Beauty- and its deciding factors

Beauty

noun /ˈbjuː.ti/

the quality of being pleasing, especially to look at, or someone or something that gives great pleasure, especially when you look at it.

Beauty is subjective.

Yes, beauty is subjective. For what appeals to one may not appeal to the other, for what seems like flaws to one may seem like perfection to another.

And yet- it is only a fraction of the people we consider beautiful, only a fraction that seems to fit the standards of society- which have been set up by none other than our own selves. There are a countless array of rules to be considered beautiful, a number of features we have learned to be attractive- to consider someone else worthy of this title.

Yes, beauty is subjective, but is it really? If such rules, such mindsets, such requirements come into play? Do we really consider ‘beautiful’ to be something that appeals to our senses, or is it a word to describe someone whose appearance fits these standards?

And what of the rest, then? What of the majority of the people who find themselves unworthy of this title? They might not fit the usual definition of beautiful, which they hold so harshly to themselves, much more than they do to others. 

But the funny thing is, even by societal standards, what is beautiful for one is not for another. In Asia, beautiful is slender, fair and petite- in the west, beautiful is bold, tanned and curvy. An interesting analogy by some people revealed that it is the play of luxury being displayed through looks- as a form of beauty. To quote someone’s genius observation-

In Asia- fair is beautiful because to be fair is to have the luxury to not have to work in the blazing sun, to be dark is frowned upon because it is seen as a symbol of  having to do hard work- meaning you are not of rich origin.

In the west- tan is beautiful, because being tan means to have the luxury to spend the day away at the beach, having to do little or no work. To be light is uninteresting because it means you spend the day in the office , grinding for work.

In the past, women who would now be called chubby were considered beautiful- because it meant that you were rich enough to be able to afford such quantity and quality of foods and lead a life of luxury.

Now, skinny women are considered beautiful- because to be skinny means to have the luxury and time of being able to work out, have ample time to indulge in such self care and get high quality health products to achieve nearly impossible standards of beauty.

In truth, beauty truly lies in the eye of the beholder. Seeing the truth of society and social media’s standards, I want to say to all the other young girls reading this:

You truly are beautiful, because at the end, these symbols of beauty are nothing but outdated measures of luxury and wealth. Be wealthy in your personality, your generosity and your love for  others. Your looks need no validation and no work, they are unique as they are. A person who fits all these standards and one who doesn’t are both equally beautiful- to different people, in different times, at different places. Don’t let such trivial things  affect the way you feel about yourself.

References: definition of beauty (the Cambridge English dictionary); the inferences about the standards of beauty: collected information from some youtube comments on videos about this topic ( I most definitely did not come up with them) and the image has been sourced from Google.

However, this piece of writing and the views expressed here are mine, plagiarism is strictly prohibited. Thank you!

~Twinkle