My BF showed me this web page to tell me I'm not fat. In Western Culture, however, the beauty standards are geared towards the ideal of “sexy”. Ask yourself: “Is the person actually aggressive or are they just darker-skinned?”, “Do I think that person is unhealthy, or are they just bigger than me?”, “Would I accept this same behaviour from someone if they were conventionally attractive?” It is uncomfortable to confront, but necessary if you want to begin to unpack what we have been taught our whole lives. We should definitely all attempt to be as healthy as we can, but I would object to linking health directly to thinness. Haha. I will try to figure out how to do the link back to your site, as you have great info. The most recognisable characteristics are being white or light-skinned and slim. Yet apperantly, its glorified today. A bigger boned person with the same diet and lifestyle as me might weigh 20 pounds more than me. Supermodel Era (c. 1980s) This era celebrated this body type: Athletic. The current trend to prefer underweight people as more attractive than overweight people is due to our material culture. bspider on August 29, 2009: Very interesting and informative. Why are all of the women white? Jason Menayan from San Francisco on May 23, 2007: Inspirational and Amusing Quotes on Women, A Practical Guide to Improving Your Body Image, The Role of Religion in History & Society. Black women’s self-perceptions of attractiveness following exposure to white versus Black beauty standards: The moderating role of racial identity and self-esteem. Many billboards and ads still feature western models for Taiwanese products from cars, clothes, and cosmetics. My advice would be to keep being you and recognise that your appearance is more than enough. You are your own voyeur.”. If you look at my other hubs on body image, you can see that I am a proponent of body acceptance--for people of all shapes and sizes. Required fields are marked *. I wonder, if she lived here and now, would she be just another one of us, perpetually putting herself down, or is her power so deep-rooted she would manage to rise above it? We have to learn to accept ourselves and our beautiful bodies! In the modern age guys like active women who can be partners, not obese the woman who is always snacking in the office. Tho i kno that's actually not true and shes messed up. I say bring femininity back- one of the most powerful forces on the planet! You are amazing. Then came Beyonce. Most guys found Lindsey Lohan more attractive before she got really thin, but she was never fat. White beauty standards transcend complexion: Double … Makkar, J. K., & Strube, M. J. And what makes me angreier is that I and many other firls tried too look like that! Some of the real and harmful consequences of Western beauty standards include the existence of skin-bleaching creams, hair discrimination, the demonisation of dark-skinned women in the media, fatphobia, ableism, and so much more. For me. It is helping me very much with my research paper on the sexualization of girls, especially since I am trying to deal with the historical standpoint of "beauty" and how it has changed throughout the ages...I appreciate your writing, which is very well done and thorough without becoming overdone. (like hugging and cuddling me for that, and I'm warm). Its so natural and womanly and healthy...then Underneath it is THAT monstrosity. But apart from hair and facial features, style is also a very important. Whiteface: It’s not spoken of much here in the Western Hemisphere, but in the East, it’s a concept that’s had a long history in the world of beauty—even predating colonialism. We have all internalised these messages, and they are hard to escape. i was trying to point out the most drastic change. Tall, short, big, small, curves, athletic, or skinny, there is a specific niche that every woman attracts. As a society, we tend to reward people with Eurocentric features. When her drug use was uncovered, she was quickly disavowed by the company and the fashion industry alike, but was a working model once again within six months. Human females, in contrast to their chimp counterparts, compete with each other for choice males. Or a Beijing opera actress, porcelain-skinned with a rosebud mouth. Science has shown the waist to hip ratio to be what makes a womans body seem attractive by men. this really helps me in my research... i would like to use some of your articles, i will make sure to give credits.. thank you, thank you for the info. CrossRef Google Scholar John Juneau from Sierra Nevadas on August 23, 2008: Personally I am not attracted to large breasts, and I am not wealthy but have no problem eating a good variety of quality food. I hate it when people try to portray a stick figure as being the perfect, healthy body shape when obesity rates are climbing.The media should be promoting a healthy wight, and anorexia is not healthy. Now she would be showing off that beautiful belly. I HATE the way some "women" these days try too look like a 12 year old boy. ...with worth determined by weight, compulsively counting calories and pounds, deconstructing ourselves into imperfect parts. i speak from experience. Although i don't think Linsay lohan and nicole richie were seen as sex symbols, and if they were not for long before they were pegged as too skinny. There’s a Chinese saying goes “爱美之心人皆有之”, meaning the love for beauty is a nature of all human beings. This aesthetic entails a poreless, glowing complexion. They would starve themseleves(Like my friend does)or throw up after eating. She feels that sense of entitlement so elusive to the diet-obsessed mass of mothers, daughters, and sisters, forever afraid of wanting too much, eating too much being too much. So there is a reason for all this "unfairness". Kind of ridiculous to post only the pictures of "modern" actresses/models who support your conclusion. Keira Knightly has the body of a pre-teen boy- but she also has an amazing face. Western vs. Eastern Beauty Standards in Plastic Surgery Our world gets smaller every day. These are ''Western'' standards. instant bookmark for me. The damaging impact of Western beauty standards. But what so many deluded overweight women don't realize is that being fat has never been considered attractive. Pressure to conform to a certain definition of "beautiful" can have psychologica There has to be a valid medium between fat and skinny. For