Beauty: The Unobtainable Dream
According to the Dictionary of Psychology, beauty is defined as "any characteristic in objects which appeals to the esthetic sense in its purest form"("Beauty"). Trends have grown from several ideals over the centuries. This lends to the idea that mankind is never satisfied with reality. People are constantly updating fashions to keep a look fresh or edgy. In this sense, physical beauty is an ever-changing process, dependent on ethnicity, geographic location, and time period. Since the fall of man, when self-consciousness was born, humans have been striving for ultimate beauty and the perfect self-image. Since ancient civilization there has been evidence of a beauty standard. Men and women have always had a fascination for the beautiful. The increasing preoccupation with beauty is linked with many of the great cultural and social changes of the past. Anxieties about beauty resonate deeply in human psychology. "It is not the influence of men or of capitalism that creates the intense desire for beauty" (Peiss 112). Cultural and social settings can heighten these worries and being attractive seems it can be the solution. This, basically, has to do with the biological, reproductive purpose of beauty. This interest leads to the evoluti
Even the Bible creates a certain allure of the beauty of mankind. Genesis 1:27 says "God created man in his own image." We can only assume that there is nothing greater or more beautiful than this all-knowing creator of the earth we inhabit. The Bible also says in Genesis 2:25 that "the man and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame." For the believers of the Bible, this is the first example of a standard of beauty. This beauty was natural, pure, and untainted. It was the way God had intended beautiful to be. This could explain man's obsession with the risque, cutting edge, and flesh- revealing fashions of the day, promoting them to the current level of absolute beauty. The desire to be natural or naked may come from the primitive instinct that was given to man at creation. "My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun I have seen roses damasked, red and white, But no such roses see I in her cheeks..." on of the beauty standard. Since ancient times, the standard of beauty has constantly been evolving and reaching into new and different areas. And only since what is being referred to ever so lightheartedly as the ugly women's revolution has the general public started to look at the deeper sense of internal beauty. This leads to a whole self-discovery paradox since we cannot look at ourselves objectively; much less discover our inner mystique (Mystique of Women). If hair be wires, black wires grow on her head. The ideal Elizabethan female had bright eyes, snow-white skin, red cheeks and lips, and fair hair. This may seem silly and circus-like, but as William Horman says, "[women] whyte theyr face, necke and pappis with cerusse" (qtd. In Elizabeth's Personality and Image). Clothing was vibrantly colorful with exotic patterns. The Queen was the model for all women to follow and aspire to. This belief is much different from the ancient standards of beauty. Instead of using makeup to simply cover flaws and accentuate certain features, Queen Elizabeth unnaturally applied her make-up as to hide her face. Still the public thought her beautiful. Beauty is an undefined standard; it is an ever-changing look. While people from the beginning of time have been striving for beauty, each cultures' standards are different. No matter how much the standards of beauty have changed over time, true physical beauty, according to a current ideal, is simply an unreachable standard. Another Egyptian beauty was Queen Nefertiti . If in her time there were posters or Internet photo downloads, Nefertiti would be the 14th century Anna Kournikova. Her name literally means the beautiful one is come, and to the Egyptians, she did not disappoint. She had large thighs, ample hips, a fertile (but not pregnant) stomach, all accentuated by her small chest (The Beautiful One is Come). This may seem like
Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1896
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page double spaced)
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