Every society has their own opinion on what a beautiful person is. The most famous women in history, whether fictional or not, are women of great beauty. If women who are an intregal part of our society are not at least mildy nice to look at, the media makes them so. Helen of Troy was the most beautiful woman, according to legend, that ever existed. She was the start of wars. On the other hand, Cleopatra is a woman only rumored of beauty. Some people don't even think that she was good looking. But because of her accomplishments, she became a person of beauty.
A solid definition of beauty was one created by Greek philosphers. They related beauty to math and what they came up with was something interesting. Beauty had nothing to do with actual looks, but rather symnetry and the 'golden ratio' was present in one's face. This has been something used even today. Denzel Washington is considered to have one of the most symnetric faces in the world today. He is also considered to be a very good looking man, no matter his age.
Society is always coming up with weird things that would make one become beautiful, or at least give one the idea of beauty. Francis Galton was the one who discovered that by overlaying facial images, you would eventually come to the perfect lookng person. Other women and men turn to plastic surgery in hopes that it will make them become more like society's definition of beauty. But who really needs to be beautiful?
Beauty has caused many different problems in society. Whereas in the 1300's-1700's, bigger women were preferred, that number has gone down dramatically. Now it is considered beautiful to be thin. This has led to eating disorders. Nearly 13 percent of all teenagers have gone for more than 24 hours to either lose weight or not gain weight in any month at any given time. Almost 6.5 percent have taken diet pills. Twenty percent of people with serious eating disorders will die.
Is this what society has come to? On the pages of magazines and in the media, there is no such thing as a pretty chunkier girl. You either are a stick or you aren't. If you can't fit into a size 4 jean, then clearly you are fat. In America, being overweight is considered an epidemic. But the amount of girls and boys who think that they are ugly because they aren't perfect is even worse. The way that media presents itself makes even those that are thin and pretty lose their self confidence. Beauty has become not a gift in society, but a curse that that makes me wonder what is and what isn't ok.
Is beauty worth the amount of pain that people go through to achieve it? Is the media something that people should look at in awe or condemn? Do shows such as 'Ugly Betty', 'Beautiful People' and 'America's Next Top Model' give people the boost they need to lose weight healthily? Or do they just make more and more of the population turn to disorders and horrible eating habits?
Resources
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beauty
http://www.sadd.org/stats.htm#eatingdisorders
http://www.focusas.com/EatingDisorders.html
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Our presidents also have to be be decent looking as well.
We'd never elect Quasimoto into the white house.
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You are the Voice of the Childwen of the Revowution! [Toulouse, Moulin Rouge]
What about William Howard Taft, Grover Cleveland and Ulysses S. Grant? They were elected and they weren't known as ones to hit the salad bar often. Some presidents were near bald and had large noses. Herbert Hoover wasn't exactly a looker either. *chuckles* You don't have to be a model to be a president. You just need good morals and strong goals to achieve that the people can relate to and support.
~Astroaction149
http://www.progressiveu.org/blog/astroaction149
I didn't say that the president had to be beautiful. I can tell by looking at any of our presidents that you don't have to be beautiful.
What I meant was America would never elect a "weird looking" president.
We'd probably never elect a president who had Bells Palsy and was missing an eye. Not when we've got people like Bill Clinton and Teddy Roosevelt to look at.
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You are the Voice of the Childwen of the Revowution! [Toulouse, Moulin Rouge]
the blog itself however. I think you have some good points. There is a problem with looks being too important in society...especially with teens. Shows on t.v. don't help those with low self esteem about the way the look too. Looks are an alright thing to worry about in moderation though. No one likes to go out with a large pimple or in clothing makes one look large an ungainly. Dietary pills and other varuious methods of weightloss are pushing it though.
Calvin Coolidge. What a looker.
It's not like this is the cardinal rule for election, though charisma DOES help. A lot more than is safe, actually.
Honestly, looks ARE important. It's just human nature to appreciate attractiveness because it's ATTRACTING. It's our responsibility to critically think before we judge, otherwise, there's no one to blame but ourselves. Who can tell you what's attractive and what's not? Society and the media will try, but it's your choice to listen.
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Dream is destiny [Waking Life]
I disagree. Marissa Janet Winokur is considered by many to be beautiful, and she's about as far from a size 4 as you can get. Nikki Blondsky is up there now as well. This lists some women who wear greater than size 10 and have very nice modeling careers.
As for the comments about the president above... looks have become a lot more important since television was invented. I mean... look at JFK.
~C
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