In the eye of the beholder

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. This statement is partially true; beauty is in the eye of the beholder’s country. If you think about it, beauty standards are different from country to country, and I mean they can be significantly different. In my personal opinion, beauty is whatever is rare. Just think about a diamond; jewelers can get away with selling these rocks for thousands and even millions of dollars. Both women and men think diamonds are “beautiful” and why… because diamonds are rare. At a more realistic glance, you may realize that all diamonds really are are pressurized pieces of coal, and no one would ever go around wearing a black chalky piece of coal on her finger.

In America, slender, skinny women are considered beautiful because food is so present. The fact that a woman is thin means she has restraint. In Africa, food is more scarce, so larger, even fat women are considered beautiful. Women in Africa will even go so far as to drink whole milk every few hours and eat extremely fattening foods and stay in their cottages so as to not burn off any extra calories weeks before their wedding so as to “fatten up” for their betrothed. As these women are stuffing their faces in Africa, women in America are starving themselves so they will be slender and look “beautiful” in their wedding dresses and wedding pictures. (And I should know because I am getting married in a month!) Women in Asia are constantly bleaching their skin so that it looks lighter. They are staying out of the sun as much as possible because the sun is so heavy and abundant there that lighter women are rare. In Europe, lighter women and men are considered beautiful because it means that they have a lavish night social life, while darker skinned people are considered day laborers, and therefore, they are considered poor. Beauty is all about rarity and individuality. It changes from country to country, and it changes drastically. If a skinny white girl showed up in Africa, the men would be repulsed. The bright side is, if you don’t fit the “ideal” for beauty wherever you are, you can take comfort in knowing that somewhere else in the world, you are considered ravishing! Run on fashion friends, we are all beautiful.