Beauty

Beauty, a word we hear and read regularly, yet, somehow, I question whether we really know how to define it? Apparently, as a western society, we do not seem to be too bothered about questioning what ‘true’ beauty is. Women’s magazines, as well as the rest of the media machine, reiterate the notion that we are not thin enough and therefore should be busy losing weight in order to look like the skeletal specimens we see in films, T.V. , adverts and in the fashion world. Outer beauty is ‘in’ and has been for the greater part of the modern world. Why don’t we question this outer ‘beauty’ ideal more?  

When asked, most of us women would own up to the fact that we are victims of this media indoctrination in some form or other. Only on the news this week, I heard a story that is tragicomic to say the least. A woman dissatisfied with the bottom she had been endowed with, decided to go to America for cheap cosmetic surgery. She clearly hadn’t done her homework as she literally fell into the hands of a lunatic con-artist who thought he could get away with injecting silicon kit, purchased from his local DIY store, into this poor woman’s derriere. Not surprisingly, she died. The mind boggles at the lengths some people go to for the sake of  ‘beauty’. Speaking for myself, I am not a 36 year old woman who strives for the body of a teenager. I love food and life too much for that. However, I am not satisfied with my body, even though I am not overweight. Why is this? We cannot get away from this ‘ideal female’ stereotyping, even though we are reminded by our boyfriends, partners, husbands that we are beautiful ‘the way we are’.  The Oxford English Dictionary defines ‘beauty’ as; “a combination of qualities that delights the aesthetic senses”. There is no mention whatsoever of the types of qualities that should be part of the equation; does the OED mean physical qualities, inner qualities or both? We know beauty when we behold it, whether it is something or someone beautiful. Yet, can we really put that beauty into words? Outward beauty is easy to describe; symmetrical features, healthy hair and skin, good figure, nice eyes. On the other hand, inner beauty is something more elusive. We are more than just our face and bodies. We shouldn’t need reminding of that, but the whole of the Western world seems to. Of course , the first impression we have of someone tends to make or break a certain situation, but I do believe it is key to get beyond the first judgment we make, allowing for the possibility of perceiving that elusive ‘soul beauty’  concealed within a nondescript looking person.

In my ideal world  we would all train ourselves to look inwardly, to observe, to admire the qualities we possess, and not dwell on the physical qualities we may or may not possess;  a bounteous cup size, taut thighs, flat stomach, perky breasts. It is all too easy to be distracted by superficial visual stimuli. Dare I say, to be happy with who we are as individuals, whatever our hopes, dreams, aspirations or daily realities, is to rise up above the media machine. If I could rewrite the definition of ‘beauty’ then it would simply say; ‘a happy person’.