meet their beauty ideals. The ideals of beauty are shaped by trends, culture, the society you lived in, experiences you had in life, your influences, and therefore define what you find beautiful.
References
Deocadiz, M., (2011). Beauty: A cultural construction or the 'natural order'? Retrieved from: http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/exchange/leamirella/beauty-cultural- construction-or-natural-order
Ford, P., (2009). Beauty in Different Cultures. Retrieved from: paulford.com/a/beauty-in-different-cultures/
Jain, M., (2005). The Cultural Implications of Beauty. Retrieved from: http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/sci_cult/courses/beauty/web5/mjain.html
Penrice, R. R., (2012). "Nicki Minaj and 'Marilyn Monroe': Is She Perpetuating White Female Beauty Standard?," The Grio,. Retrieved from http://thegrio.com.
Rutherford, M., (n.y).The Ancient Egyptian Concept of Beauty. Retrieved from: http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/beauty.htm
Robson, d., (2015).The myth of universal beauty. Retrieved from: http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20150622-the-myth-of-universal-beauty
Rajvanshi , K., (2015). Who’s beautiful? How beauty is defined around the world.Retrieved from: http://indianexpress.com/article/lifestyle/fashion/whos-beautiful-how-beauty-is- defined-around-the-world/
Scheel, J., (2014). Culture dictates the standards of beauty.
Strugatz , R., (2016). Bloggers and digital influencers are reshaping the fashion and beauty landscape. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved from: http://beta.latimes.com/fashion/la-ig- bloggers-20160809-snap-story.html
The culture of beauty (2013). Standards of Beauty Are Determined by Evolutionary Biology. Retrieved from: http://ic.galegroup.com/ic/ovic/ViewpointsDetailsPage/DocumentT oolsPortletWindow?displayGroupName=Viewpoints&u=nysl_ro_bri& p=OVIC&action=2&catId=&documentId=GALE|EJ3010659230&zid=8 444ff8f06932fd7686ca92853bbf96d
Wolf, N., (2002). The Beauty Myth: How Images of Beauty Are Used Against Women. New York: Morrow. Reprint, New York: HarperPerennial, 2002