me, I think that waif like looking women are too girly, that is, girlish and not womanly. don't you people ever realize that some girls are just naturally thin? ThePioneer21 from Liverpool on February 03, 2009: This is a fantastic hub, I love looking at the changes of body shapes as well as the material aspect of these changes. She faced her back to the camera in that shot because she was pregnant and that was not considered sexy back in the forties. i might use some of the photos for my uni-related assignment n gonna give credit to this site ;). Once we discover a telling difference between two things, we tend to want to exaggerate it. “Supervenus” is a short film by animator Frederic Doazan that manages to capture all the horror and grotesque idolatry wrapped up in Western beauty standards... in just under two and a half minutes. Just thought I'd like to point out that the 'curvier' women painted back in the Renaissance was due to the fact that the richer upper classes had more money to pay the artists for their portraits, as artists didn't have the time or steady income to sit around and draw whatever they feel like and then sell it. As for not mentioning other cultures, Western usually means "white". I used to think I was fat, but lately I've been reading up a lot on this type of thing and I've decided that I like my body the way it is. Her smile is so much a part of her. I also agree that much of a persons body type is hereditary, this need for obsessive weight loss is not healthy in the least. There also seems to be a very extreme and polarized view on body types: either very thin or extra curvy around the traditional female parts (the hips and breasts). Beauty standards have become a huge issue in this world. We are so intent on making less of ourselves. (Most of them are much more attractive than renee zellwegger...) This page is informative, but is premised on an essentialist notion of beauty = white. Yet, in Korea, this glow comes from within, or bet… This made me wonder, how different western beauty standard is from Asian beauty standards. We trumpet our gains in the professional and political sphere, while we pare away our bodies as penance. The second, newer but not new reason is the pervasiveness of Western beauty standards. They prescribe her mobility, spontaneity, posture, gait, the uses In this hub, I am merely pointing out that the current obsession with the waif-like female figure that is so damaging to so many women hasn't always been so popular, and shouldn't be the only standard of beauty by which we measure ourselves and those around us. At the end of the day the most attractive body is a healthy body. However, these days, with the amplifying of social media, females in both China and the Western society are feeling the pressure to look “pretty” to live up to those strict beauty standards. We agree that the 'Idealistic Thin' is WAY to thin. I find it interesting that you mention the modern obsession of dieting when women have obsessed over their figure and tried to control it since then beginning of these photos. WARNING: This film is not for the weakhearted. Black women’s self-perceptions of attractiveness following exposure to white versus Black beauty standards: The moderating role of racial identity and self-esteem. Maddie Ruud (author) from Oakland, CA on September 28, 2011: Kathy, feel free to email me through the contact link on my profile if you need help figuring out how to link. Then came an exceptence and general enthusiasm for full figured women. Because they are willing to share the same mates as other females, the competition is between sperm cells, and this accounts for the relatively larger scrotum of the adult chimpanzee male, compared to human males. However, white people who fulfil some of the standards are treated better than people of colour who are further away from the ideal image. this is so interesting. The next generation went further, rejecting the modest advances of their predecessors, donning baggy, short dresses and bobbing their hair. And i kno i don't own it!) This made me wonder, how different western beauty standard is from Asian beauty standards. In The Doghouse from California on June 16, 2008: What an incredible Hub, making a way through history with the beautiful women of the world. Twiggy, a British-born model, popularized the boyish body. People seem to think the 'waif' body is considered a standard of beauty but it isn't. Struggling to find bodies that might fit with their identities as liberated women, a generation was born obsessed with having "buns of steel" and "rock-hard abs.". Though, if you speak to most guys, they'd prefer someone like Katy Perry (who is not thin) over someone like Paris Hilton (who is thin). Thank you. Waif-like icon Kate Moss led the movement as Calvin Klein spokesmodel. It seems that no matter what the fad is for body types, it is always carried to an unhealthy extreme. Standards are contingent on place and time, and in the modern-day, it depends on what is trending at the time. We must understand to love each other and ourselves and start building rather than tearing down one another. I guess our view of beauty has twisted over the years. It makes me sad that there's not a black, latino, or any other kind of minority in this mix of "standard beauties". There tends to be a focus on their personality and talents, and if they are considered attractive, then that is a bonus. Beauty standards ranging from eye shape to body shape. Unfortunately. And the rest of the times I LOVE it! Picture a geisha, that Japanese symbol of feminine allure. America needs to get over body issues and focus more on health. After American television was introduced to Fiji in the 1990s, young Fijian women expressed the affects of western beauty standards quite distinctly. Luckily as I grew older, I learned to embrace my curves and appreciate my body for what it is. It is said that “Black women are particularly vulnerable to the effects of European standards of beauty, because these standards emphasize skin colors and hair types that exclude many black women”(Link). Thanks for your insights on these beautiful women, and women in general. The feminine beauty ideal is "the socially constructed notion that physical attractiveness is one of women's most important assets, and something all women should strive to achieve and maintain". 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