Are We Beautiful, or Not? | Day 4: The “Beauty” Timeline

I was going to post this piece 3 weeks ago, but then too much got in the way with the holidays and all. Oh well, better late than never!

The “Beauty” Timeline

Unlike perceived beauty (personality, mannerism, outlook on life), objective “beauty” changes with the times.

What was considered beautiful at one point and time may be considered pure obscene and un-attractive now. And what is now considered beautiful today would probably have seemed extremely over the top, un-natural, and almost what they would have expected an alien to look like.

“Given today's culture of enforcing tanned, size-zero models as the standard of female beauty, it's kind of confusing that all the women in those famous paintings from the Renaissance are lovingly portrayed as plump, pale and happy. How did the cultural ideal of female beauty change so radically in only a few hundred years? ….Isn't what we find attractive just animal instinct?” (Eric Yosomono, 2011.)

Ignore the fact the women are naked...

Actually, yes and no: each individual person finds different things attractive. There is no one type of body or physique that is attractive or beautiful, despite what we are led to believe.

On the other hand though, what is considered beautiful and attractive by the mass population is set by the rich and the popular. The rich, the popular, celebrities and those in the fashion world are actually very influential.

“What society finds attractive about women is tied to how well-off they are, socially and economically.” (Eric Yosomono, 2011.)

Obviously this is true. Those that are in the tabloids, People magazines, fashion magazines—and even health conscious magazines like Shape—are full of celebrities and stars. Ads, movies—and more ads—are full of models, stars and celebrities sporting a specific look.

It used to be that really white skin and a chubbier figure was the desired look. Tan skin meant you were too impoverished and had to till your own fields, while pale skin was a sure sign that you had slaves doing the work for you. Women would stay out of the sun as much as possible, and then pile on the makeup and powder to make themselves as white as possible.

A plump, round figure meant that you had more than plenty to eat, and it was a sought-after shape of the women of those days. Sweet and fattening food was much less available than it is today, and having it meant wealth.

The women that you see in magazines and ads today would have been pitied and thought of as poor. They would not have been seen as appealing or desirable.

“The pale-skin trend didn't really let up until influential women like Coco Chanel started taking extravagant vacations, reinventing bronze skin as a sign of wealth and comfort. A pale complexion became a symptom of spending all your time working indoors.”  (Eric Yosomono, 2011.)

Once again, the trend for pale skin changed because of a wealthy, influential person.

Thinness somehow became correlated to wealth, though I'm not sure exactly how. Maybe it's just because unhealthy junk food is easier and cheaper to get a hold of?

       Uncomfortable beauty techniques have been around for a long time. In the 1800s, women painfully endured tight corsets which squeezed their waists and insides to create a curvy figure and accentuate the breasts, hips and butt, and women were “expected to strive for a specific ideal of beauty.” (Ross, 2012.)

 

“Historically, the ideal female body was strong and full-figured, as seen in icons such as Marilyn Monroe.” (Eric Yosomono, 2011.)

Marilyn Monroe

In the later 1900s came the very slim, almost boyish figure. Full figured women were seen as over-indulgent and piggish, with lack of self-control. We know this has come too far by the turn of the century, with all the under-eating.

Now in the modern day, it is sort of a mixture of things, which I have already mentioned: slim figure, with a big bust and butt. Or just plain thin. 

Jennifer Lopez, Kim Kardashian, and Angelina Jolie are examples, as well as any model. And you know what they do to get that! Diet pills, extreme diets, cosmetic surgery, Botox, boob jobs, personal trainers, personal hairstylists, and personal makeup artists. Oh, and of course expert photo-shop professionals with lots of edited photos.

Sometimes I wonder if maybe the famous celebrities are even more insecure about their bodies than the rest of us…the fact that they have to go to such drastic measures to become what they believe is beautiful is bizarre. But then again, anyone who feels the need to become beautiful at the media's standards will become driven to do anything.

There are millions of teens and women with eating disorders, in big part due to the skinny figure everyone is trying to duplicate. Of course it doesn’t help that the SAD (standard American diet) is so poor, but healthy eating and exercise should be done for health reasons and to feel strong and happy, and not in attempt to look a certain way or to please others.

Nowadays, we are all shamed into hating our bodies. We are told that cellulite is horrible and ugly, natural fat placement is a reason to feel bad about ourselves, our boobs aren’t big enough, and that we are totally unacceptable if we have any fat and aren’t toned—or if we are too thin and don’t have enough fat, that if we don’t look like these pictures, we can never be loved like we could if we were “beautiful” enough and “deserved” it.

The real truth is though, that every woman is beautiful. There is no one figure, shape or look that holds all the beauty. Some of us may not be able to see that—and it is so ingrained in us to believe what society wants us to believe—that it will take work to train our minds to believe otherwise.

Any shape, size and color is beautiful

And any age is beautiful

Starting now, I dare every person who reads this to go against what the world tries to sell us, and start being undeniably beautiful no matter what. Start by finding the beauty that is on the inside, and it will shine through for everyone to see.

Love,

Linnaia