This morning, I came across an American ad from the 1950′s that was promoting a drug to enhance women’s bodies in order to be more beautiful. Unlike modern standards, however, the ad was telling women that they need to gain weight in order to be appealing to men.
This ad made me begin to think about how much society’s ideas on beauty have changed throughout history, and how often. Marilyn Monroe, for example, was considered to be one of the most alluring women in America in her time… and she was a size 12. Also, let’s not forget when plump and pale was favored over skinny and tan because it meant that you were more wealthy and not forced to engage in manual labor in the sun. If we look back further in history, we find certain ancient cultures who have become known for their own depictions of women such as Venus of Willendorf who happens to be obese.
Even in this day in age, conceptions of beauty vary in different cultures. In Mauritania, mothers force feed their young girls couscous, dates, and other such foods in order to make them fat because that is what is considered ideal. These girls even attend camps whose purpose is to make them gain weight so that they will able to be married. Megan Fox would have a snowball’s chance in hell at finding a suitable mate there.
Conceptions of beauty, however, do not stop at weight alone. In some Asian and African cultures, women elongate their necks with rings, and there are people in Africa and the Amazon that still stretch the lower lip with a lip plate in order to signify a girl’s eligibility to be married.
Given these wide range of customs, it is heartbreaking that women go to such lengths to conform to what is considered beautiful by the masses at this point in time in history in this particular place in the world… from cosmetics with poisonous chemicals engineered from techniques that cause animal suffering to expensive and painful surgical procedures.
As cliche as it sounds, beauty really is in the eye of the beholder. Compliance with the present standards is irrelevant. History has proven that conceptions of beauty change and will continue to do so as long as the human race exists on this earth. True beauty lies within yourself and yourself alone.
Snow Lion 