The concept of beauty

What is beauty? You could say a dictionary definition more than explains what it exactly entails. However, my quibble is in regards to that of aesthetic beauty/looks. Something that should be subjective, but in actuality seems to be in fact, quite objective. 

We live in a generation and western world in which the ideals of 'beauty' are displayed everywhere. Magazines, television, fashion runways and billboards. Society and the media tell us overtly and covertly what beauty is and basically how it should look. This relenting machine has directly influenced and infiltrated our mindsets for a very long time. Dictating to the mass population as to what beautiful women (for the sake of this piece) look like. And from my own perceptions on what I have mostly seen - beauty is predominately portrayed as being caucasian, Mediterranean and sometimes darker ethnic denominations depending on the fashion house/commercial designers penchant at the time. 

The majority of high fashion runways are saturated by white models with a moderate sprinkling of other races. From observing these females over the years and flicking through men's magazines that claim to contain the top 100 most beautiful women in the world it is astounding how poorly represented other ethnicities are featured in comparison to white blonde's and brunettes. Sure, Beyonce and Rihanna are afforded their customary spots, but out of 100 'beautiful females' you would be hard pressed to get more than 10-12 women who are not white.

So, is the barometer of beauty and attractiveness white looks and features? Most people with a considerable amount of insight would say no, of course not. And they would be correct. But, in my opinion, the concept of beauty within the western world is consciously or unconsciously compared to the aesthetics of white women. This of course is my opinion. But I feel I have just cause to pose a relevant argument.

For many years, black African and Caribbean women have had issues with their natural afro hair. A large proportion of females from these backgrounds have gone to a lot of lengths to straighten, attach weaves and adorn wigs in an attempt to make their hair either look longer, straighter, sleeker and thus fore imitating that of another race. In my opinion, it is rare that you will find an African/Caribbean female who is completely content with her hair in its natural state. Why is this? Have they been hard wired into believing that the hair they have is 'bad hair'. Does showcasing their natural hair make these women feel inadequate or inferior? Also, in addition to this concept of beauty being somewhat defined and misconstrued, Indian notions on class and beauty have often revolved around the complexion of a skin tone. Women displaying lighter skin are generally accepted as being more attractive and desirable.

I have encountered a lot of  Afro/Caribbean men who believe that women who are dark skinned are not as attractive as their lighter much fairer counter parts. The staggering thing that further depresses one about this sentiment - is that there are actually products out there to bleach skin, hence giving black women a more fair skin tone. Many black women are aware of this reality and rather than accepting it as nonsense some attempt to compete using skin lighteners. Something that I particularly find quite baffling is that the parents and family of these men may be even be complexion that they say they do not like. Does it not register - I feel it could be further argued that they are blinded by the constant portrayals of western beauty. Having said this, I do believe there is nothing wrong with having a preference.

The world is full of variety, and variety is perhaps of one the most fascinating aspects of life. But I ask this question - is the worlds eclectic variety properly represented within magazines and media? And when it is represented - is it for the sake of adding a bit of 'colour' something quirky and different? Or merely because, say, the Asian, African woman is actually beautiful looking and should deservedly have her place alongside their heavily represented caucasian counter parts. An argument against this would be that model scouts would not just use an ethnic female for the sake of it. So, I can appreciate that, however, why in the grand scheme of things are they so poorly represented?

Physical features and facial aesthetics. This is something that I really find interesting. The vast majority of ethnic women who are accepted as being attractive and beautiful basically have facial characteristics that are quite far removed from say Africa. Western Africa for example. Softer features are deemed more attractive to potential modelling scouts. Perhaps people in general. Some black females may break the conventional mold of generalised beauty, Alek Wek, is one such example. But, for as subjectively attractive she is - Alek Wek is basically an exception rather than the rule. There are very few women who share her skin colour and looks that are being represented in the mainstream fashion and modelling world.

So, from the question that I asked at the beginning of this piece - what is beauty? To my mind, regardless of the subliminal brainwashing that we are exposed to. The more discerning person will know that beauty has a multitude of faces and can found within every race and ethnicity.

Demola, TCC