THAT'S WHAT'S UP

That’s Is Beauty realy inthe eye of the beholder?

I’m sure you’ve all heard the adage that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. This adage presents a subjective interpretation of physical attractiveness. Body image is a multi-dimensional self attitude toward one’s body, particularly its size, shape, and aesthetics. Its perceptual element has attitudinal and affective components. This is because the body image is elastic and situational and the product of the individual’s perception and internalization of cultural ideals, individual body ideals, current body image and actual body shape.

Essentially, a woman’s body image is acquired through a social context in which beauty ideals, emergent gender norms and the media forcefully shape and constrain both her experience as well as the perception of her body. Women learn how to analyze, present, assess, and control their bodies. Additionally, the monitoring of the body, attitudes and perceptions are shaped and outlined by class status. For example, body dissatisfaction is more prominent among women of higher socio-economic status and education than those from a lower socio-economic group. In Europe, emphasis is placed on a woman’s waist-to-hip ratio. Men seek women who are thin and femininity is sometimes measured by a woman’s high cheek bones. Conversely, the ideals of women about men favor those with lean and muscular bodies. Certain morphological features such as the square jaw of a man connote masculinity. A woman’s preference for a bearded man suggests a social, rather than an evolutionary influence.

Men and women are not the only ones engulfed in the social influence of the perception of beauty. From an early age, girls learn to see the female body as an object of discrete parts that others evaluate. While a male body is viewed as a tool for action and achievement, women are socialized with the cultural norm that defines beauty as a feminine attribute and their appearance becomes the primary means of judging and assigning their social value.

Girls are mainly influenced by their mothers. Mothers are the primary agents of socialization about the body and body image. Girls learn and internalize the social construction of femininity and patriarchy. Rather than gender identity being an ascribed or innate personal characteristic, gender is an accomplishment that is achieved through social interaction.

Children also learn about beauty from the books they read, the toys they play with, the movies/videos they watch and the fairy tales they hear. The tale of Cinderella or Snow White tempt our daughters to disguise themselves as these characters so they can be perceived as beautiful princesses. The Barbie doll has become a symbol of beauty. There’s research that shows that girls exposed to images of Barbie have reported lower body esteem and a greater yearning for a thinner body. The obsession to look like Barbie has fueled the increase of cosmetic surgery.

The media has created ideals in celebrities and models for women to admire. The glamorization of cosmetic surgery has increased the popularity of surgeries such as breast augmentation, chemical peels, rhinoplasty and liposuction. Ascribing to cosmetic surgery is the outcome of the conviction that the perceived flaws can be fixed in order to achieve the ideal specific looks that media has placed on them. The desire to conform increases and normalization of such behaviors occur. Taking laxatives, diet pills or digesting cotton balls to attain unhealthy slim figures is over-shadowed by the obvious health risks.

While many metrics of beauty are impacted by culture and socially constructed, it is unequivocal that many others are universally defined regarding which individuals are beautiful. These are cues of phenotypic qualities that stand firm regardless of a cultural environment or a specific time in space. The consensus is often based on preferences for physical attractiveness that is usually linked to the reproductive potential of the individual. Evidence shows that individuals with symmetric features are preferred. Symmetric faces are universally perceived as more beautiful than asymmetric faces. Clear skin is also deemed to have a universal preference. Plato once described the opposite of beauty as the unpleasantness of seeing a body with one long leg excessively – an asymmetric person.

Try as you may, there is no universal definition of beauty. This is because, culturally, there are varying components to beauty and perception. Everyone has a different idea of what beauty means to them. Beauty is a case of personal preference. It is not intrinsic to a person but decided by the beholder who views it. While you may find a person beautiful and I may find the same person not so beautiful, neither one of us is right or even wrong for that matter. Beauty has no obvious use neither is there any clear cultural necessity for it, yet humanity can’t do without it.

The enjoyment of beauty has a peculiar quality of feeling. When in love, it seems that beauty may indeed be in the eye of the beholder. This phenomenon helps to explain some apparently mismatched couples like Beyonce and Jay-Z. We view our loved ones through tinted glasses that ignore the bulging tummies or other attributes that might turn others off. As a result, husbands and wives think their partners are more attractive than they really are – a classic case of the positive illusion theory. At the end of the day, what’s important is that you like who/what you perceive as beautiful and it gives you pleasure. And that’s what’s up!!!