Perceptions of Beauty

The phrase “body image” refers to one’s perception of the sexual attractiveness and aesthetics of one’s own body. Society has always placed great value on the beauty of the human body, although perception has always varied from region to region as well as person to person.

There have always been different ideas of what the correct “body type” is or what beauty is…

For example, we have the current trend in America (as well as other industrialized countries such as England, Canada, etc) that “thin is in”. Americans overall seem to have the mindset that skinny=good and any other body type=bad. We love skinny jeans. We love lipo. We love beach toned bodies. Just because magazines and peer pressure tell us that does NOT mean it is the truth, though!

Take a look at “beauty” throughout history! Foot binding was a custom which was practiced on young girls and ladies in China for over a thousand years. Here is an account from someone who underwent the practice of foot binding:

"When I was seven my mother….washed and placed alum on my feet and cut my toenails. She then bent my toes toward the plantar with a binding cloth ten feet long and two inches wide doing the right foot first and then the left. She...ordered me to walk but when I did the pain proved unbearable, that night...my feet felt on fire and I couldn't sleep; mother struck me for crying. On the following days I tried to hide but was forced to walk on my feet...after several months all toes but the big one were pressed against the inner surface..mother would remove the bindings and wipe the blood and puss which dripped from my feet. She told me that only with removal of the flesh could my feet become slender...every two weeks I changed to new shoes. Each new pair was one to two tenths of an inch smaller than the previous one....In summer my feet smelled offensively because of puss and blood;in winter my feet felt cold because of lack of circulation...four of the toes were curled in like so many dead caterpillars...it took two years to achieve the three inch model...my shanks were thin, my feet became humped, ugly and odoriferous. "

This concept of tiny feet being the ideal of beauty resulted in lifelong disabilities and pain for most of its subjects.

Another concept of beauty is the appearance of an elongated neck through the use of neck rings in some African and Asian cultures, which is a practice which is still being used in some areas today. Women begin to wear neck coils from as young as age two. As they age, the length of the coil is gradually increased from one to as much as twenty turns around their necks. This practice does not actually allow the vertebrae in the neck to grow, the weight of the coils simply places pressure on the shoulder blades, causing them to deform and create only an impression of a longer neck. 

Contrary to the beliefs of our tan-hungry culture, pale skin once was (and still is in many places) a thing to strive for. Tan or dark skin was a sign that you worked in the fields while paleness signified wealth and aristocracy. Skin whitening actually has a long history in Asia, stemming back to ancient Japanese and Chinese cultures where the saying "one white covers up three uglinesses" was passed through the generations.

Advertisements and websites for Asian women in the 90’s and early 2000’s spouted statements such as "flawlessly milky skin is to die for," while pitching sales for topical creams and treatments to help lighten skin. Little did they know that these creams were full of mercury, which is a highly lethal substance that can lead to convulsions, coma and even death. 

Historically, many if not most societies have associated fatness in women with desirable social status as it is a sign of wealth during times when food is not exactly abundant. Even today in many non-Western countries, large women are considered to be both beautiful and sexually attractive. It is common in many African cultures for “fat” to be interpreted as a symbol of strength, prosperity, sexual maturity, fertility, and wisdom. Obesity is so highly revered among Mauritania's white Moor Arab population that the young girls are sometimes force-fed to obtain a weight which the government described as "life-threatening".

Preferences for body shape have varied immensely over time and between cultures. White, tan, fat, thin, long necks, small feet, you name it! Here’s what I think: forcing yourself to fit into what society wants you to be or how society wants you to look is ridiculous; it will literally make you sick. You know those tan, skinny, beautiful models you see in magazines? They’re airbrushed and have a team of highly professional makeup artists to make them look the way they do! Forcing yourself to throw up to stay thin or hitting the tanning beds every day to achieve that bronze glow is every bit as bad as crushing your feet to achieve “perfection”. 

It’s taken me a long time to get to where I’m at now… I know I’m far from perfect, but I’ve come to love my imperfections. No amount of media influence or peer pressure will get me to try to be like everyone else. If you’re healthy- be happy. Be proud of who you are. Create your own damn body image. 

xo Mel