Just as, William Shakespeare noted that beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder the generational obsession of beauty has not been overrun by time. The media is credited with the construction of the ideal models of beauty in the world today. It is, therefore, because of the media exposure that we are able to draw much attention to the different modes of beauty, and the changes that have taken place since time immemorial. The standards and specifications of beauty appear to have been shaped as time elapsed. The classic period of beauty had its own standards and specifications of what they termed as the ideal model. In his account of the various beauty standards since the 18th century, Lajos and Cheryl (65) notes that contrary to the standards held today, plumpness was considered part of the aesthetics in women. This has, however, changed and the current cultures embrace the ideal “thinness” as the yardstick for determining the level of beauty.
Race and Beauty
The issue of race and multiculturalism is one of the principal factors that have played a significant role in the definition of beauty. While most people think that being beauty is beheld by the beholder, fashion shows have come up with new measures that are used to measure the qualities that are used to objectify the beauty in models. The early years of the 19th century saw most people construct beauty to be dully viewed from racial inclinations (Lajos and Cheryl 42). The white skin was seen as the standards beauty upon which models were graded. This was complemented with blue eyes, which were seen as “sexy” and beautiful. However, trends have changed in the modern world. The beauty changes have been linked to the media and ease of communication. With the increased mobility and global traversing, the construction of beauty has seen more black women and other races compete on beauty pageants. The media has played a significant role in shifting the attention from the much hyped white skin to different skin tones. The black skin, which was not part of the views held in deciding beauty, has gained worldwide acceptance in the international platform (Persaud 62).
Music and fashion has also impacted on the development of beauty models. The mixed races and increased intermarriages between different races have led to new beauty of mixed origins. With musicians from the black and the white community entering the media industry, the definition has suffered a radical change. The definition has, therefore, been amplified to include a multicultural approach. Gill and Tiffany (10) observe that beauty has been tarnished through involvement of different beauty products which are currently in the market. Contrary to the earlier days when the cosmetic world was still undeveloped, the world of beauty products have hit the market with a bang. Reports by Persaud (68) indicate that today the average woman is worried about how they look than it was in the last twenty years. This is a manifestation of the society’s construction of beauty. Most women will be aping a specific public figure, which they consider as the fashion icons. Today there various ways of achieving the skin tone through application of ointments. The beauty of the woman was considered purely of fair skin and their physical appearance. However, with increased technological innovations, there have been various ways in which women try to lift their looks in order to achieve the perfect shape.
Evolution of beauty
Gill and Tiffany (37) notes that the word dieting was used in America in the early 19th century to mean the different types of food and nutritional supplements that man could consume. The same word has achieved different connotation, thanks to the changing beauty and the proliferation of the thinness model of beauty standards. The American fatness as described by Persaud (17) marked a period in the early 1970s when the aspect of beauty was being deconstructed by most American women. Gill and Tiffany (34) notes that it is at this period that women began to resent the large mass and began to adopt a more athletic figure. This was different from the usual plumpness that was earlier held by most models. The influence of the media and fashion industry began to take effect. For instance, there were common figures in the music industry and fashion industry that were accorded a lot of airplay and hyped to be beautiful. A common feature of beauty models of the time is the design of their clothes. Lajos and Cheryl (29) notes that most companies and fashion houses began designing clothes that were long and thin. The model women were supposed to appear plump in the upper part of the body and below the waists. The cultural and societal preference, therefore, constructed the beauty of the female on these standards till late in the 70s when some other factors began to influence the definition of beauty.
There arose the question of fairness in the period of 60s and early 70s (Stearns 58). Fairness here referred to the skin tone and the facial appearance. While this did not form part of the construction of beauty in the classic period, the beauty of the woman began to look onto the external facial look. The nose was expected to be haughty and well-trimmed. To most Americans and other cultures, especially the black Americans, beauty was measured on the standards of near whiteness (Stearns 4). This meant that blacks were given less consideration of being beautiful than their white counterparts. The emphasis as Lajos and Cheryl (25) notes lay majorly on the white model with even tone of the skin. Women were often seen to indulge in actions of applying powder on faces to achieve the faire look. The black women, on the other hand, relaxed their hair through oil and tried to make it longer as the white counterparts, since they represented the model beauty of the time.
