English 111 Section 4207 the Meaning of Beauty
Lizzy Peterson
Dr.Phillips
English 111 Section 4207 Writing and Inquiry
October 6 2017
The Meaning of Beauty
A famous cliché saying, “Beauty lies in the eye of the beholder”, said by Margaret Hungerford comes to life when deciding what beauty really is. Is it physical? Is it internal? Is it spiritual? These are questions often thought about when trying to box in the idea of beauty, and what it consists of. Everyone has their own idea of people, places or things that are beautiful, but what makes those people decide that? The dictionary definition of beauty from the English Oxford Living Dictionary is,”A combination of qualities, such as shape, color, or form, that pleases the aesthetic senses, especially the sight”. Going off of this definition, it insinuates that what is on the outside determines what and or who is beautiful. Brown eyes or blue eyes? Tall or short? Skinny or fat? We ask ourselves these questions when trying to decide who is beautiful or not, purely based on physical attributes. So just because someone has straight white teeth, and nice hair then they must be beautiful, right? Jeffrey Virge said that,“Beauty is based of perspective”, and that, “It is inescapable, because beauty is not something you make, it is something you find”. What people are surrounded by shapes their outlook on beauty. There is nothing of existence in which, there is one classification of beauty that is universal. For example, what is considered beautiful in American culture might not be what is considered beautiful in Indian or Chinese culture. There are millions of ideas about the perspectives of what beauty is. Beauty is plain, and simple. Beauty is happiness. When someone is happy, the positive energy radiates off of them, they are beautiful. A person in their truest form of what satisfies them is when their beauty will appear on the outside from the inside.
As people we analyze every individual inch of our bodies, trying to find spots in need of improvement. People’s choice of fashion, facial features, and body structures are constantly under attack from self ridicule induced by society’s pressures. Jo Swinson talked about how people are aspiring biologically impossible ideals in an article about beauty. She further explained the effects of how social media plays a big role in the destruction of self esteem. If everywhere a person looks is tall skinny girls getting commended for being so beautiful, while they happen to be a average height and weight then suddenly something is wrong with them. As humans, naturally we want to fit in, and feel accepted. People would rather be accepted by others than themselves. People are constantly suffocated by,” try this and lose thirty pounds” or,” clearer skin in just two days”. No one is beautiful anymore unless society gives their approval. Plastic surgery, braces, and waist trainers are pricy things that exist to fix what is so called “ugly”. Who says that if a nose is a little pointy it needs to be rounded down in order to be a beautiful nose? Natural body forms, shapes, and sizes are scrutinized starting from the young age of pre-teens all the way through adulthood. The toll is heavy when someone is constantly trying to battle themselves, and keep up with the flooding ideas of beauty. The sunset right before it goes down, the young boy helping his grandmother, and the girl stuffing her face into a book are all examples of beauty, raw and innocent beauty. How beautiful is it watching someone do something they love? For example, everyone's favorite musicians when they play their music, or the crowd belting their favorite songs that made them feel understood and not alone. Beauty should be endless, and move freely as people do. Beauty should never be constricted, it should grow as people grow. The world is so judgemental now that the stress of trying to fit into these tiny boxes can be devastating. From head to toe people critique one another, deciding the ugly and beautiful parts of complete strangers often enough. People try to make themselves feel better by saying everyone is beautiful, but then forget the part of them having to have this, this, or that. Beauty is subjective. Generation to generation our perceptions of what beauty is changes, as the world does. The early 2000s were all about being thin and slender, and now here it is 2017 and it is all about showing curves and being on the thicker side. Who decides what beauty is or isn't? Just because someone says a size two is beautiful, doesn't mean that someone that is a size seven isn't. Everyone and everything has beauty, it just depends on the individual. People's confidence in their bodies from their eyes to whether or not their belly button is a innie