Beauty. One of the most expensive and controversial aspects in the world. So many people doubt themselves for their looks. Insecurities start to pile up because of one too many pimples on someone’s face. In this article, I will be mentioning the important of beauty, what actually defines beauty, and why is it becoming a matter of debate.
What defines beauty?
People perceive beauty in various ways. I’m sure we’ve all heard of the famous saying, “Beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder.” This does hold truth to some extent. What person A finds attractive may not be attractive to person B. However, beauty standards have been set. People gave it a definition. Beauty is considered different in others parts of the world. In western countries, these standards involve being thin and tall, having long hair, having either light or tanned skin, large eyes, big breasts, a small nose and high cheekbones. In Asian countries, beauty standards involve a fair complexion, a V-shaped face, double eyelids, a slim figure, and long but straight hair. Due to these types of fixed definitions, many problems arise.
What my definition of beauty is completely defies society’s standards. You don’t have to fit the beauty standards nowadays to actually be beautiful. A person’s attractiveness comes from their personality. How they present themselves to others. That is beauty. Even if you’re considered the most attractive person in the world, it’s possible to possess an incredibly unpleasant personality. In my eyes, a kind-natured and good-willed person is beautiful.
The importance of beauty:
The world-renowned Korean Drama “True Beauty” relays a very powerful message. Beauty is a parameter for so many things. It is a factor that determines which students are popular or not, which people are more accepted into the society, which kind of people suffer the most, and so many more. In the drama, the female lead Lim Ju-Kyung is severely bullied in her school for having pimples and acne on her face. Her entire class labelled her as an “ugly troll”. Her family constantly nagged her for being the ugly one in the house. She was continuously recommended to carry out plastic surgery. She was desperate to the point that she did a complete makeover with different makeup items to be more accepted into society.
While everyone in her life was focused on how she looked, everyone completely walked over the fact that she was good-natured and cared a lot about those around her. Her entire self-esteem crippled by all the incessant bullying. She relied on makeup just for a so-called “survival” in her society.
The message from it:
This relayed a very powerful message. Beauty is a parameter of acceptance. If we’re not pretty, plastic surgery or makeup is the only option. “My nose is too botched”, “I have a double chin”, “My eyes are too big/too small”, etc. These are things that are often considered ugly and it determines what other people view of us. There’s even studies that show how CEOs prefer good-looking people over talented ones. In survival shows, voting is based on who is more attractive than the ones who actually deserve a spot in the competition. People pile up with a whole lot of insecurities when they fail to reach the beauty standards.
Let’s take a look at the entire K-pop industry. So many K-pop idols undergo plastic surgery. They also go on dangerously intense diets to meet the minimum requirement of the Korean Beauty Standards. One of the features in the Korean Beauty Standards is a slim body. Many K-pop idols follow dangerous diets and workouts to lose weight.
For example, K-pop singer IU only had one apple for breakfast, a sweet potato for lunch, and a protein shake for dinner. BTS’s Jimin ate one meal over a course of 10 days to get rid of his chubby cheeks. Twice’s Momo fed on only ice cubes for 10 days to lose 15 pounds and reach the body weight standards. These intense diets are clearly never healthy and can prove to be dangerous, but what not would people do to be beautiful and be accepted by society?
Why is beauty a matter of debate?
As mentioned above, beauty standards have emerged all across the world, giving people a solid definition of what is considered pretty. Due to this, a huge debate arises on what exactly is beauty. People are somewhat fooled by what is ideally pretty. We, ourselves, hold beauty. Relying on these tools to enhance our looks completely masks our true identity and we hide behind these layers of foundation caked on our faces. If everyone started relying on makeup and plastic surgery for better looks, there would be no sense of diversity and uniqueness among individuals. We would all look like Barbie or Ken dolls, exact same face complexion, exact same body proportions, exact same eye shapes – uniqueness would vanish in thin air.
Lesson of the day: You are beautiful however you are. 🙂
