Perception of beauty
This morning, while flipping through a copy of Teen Vogue, I came across the picture of a ridiculously skinny model in an ad for Miu Miu. I was awfully disturbed by what I saw. Is the company trying to advocate popped-out collar bones? Is this supposed to be attractive? What’s happening to our society’s idea of beauty?
In history class a few days ago, we learned that the Stone Age carving of Venus of Willendorf has often been seen as the first ideal depiction of female beauty. Her figure would most definitely be considered obese in today’s world. However, her body was the envy of women during the Stone Age. Her plumpness symbolized fertility and success, which were important to the hunting and gathering society of that time.
Even during the Renaissance, voluptuousness was still seen as beautiful. In the famous painting “The Birth of Venus” by Sandro Botticelli, Venus, the goddess of love and beauty, was depicted with a curvaceous figure. Although it’s no comparison to the Venus of Willendorf, the goddess would still by no means be considered “thin.”
Our obsession with thinness today can probably be traced back to the 1960s fashion model Lesley Hornby (Twiggy). At 5 feet 6 inches and 91 pounds, Twiggy took the fashion world by storm by flaunting her boyish, waif-thin body. Along with her popularity came the “Thin is in” slogan.
In America today, it’s no secret that there’s a growing obesity epidemic. On the other extreme end of the problem, the number of eating disorder cases, such as anorexia and bulimia, has also increased drastically over the past few decades. A disease unknown to people 100 years ago now affects approximately one in 100 teenage girls. Other appearance-altering methods such as plastic surgery and liposuction are also becoming increasingly popular.
The media has certainly played its part in changing people’s ideas of beauty. Each day, teenage girls are bombarded with hundreds of ads for diet pills, weight-loss programs, low-fat foods, and images of extremely thin celebrities like Nicole Richie and Mischa Barton. Despite most magazines’ claims that they feature women of “all shapes and sizes,” images of thin models undoubtedly prevail over more voluptuous models.
Personally, I don’t support this craze for thinness. Why should everyone strive for the same figure? Different people look good in different body shapes. Who’s to decide what’s beautiful? The latest copy of Vogue? Certainly not.
After all, what is beauty but something perceived by our senses? As Plato once said, “Because we trust our senses, we are like prisoners in a cave — we mistake shadows on a wall for reality.”
You’ve probably heard this before, but it’s true; you shouldn’t judge people based on their physical appearance. Look beyond the surface. What defines a person is what’s in their heart, not what they look like on the outside.
— Elaine Gu