The Concept Of Being Beautiful In American Society

It is said that “beauty is in the eye of the beholder”. In today's generation young women are not seen for their personalities, but they are seen for the size that they wear. The definition of beauty has fluctuated over the years to become what it is today. The concept of being beautiful has caused an uprising problem in America’s society, and the way women see themselves.

The formal definition of beauty is “a combination of qualities, such as shape, color, or form, that pleases the aesthetic senses, especially the sight”. The word beauty was used as early as 800BC in Ancient Greece. During this time period, men had believed that women who were considered beautiful had certain values with matching proportions. These portions consist of not only moral values, but also their bravery and strength. However, the women began to age over time and wanting to slow down this process, they applied white lead as makeup to achieve their desired looks. Although, the sources of makeup were limited, causing it to be expensive to purchase and not many could afford these luxuries. Shortly after this time period, the Romans had gathered new techniques to keep their everlasting beauty. These techniques were used to conceal their aging: hair tinting to cover the unwanted gray hairs, wax was used to disguise wrinkles, and fur was used to thicken eyebrows. With history continuing throughout the 15th and 16th century, new influences were created due to the Italian revolution. This creates numerous amount of products to conceal flaws to achieve the look of being beautiful.

Today, in Americas society we strive to be skinny and picture perfect. If one does not meet the standards, they are told they are not pretty or good enough. We are critically judged by every piece of clothing we wear, and if it is not tight enough or short enough, then it is seen not as flattering to others. People strive to be someone they are not to create this image that they are beautiful. We think that by covering our flaws it will somehow make people like us better. It should not matter what size we wear, but we are still affected by what people think about us. Society is brainwashing every generation into seeing that what matters are the looks on outside and not the inside. However, research has shown that many name brand magazines have altered photos of actor's facial features, and body figures with photoshop. By magazines making these alterations, young women are trying to aim for the unreal image that is being displayed. Due to this it is causing many unhealthy condition's in teens; mainly consisting of bulimia and anorexia. In America: eighty percent of women do not like there appearance, fifty percent of women dislike their current weight, and seventy percent of women who are normal weight, want to be thinner due to societies unrealistic image.

We must wonder why America sees beauty this way. All around the world, countries have a different view on what is beautiful. For instance, in Mauritanian a small country in West Africa being a women overweight is a sign of beauty and wealth. In Tajikistan a country in Central Asia, considers women who have a single eyebrow which is called a unibrow beautiful, in this country it is a symbol of having great luck in the future. According to these countries to be overweight or to have a unibrow it is considered the most beautiful trait a woman could have. Then why is it, that being a woman in Americas society it is judged upon to have either of these traits. I believe beauty is based on what you see when you look in the mirror. There is no certain shape or size or color you must be. We are all unique and you do not need to change for anyone. However, if only my actions spoke louder than people's words.

Growing up in the American society, had impacted not only my view on others, but also the way I viewed myself. The act of comparing myself to others had become so ingrained that I did it subconsciously. Over the course of two years, I had struggled to reach the “perfect body image” that many young women my age try to achieve, just to be seen as beautiful. I had thought if I had reached this goal, I would love myself more and others around me would too. Although, in life it is hard to reach for an unrealistic goal. Being beautiful is not being perfect, perfection is just a figment of the imagination. You must realize that, to be able to grow and discover your full potential. Beauty should not be what others think about you, it should only matter what you think about yourself. We are all unique and are beautiful in our own ways, and we need to learn how to express ourselves. Society's image of women has changed over the years. However, it is blinding us of what real beauty is. Beauty is not changing things about ourselves to make us seem more appealing to others, but to express ourselves, and be as unique as possible. We have been told that “beauty is in the eye of the beholder”. Although, the hardest part is to realize is that you are the beholder.