The Oxford Dictionary defines beautiful as, “Easing the senses or mind aesthetically,” but that does not help explain how beauty is interpreted so differently by people in other parts of the world. When reading about beauty standards from across the world, it’s been fascinating to learn what people find most attractive. To add to this confusion one must take into consideration that there’s a big difference between men and women and what they deem beautiful. In the West, we have gone overboard in terms of enhancing our looks and creating these new-age standards of beauty. Although, some might argue that in other parts of the world, where running water and toilets are non-existent, the way in which some of these people mutilate their body—in an attempt to adopt a look they perceive as beautiful—is no different to what we, in the West are wiling to do in order to look good. But I beg to differ with this statement, especially in this modern age of social media, and the way in which these ideas are spread instantly and become an instant obsession and a must-have look so to speak.
I’ve been there, I’ve done it before—not a totally botched procedure—but I’ve had too much Botox administered by a doctor, no less, who seemed to ignore my specific instructions for very light Botox. The result for me was a forehead that was much too frozen, and eyebrows that were stretched to the limits.
I’ve spent the past week vacationing on the beautiful Island of St. Kitts, in the Caribbean. I was not very familiar with the Caribbean and as such did not really know what to expect in terms of weather either. Also, because I reside in Las Vegas, I tend to forget that other parts of the country and world are subjected to very humid weather conditions, especially during our summer time. So it’s no surprise that from the moment I exited the airplane, I was struck by a thick wave of humidity that I can further describe as muggy, sticky, suffocating and unbearable. I was beginning to regret the trip altogether.
In a recent article (Mail Online, 07.23.09) Claudia Connell, a forty something writer, published an article about saggy knees. Her focus was primarily directed at Elle Mcpherson’s knees stating that, “Her knees looked as though she’d spent the morning cleaning doorsteps and used a Brillo pad as an exfoliator.”
When researching the topic of what makes women and men attracted to each other, I came across a study that suggested that men correlated a woman’s age with her health.
The different prosthetics the soldiers would wear.
WWI was no doubt one of the most horrific times in human history; the death toll and carnage were beyond belief, and most of the dead and injured were young. People who had hardly left their mother’s apron, now broken men with disfigured faces. There were thousands of them, and the ones who survived were nothing more than a shell of the person they used to be prior to the war. The ones who stayed behind carried the heavy burden of continuing with work and taking care of family, alone, while worrying about their loved ones. No one left this war unscathed.
The young years, when I thought it would last forever
The dictionary defines beauty as the pleasure an object evokes in the beholder. We can’t ignore beauty; beautiful objects stir up emotions in most of us and who isn’t moved by a beautiful painting, a blooming flower, or a gorgeous baby? Who doesn’t turn their head around when a beautiful woman enters a room? How many of us enjoy a beautiful piece of music or a pleasing singing voice? When we see, or feel, or experience beauty we respond to it immediately. To deny the importance of beauty is to, I don’t know, live in a very desolate world which could also mean that one’s suffering from depression. Beauty is intoxicating and good looks will give you an advantage in life, and whether you like it or not a preference for beauty and youth is hard-wired into our brains. People have always played around with their looks in the name of beauty, this has been the ethos for centuries–it’s not a 21st-century invention. Media and advertising only have a limited role to play in the way we define beauty, because the pursuit of beauty is innate in most human beings, hardwired into our brains because that ability to choose the best- looking mate also meant the survival of one’s genes. Subconsciously, this is still what we do. Look at the Ancient Egyptians, for instance, they used oils and creams to soften their skin in the harsh, unbearable summer heat. Ancient Egyptians were so particular about their scent, clothing, and jewelry. Much before France became synonymous with perfume, the Egyptians and Mesopotamian had already made their mark 5000 years earlier. Their reason for creating exquisite fragrances was to appease their gods. Their rulers and priests were even entombed with fragrances. They would use special scrubs to cleanse their bodies and smooth out their wrinkles–mixing scented fruit juices together with was, Cyprus grass, fresh Moringa oil, and gum of frankincense. They would shave the hair off their bodies because hair was considered impure and unappealing!
Big name cosmetics companies would’ve done just as well in Ancient Egypt I suspect.
Fast-forward to modern times, how many of us are willing to accept that we’ve aged, that we don’t look the same? I am pretty confident with my assumption that most of us care. Othersize we would not be helping grow these global cosmetics industries. They know how we feel and they play on all of our emotions and focus on our insecurities in order to sell us more products and make more promises. So much has been said and done to educate us about how to combat wrinkles, and how to prolong our youthful appearance with magical elixirs and groundbreaking treatments, but what about those women who’ve done it, tried it, and now they’re sort of ready to age, naturally, organically and they just don’t give a damn? They’re probably the exception to the rule—a minority in a world that seems to be obsessed with promoting the look of youth.
