Beauty and Its Different Meanings
Beauty has many different meanings to different people, and other people interpret it in different ways, as one person might be attractive in one country but not in another. One can be beautiful in many ways, including the soul, smile, body form, and walking style. A phrase says, "beauty is in the eyes of the beholder," which reflects human nature, history, and beauty perceptions. The way the media depicts models, especially their body figures, can distort the concept of beauty. Models, for example, are tall and slender, leading people to believe that attractive people must imitate them (Fink & Neave, 2005). However, different culture has various perceptions of beauty since some consider curvy women as the most beautiful while others consider peoples' character instead of concentrating on physical image. The society shapes individuals in many ways since its teachings can affect people's ideas of beauty. Perception of beauty in various cultural backgrounds is important since it helps human beings to appreciate every individual and reduce discrimination. They also understand the importance of the diverse human race and accept that everything is beautiful in some way. The resources to investigate the perceptions of beauty in a person and in the community include Harp, B. (2014). Television and Beauty Perceptions, which will explain the influence of television media on beauty. Rhodes, G., Proffitt, F., Grady, J. M., & Sumich, A. (1998). Facial Symmetry and the Perception of Beauty. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 5(4), 659-669, will be used to explain the perceptions of beauty based on facial appearance, Tovée, M. J., Swami, V., Furnham, A., & Mangalparsad, R. (2006). Changing Perceptions of Attractiveness as Observers are exposed to a Different Culture. Evolution and Human Behavior, 27(6), 443-456, will be used to understand beauty with respect to culture, while Fink, B., & Neave, N. (2005). The Biology of Facial Beauty. International Journal of Cosmetic Science, 27(6), 317-325 will help in understanding beauty by biological composition of peoples' faces. The sources are appropriate for providing comparisons on perception of beauty and the content is reliable. Selecting the source involved selection of the most appropriate to the topic on beauty.
Abstract Definition of Beauty
Beauty can be considered as an abstract term although it can be defined as a presentation of qualities that delight the human moral, aesthetic, and cultural senses. The three principles are among important driving forces for people to be better than others in the society according to Tovée, Swami, Furnham & Mangalparsad (2006). Anything considered beautiful must be appealing to the artistic or aesthetic senses of own self or other people. Aesthetic principle for beauty therefore looks at the outward appearance of an individual such as facial features, height, lightness, and other characteristic (Fink & Neave, 2005). However, the media tries to standardize beauty by defining particular weight and height in persons. The moral principle of beauty entails that a beautiful person must act in accordance with the guiding rules and morals of a society. This means that one must possess virtues that others can admire to be considered beautiful. In this case, people try to engage in behaviors and acts that promote a feeling of being a better person. An individual must show acts of kindness, love, understanding, and honesty among others to be liked by the society and considered outstanding. Any person that does not possess such virtues is not considered to be morally beautiful. Culture also defines beauty and communities in the world have distinct ways of improving their appearance. They include ear-piercing, use of ornaments, paintings, and tattooing among others. Depending on the cultural background of an individual beauty has varying meanings.
Varying Perceptions of Beauty
Perceptions of beauty vary around the world and the society influences people to keep up with the latest beauty trends. Culture, media, and personal appeal influence beauty giving its several meanings. Different cultures have their ways of defining beautiful women with some looking at their faces, breasts, legs, soul, and other aspects (Rhodes, Proffitt, Grady & Sumich, 1998). However, being beautiful is relative and while in some countries such as China being slim is a sign of beauty in countries such as Africa larger women are more beautiful (Fink & Neave, 2005). Standards of beauty have variations across the world and can be said to be a reflection of peoples' culture. However, the idea of beauty may be distorted making it difficult to define attractiveness. Every human being want to be liked, admired, and loved thus will go to any extent to improve appearance. This is done by reducing the undesirable characteristic and adding more features to improve appearance. Some, especially women go through expensive and painful procedures such as ear piercing, cosmetic surgery, and application of make-ups among others with the aim of improving their appearance. Beauty does not focus on the natural looks only but health and energy matters a lot. Research shows that facial symmetry and skin smoothness are related to the genetic make-up of human beings and a functioning immune system (Padgett & Biro, 2003). The media has also influenced perceptions of beauty especially the television shows that represents a modern woman as light-skinned and slim. People have to go too far in making themselves beautiful by denying themselves food, engaging in strenuous exercise, using lightening creams, and plastic surgeries among others. However, they fail to realize that they are only suffering from psychological issues since beauty has no definite definition. The society has also influenced the perception of beauty since people are trying hard to improve their appearance to match the refined photos and videos they see on Facebook or Instagram.
Target Audience and Effective Communication
The audience that would be interested in this issue regarding beauty perceptions includes the young generation. This group has issues with self-image and keeps on comparing with others in their society, school, or social groups. Women are also concerned with matters related to beauty and cases of plastic surgery are on the rise to enhance their looks (Padgett & Biro, 2003). The two groups need to understand that beauty is guided by culture, aesthetic, and moral values of the society they live in. They can benefit a lot by reading the message since it will enable them to understand and appreciate themselves without the need to try to improve their physical appearance through plastic surgery, starving themselves, or bleaching their skin. To communicate effectively with the audience use of simple terminologies is important. I have given examples to make the explanations simpler and clearer to the audience. There is no need to explain the principles since the discussion is very clear and the examples explain clearly the perceptions of beauty.
Conclusion
Beauty is relative and no specific definition can be used to describe whether a person is beautiful or not. Some factors such as culture, aesthetic, media, and moral perception are used to describe beauty. However, more research is required to determine factors that help in defining beauty in various communities and cultural backgrounds. The research question should be "how is beauty perceived in different cultural backgrounds? To research this question, a social scientist should use various databases to find resources that can provide information about different societies and their perception of beautiful individuals.
References
Fink, B., & Neave, N. (2005). The Biology of Facial Beauty. International Journal of Cosmetic Science, 27(6), 317-325.
Padgett, J., & Biro, F. M. (2003). Different Shapes in Different Cultures: Body Dissatisfaction, Overweight, and Obesity in African-American and Caucasian Females. Journal of Pediatric and Adolescent Gynecology, 16(6), 349-354.
Rhodes, G., Proffitt, F., Grady, J. M., & Sumich, A. (1998). Facial Symmetry and the Perception of Beauty. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 5(4), 659-669.
Tovée, M. J., Swami, V., Furnham, A., & Mangalparsad, R. (2006). Changing Perceptions of Attractiveness as Observers are exposed to a Different Culture. Evolution and Human Behavior, 27(6), 443-456.
