Seeing Beauty As A Universal Concept: What Is Beauty For You

For most of us who want to admire by others in our society, we need to be good looking. No matter a man or a woman, all of us will do our best to enhance our looks. Our society is obsessed with beauty concept that people choose painful and expensive routes to be gorgeous, such as plastic surgery, Botox, or collagen injections. According to the ASPS annual plastic surgery statistics report, the total cosmetic procedures in American was more than 17.7 million in 2018, nearly a quarter million more cosmetic procedures performed than in 2017. (American Society of Plastic Surgeons, 2019) Besides, an American reality show, Extreme Makeover, are going to be revived by HGTV in American. (Steinberg, B., & Steinberg, B., 2019) The show transforms ordinary men and women into the stunning individual by plastic surgeries that the general public admirers. People are pursuing beauty in our society, however, there should not be a universal concept of beauty. It due to the cultural differences in different countries, changing concepts from the past to the present.

Different cultures shape different concepts of beauty for countries. Standards of beauty vary from countries to countries. For instance, stretched earlobes and a shaved head is a beauty standard in Kenya. The tribe wearing heavy jewelry made of stones or elephant tusks to stretch their earlobes over time. (Wright, P., & B.j., 2018) Women status is depending on how large and elongated her earlobes are. The standard of beauty comes from the impressive size of the ear. In contrast, it is not a common concept in modern China. China beauties emphasis to have small ears, slim body, big eyes, and white skin. (Colla, V. B., 2015) We can look at the famous actress in China, Fan Bingbing. She is a fashion icon in China which profoundly agree by the Chinese. Her body shape is slim, and her body features are very delicate and thin. It shows the beauty concepts between Kenya and China are far apart with each other. Cultures around the world have different ideas of what is beautiful. Beauty is a subjective concept of people perception. The perception comes from the cultural development over time within their own country. The world should accept no universal concepts of beauty.

Modern beauty concepts are redefined in some countries. The concepts changed from the past to the present. In the past, affluent families living in Mauritania have traditionally force fed their girls into obesity. Being fat was not only beautiful, but it was also a sign of wealth and social status. Girls are forced to drink milk from morning to midnight. They are obsessed with the saying that the glory of a man is measured by the fatness of his woman. (Vy, T., 2013) Nevertheless, a fat girl is desirable is becoming old-fashioned. Education changes the beauty concept of people. Media arrived Mauritania and bringing them a new definition of beauty. They educate them obesity among Mauritanian women would lead to heart diseases and other health problems. People are more aware of the problem and correct their traditional practices. A few decades ago, some 70 percent of Mauritanian girls were force fed. Now, only about one in 10 are force fed. (Harter, P., 2004) The concepts of beauty are changing over time within a country. The process of redefining beauty concepts proves there are no universal concepts of beauty. It is dynamic and keeps changing from time to time.

Some may argue that slim or muscular is the universal concept that generally accepted by our society, people around the globe are pursuing this standard. It is sure that slim or muscular are pursuing by some of the developed countries, even a lot of people intake diet pill or supplements to keep their body shape. Statistics show that Americans spend about $2.1 billion a year on weight-loss dietary supplements in pill form. (Dietary Supplements for Weight Loss, 2019) It is no doubt that most of the people are pursuing the norm to be slim and muscular, but it is not the case for all. People in Nauru are not demanding a slim body. Nauru lacks large-scale agricultural activity on the island because of phosphate deposits which in turn has led to an absence of fruits, vegetables and whole grains in the island’s diet. Most of the people can only intake imported processed food which is high in both sugar and fat. Nauru has the highest obesity rate in the world. (Smith, O., 2018) People are generally fat and not pursuing a slim body with the constraint of their diet.

To conclude, beauty concepts are subjective. A single standard is not applicable to different circumstances. We should respect the culture of others and standards of everyone. The world would be a better place if everyone is accepted by our society. Everyone is not perfect, beauty is for all of us.

References

American Society of Plastic Surgeons. (2019). New Plastic Surgery Statistics Reveal Trends Toward Body Enhancement

Steinberg, B., & Steinberg, B. (2019). HGTV Will Revive 'Extreme Makeover: Home Edition'.

Wright, P., & B.j. (2018). What men find attractive in different parts of the world.

Colla, V. B. (2015). Thinking Colours: Perception. Cambridge Scholars Publishing.

Vy, T. (2013). Force feeding in Mauritania CBC TV report.

Harter, P. (2004). Mauritania's 'wife-fattening' farm.

Office of Dietary Supplements - Dietary Supplements for Weight Loss. (2019).

Smith, O. (2018). 11 amazing facts about Nauru, the least visited, most obese nation on Earth.