The Price of Beauty“Is Beauty Truly Skin Deep”

By Chantz Martin

Women and Gender Studies 2020

Professor Paliwoda

Introduction

The concept of beauty is something that is socially constructed. An individual’s perception of beauty is shaped by their culture, the society they live in, and by their interaction with others. Beauty is an ever evolving enigma. However, one thing that is clear about beauty is that anytime a person is said to be beautiful, they must embody a vast majority of the beauty characteristics of that particular culture. Also, beauty is almost always based on outward appearance; the whole idea of “inward beauty” is a myth because most cultures do not truly value that type of beauty. Beauty trends change over time, something that is considered beautiful today may not be considered beautiful six months or a year from now. It is human nature to desire to be beautiful because the beautiful people of this world are more accepted in society, not mention the advantages beauty gives a person. There are certain jobs where the most important qualification is a person’s outward physical appearance. This presentation will illustrate how beauty varies from culture to culture.

Foot Binding

In Chinese culture, women who had small feet were considered beautiful.

Foot binding was the act of wrapping a three- to five-year old girl's feet with “binding” in order to bend the toes under, break the bones and force the back of the foot together.

The process of foot binding was to make the feet narrower and shorter because it forced the big toe and the heel closer together. At a very young age, a girl's feet are bound, between 5 and 6 years. This is because the girls feet are still made of pre-bone cartilage. 

Neck Rings

In countries such as Thailand and India women who wear brass rings around their necks are considered much more beautiful than women who do not.

Similar to Chinese tradition, the Thaw- anise believe in altering a girls physical appearance at an early age in order to make them more “beautiful.”

After years of being bound with the rings, their neck muscles atrophy to the point where their heads would slump over and the woman would suffocate if the rings were removed.

American Standards of Beauty

In America elective cosmetic surgery has become a social norm.

Plastic surgery has become the “fast food” of beauty in America.

American beauty is perpetuated via the various media outlets that an average citizen is bombarded with on a daily basis. For example, in a single day a person may witness thousands of advertisements that shape their perception of true beauty whether it is through television, billboards, magazines, newspapers, and the internet.

Consequences of Cosmetic Surgery

In 2007 the mother of Grammy award

winning rapper Kanye West, Donda

West, died from complications due to

plastic surgery. Ms. West was

scheduled for a tummy tuck and a

breast augmentation.

In what turned out to be a highly publicized and controversial case, Tameka Foster was involved in a botched plastic survey. She had the elective surgery outside of the United States.

Statistics

Being beautiful is not cheap Average cost of a nose job in 2002:

$4,178

Average cost of a Botox treatment in 2002: $426

Average cost of an eyelid job (upper

and lower lids): $3,816

Plastic Surgery in the US

35%

25%

30%

6% 4%

Couples that get plasticsurgery.

Mothers and daughters whoget plastic surgery.

Patients who receive plasticsurgery as a gift.

Sisters who get plasticsurgery.

Friends who get plasticsurgery.

Makeup

The makeup industry in America is a multi-billion dollar industry. It is becoming more and more common for cosmetic companies to employ celebrities in their advertisements in order to entice women to buy their products. Applying makeup to ones face has become an everyday chore because it is believed to enhance a person’s beauty, hides flaws, or make an unattractive person instantly “beautiful.”

Beyoncé Knowles is idolized for being one of the most beautiful women in the world, yet she always wear makeup and she gets paid millions of dollars to endorse the cosmetic company L’Oréal.

Japanese Beauty

Geishas are a part of traditional Japanese culture. They are women who entertain through music and dance. Geishas are also praised for what the Japanese consider to be exceptional outward beauty.

Young girls who are chosen to be Geishas, are trained early on in the arts of dance, music, and traditional Japanese tea etiquette. Furthermore, these young women are trained to be seductive but at the same leaving something to the imagination.

Arguably Geishas are women who are trapped in a service industry jobs that just have a more glamorous appeal. Geisha looks rich and appealing but feels static and remote.

Brazil

Similar to Americans, the people of Brazil have a strong affinity for plastic surgery.

Also, Brazilians believe that beauty is found in a person’s confidence and passion.

In Rio De Janeiro the Samba Dance is considered beautiful because of the way the women dress when they are performing the dance and due to the fact that the motions of the dance exude confidence.

Sex Symbols

Kim Kardashian is a very well known American sex symbol. She is of Armenian descent and has a very voluptuous body and she has even posed for the adult men’s magazine Playboy.

People look at sex symbols as if they are the perfect models of beauty.

Shows dealing with beauty

Former supermodel Tyra Banks created and currently host the very popular reality show Americas Next Top Model. The show chronicles a group of women as they compete for the chance to break into the modeling industry. Many people have criticized the show for having nothing but the stereotypical tall and very skinny woman as contestants on the show. In response, Ms. Banks had a season in which shorter women could compete as well as plus sized women.

Toddlers & Tiaras is a reality show currently airing on the TLC network. It follows extremely young girls as they compete in beauty pageants. Oftentimes these girls are pushed by their parents to compete and they wear large amounts of makeup, wear dresses and tiaras.

Works Cited

1) DeNoon, Daniel J. “Latest Plastic Surgery Trends and Stats.” WebMD. 2003. 01 June 2010<http://www.webmd.com/skin-problems-and-treatments/news/20030605/

latest- plastic-surgery-trends-stats>. 2) Ehrlich, Richard S. “Giraffe Women; Neck coils push their head a foot above shoulders.”

The Washington Times. Aug. 1991, late ed.: A7. LexisNexis Academic. Odum Library. 01 June 2010 <http://www.lexisnexis.com/>.

3) John, Mao. “Foot Binding: Beauty and Torture.” Internet Journal of Biological Anthropology. Jan. 2007: 1. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Odum Library.

01 June 2010 <http://www.epnet.com>. 4) Puig, Claudia. “The beauty of ‘Geisha’ is only skin-deep.” USA Today. Dec. 2005: 4E.

Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Odum Library. 01 June 2010 <http://www.epnet.com/>.