“Beauty is in the eye of the beholder,” according to a well-known adage. Indeed, the perception of beauty is widely considered subjective. Furthermore, the popular notion of just what constitutes beauty has varied a great deal from culture to culture and from era to era.
A lot of women have always been fascinated by beauty. They love looking at magazines, watching makeup tutorials, and trying out different beauty products. They have always been self-conscious about their appearance, but have learned to love themselves for who they are.
They are not perfect, but are confident in their skin and love the way they look. Others on the other hand are obsessed with beauty because no one likes to feel rejected because of his or her appearance.
However, society places excessive importance upon appearance. In fact, success often seems to depend on looks. For example, the most attractive people seem to have more opportunities in the job market.
Pilar Muriedas, one of the directors of the Latin-American and Caribbean Women’s Health Network, says that for women, “having a good image is one of the principal requirements for success.” And according to Dr. Laura Martínez, women well know that ultimately “image counts for a lot when it comes to being hired.”
Of course, many men have also become obsessed with developing the “perfect” body. Indeed, many individuals of both sexes go to great lengths in their pursuit of beauty, even starving themselves or submitting to painful treatments to achieve the best face or figure possible. Is this pursuit worthwhile? Are there any dangers involved?
Pitfalls in the Pursuit of Beauty
Through the nineteenth century, almost all societies equated heaviness with elevated social status. A wide girth was seen as a sign of prosperity and health, while a skinny frame meant that a person was too poor to afford enough to eat.
The works of many artists of the time reflect that concept, as their models—mostly female—had a physique with stout arms, legs, back, and hips. And many of these works were portraits of real people who were considered paragons of beauty.
That concept is still evident today, though beauty involves more than being fat or thin. Still, in some cultures of the South Pacific, fatness is highly valued. In certain places in Africa, prospective brides are shut up in “fattening farms,” where they are fed large amounts of rich food with the idea that they will become more attractive.
The owner of a nightclub in Nigeria says: “The average African woman is robust . . . That’s what she offers in terms of beauty. It’s in our culture.” In many traditional Hispanic cultures, robustness is also valued, as a sign of affluence and success.
However, in many other places, the opposite is true. Why? Some say that as trade expanded and industrialization led to a greater supply and wider distribution of food, the “lower” classes could eat what before had been the privilege of the wealthy. Thus, admiration for corpulence gradually decreased.
On the other hand, some beliefs link overweight with gluttony, and this has conferred a negative image on robustness. Also, scientific discoveries about health risks related to obesity have had their influence.
These and other factors have contributed to changing opinions about what constitutes beauty, and for decades now a large part of the world has promoted thinness as the ideal.
The media have done much to further this thinking. People who appear in advertising on billboards and on television usually have thin, athletic bodies. Their image is intended to project a sense of security and achievement. The same is true of movie and TV stars.
How does this influence ordinary people, including youths? A recent article on body image indicates that “by the time the average American female graduates from high school, she will have watched television over 22,000 hours.” During much of that time, she is bombarded with images of glamorous women with “perfect” bodies.
The article adds: “Through repeated exposure to these images, women internalize an association between this body ideal and prestige, happiness, love and success.” It is hardly surprising, then, that after seeing photographs of models in a magazine, 47 percent of the girls analyzed felt compelled to lose weight, when only 29 percent of these were deemed overweight.
The fashion industry also has a strong influence on people’s concept of beauty. Jennifer, a Venezuelan model who works in Mexico City, states: “Your work is to look good, and today that means being thin.” A French model named Vanessa says: “It is not so much that they demand that you be thin, but that you demand it of yourself. It’s a worldwide trend.” In a survey of young girls, 69 percent confessed that models appearing in magazines influenced their concept of what constitutes a beautiful body.
But women are not the only ones who are susceptible to the influence of the “ideal physique.” The Mexican newspaper El Universal states: “Never before have so many products for masculine aesthetic care been seen on the market.”
Then comes the danger of cosmetic surgery. In an effort to achieve the “ideal image” or just to look their best, many people resort to cosmetic surgery. The applications of this branch of medicine are becoming less expensive and ever more varied.
According to the Encyclopædia Britannica, modern techniques of plastic surgery originated in the years following World War I, when efforts were made to repair disfigurements resulting from war wounds. Since then these techniques have been valuable tools for correcting severe physical damage caused by burns, traumatic injuries, and congenital abnormalities.
However, as Britannica acknowledges, plastic surgery is often “performed solely to improve appearance in otherwise healthy persons.” For example, the nose can be reconstructed, excess skin can be removed from the face and neck, the size of the ears can be reduced, fat can be eliminated from the abdomen and hips, the volume of certain parts of the body can be increased, and even the navel can be given a more “attractive” appearance.
Here comes the big question, what of healthy people who put themselves at risk in the interest of enhancing their appearance? What dangers might they face?
Angel Papadopulos, secretary of the Mexican Association of Plastic, Aesthetic, and Reconstructive Surgery, explains that sometimes people who are poorly trained perform this type of surgery, resulting in much harm. There are clinics that administer dangerous substances to patients in order to trim their figure.
Men too can become caught up in the pursuit of the “ideal image.” Some spend many hours in the gym, using virtually all their free time shaping and toning their body. “In the long run,” says the magazine Milenio, “the need to exercise causes their social activities and relationships with other people to fall off.” The compulsion to achieve a muscular look even causes many to consume substances that can harm the body, including steroids.
An obsession with personal appearance has caused some young women to fall victim to eating disorders, such as bulimia and anorexia nervosa. Some use slenderizing products that promise extraordinary results in a short time but do not have the backing of reputable health institutions. Using such products can result in serious harm.
The risks stemming from being obsessed with one’s appearance go beyond the physical. People who are unduly concerned about their physical appearance can develop a psychological illness called body dysmorphic disorder, in which sufferers are obsessed with imagined flaws in their appearance.
This condition may afflict as many as 1 in 50 people. Those affected “can be so convinced of their own ugliness that they isolate themselves from their friends and loved ones, They can become depressed and develop suicidal tendencies. Is how a person looks really so important that he or she must sacrifice mental and physical well-being to obtain the “ideal image”?
People feel drawn to those they consider to be attractive. But what really makes you attractive? After all, there are limits to what you can safely do to alter inherited characteristics.
Furthermore, physical beauty is transitory, as no one today can escape the deteriorating effects of aging and sickness. Is there another kind of beauty that is more important, lasting, and attainable?
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