Harper+Wayne+

Harper Wayne

Modernize your definition of beauty

Beauty in our society is often decided by a certain set of words from the dictionary with an attached set of criteria to match. The question I am posing: Why have we attempted to define beauty when it is fluid and individualized?

We are born into this world without a head full of hair, without teeth and with unopened eyes. We are not born into this world as either beautiful or ugly.

Slowly we are placed into school, into the public eye. Blending into the world in order to one day become someone who could create change — for better, or for worse.

It is then that beauty standards and labeling as either beautiful or not come into play. Trends and other standards are slowly introduced through popular culture – magazines, movies and T.V. — as we become more aware of our surroundings.

The whole outer shell of a woman or man can be beautiful (and they all are) but society as a whole has tried to create an outline for a term that I believe should not be a definition, but more so a feeling.

The trends of “beauty” have changed and evolved as the human race has. For every generation we see new hairstyles forming and old ones dying.

These trends, standards or ideas of what physical beauty is supposed to be are what makes society hug the idea that beauty is a concrete definition rather than a feeling that is singular to each individual.

Beauty, inside and out, is a concept that can and should be shaped by ourselves — our outlook. Tying together “self love” with our outlook, the word beauty or beautiful can be used powerfully, holding more personal meaning, rather than depending on the approval of others.

Trends that we cling to — trends that were counterproductively created by us –damage unique visions of beauty by equating what is conventional to what is beautiful, and what is unconventional to what is ugly.

In China and ancient Greece, having “more skin on your bones” was once indicative of royalty or wealth. The implication was that you could afford to eat more and work less – which was and is still universally desired.

Statues of gods and goddesses pose in positions that may be seemingly unflattering to us due to their belly rolls or noticeable fat. In our generation, good, bad and healthy fat are all deemed undesirable.

The goddess of love and beauty, Aphrodite, was the very epitome of beauty in ancient Greek society. But in ours, would she have passed our standards?

The answer is: probably not. Beauty is not concrete. But the evolving idea of outer beauty that seems to come with each trend of a new generation molds what some may find attractive, and more concrete.

Trends that we cling to — trends that were counterproductively created by us –damage unique visions of beauty by equating what is conventional to what is beautiful, and what is unconventional to what is ugly.

Is beauty an evolving figure like the human race? Does beauty change as time passes? Does it mature and grow, like we do? Will our definitions of beauty ultimately grow and die with us? Or can beauty possibly be immortalized and made timeless?

I believe that beauty does in fact evolve with a person, with a population and with a generation.

The trends, standards and perceptions on what should be called beautiful are definitions we place on ourselves almost subconsciously. Recognizing the subconscious appeal to the trend is when one can truly understand the concept of beauty they find appealing.

Beauty will grow — age, loosen and sag — with us. Our individual beauty will in fact die with us. Inner beauty, however will leave a legacy.

A piece can be timeless. A person can be timeless for their beauty, but more than likely it was their actions that also lead to their timeless quality.

Our individual beauty will in fact die with us. Inner beauty, however will leave a legacy.

Beauty cannot have a textbook definition that you can look up in a glossary. Beauty can never be cookie-cutter simple, as a grouping of words dictating exactly what should make our mouths drop or make us gasp.

The complexity of a person’s body cannot be limited to a single binary – beautiful or ugly. The Greek gods cannot be defined as beautiful nor can we ourselves say we are the striking image of beauty. It is not that simple.

Everyone has the chance to be beautiful; it is within all of our capacities to maximize our own individual potentials for beauty.

The feeling of beauty is more important than any definition that society, or even an individual, could impose upon us and shackle us with.

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