Major fashion houses and retail shops of the time started to manufacture beauty items that were meant to serve the black clientele in the beauty industry. With increased beauty products, most women indulged in activities like colouring the hair the hair to achieve the desired colours of the time. The blonde beauty was held as one of the beauty consideration in hair. While that was the case, there were other people who constructed beauty on different hair colour. However, one common factor is that most of them preferred lots of hair. The following pictures show a common characteristic of hair. Notice the hair is given a substantial focus as part of the features that count in establishing the beauty.
Stearns (41) posits that most of the business economy in the early 19th century did not give much thought to the black beauty at the time since the skin tone did not represent the model upheld by the society. However, the start of the early and mid-70s saw a significant shift in the consideration and beauty standards in the American society. This was the period of black consciousness in the country. Therefore, stereotypes of being black or white started being shed off. The people now embraced the ideology of mingling and multiculturalism. With multiculturalism, there was more appreciation of the black beauty in most of the American retail store and fashion houses. The entry of the black models in the beauty industry was the beginning of the long campaign at fancying the multicultural beauty. The 1980s saw most people embrace the beauty of most culturally diverse people. There was the appreciation of the black skin tone and the rich black African hair (Persaud 62). Most people found started to consider the multi-coloured American model beautiful. Models like Halle Berry and others got international acclamation towards the late 80s and early 90s.
Fashion and designs industry
The modern beauty as discussed by Latoya (1) has been affected by various circumstances. There have been improvements in the cosmetics world. For instance, women have now embraced the options of undertaking surgery to boost looks. This was indifferent 50 years ago. The models had to depend on the natural looks, and there was no facelift on the looks of women. Today many women who resent their body shape have embraced plastic surgery and other medical attention where their bodies are constructed artificially to achieve the looks and shapes (Stuttaford et al 82). For example, liposuction in areas of the body where there is excess accumulation of fat is part of the actions undertaken by women in achieving the ideal shapes.
Another aspect that has changed in the consideration of beauty is the size of the beauty queens. While in the past, there was no much attention of the height of the woman, the modern woman is expected not to be too tall or too short. She should be of average height and having a particular shape. Latoya (2) holds that the current beauty standards are based on thin waist lines and thin bodies. Women who are considered thin are in most cases viewed to be beautiful. The thinnest model can trace its period in the early 70s, when most of the American fashion houses started to make thin long clothes for women. The bigger and larger clothes were designed for pregnant women (Stuttaford et al 91). This practice was to be further uplifted by media coverage, which covered the fashion industry in extensive manners. The fashion industry also gave a major emphasis on the same. This was caught up by the society which embraced the idea leading to adoption of the model as the standard. With increased awareness, musicians adorning in thin and slender clothes the society started embracing the thinness. This has remained the current ideal model of beauty among a majority of women.
Dark eyes rich and blue eyes have also been rated as being beautiful. Persaud (13) observes that most women have countered this by applying eye colours and other face tarnishes in order to achieve the perfect look. This is amplified by makeup which has undergone a revolution in the world. The beauty industry has also grown tremendously. Gill and Tiffany (34) reports that beauty products and spending by women and men hold a substantial part of the economy. This is a growth from the past years. Another contrast that is reminiscent of the changes in the beauty industry is unisexual beauty consideration. During the early 70s and late 80s, most men did not consider beauty products as part of the man’s wardrobe. This was most of the times followed by women to a large extent. The modern man understands the need to look fantastic and spends more on beauty products than the way men spent 50 years ago. Beauty has also been amplified to the job place. Bennett (01) holds that on average beautiful people receive more attention than a normal looking person. These people are more likely to receive job promotions than the other people in the work place. Therefore, the construction of beauty and the levels of obsession have differed from one aspect to another.
Conclusion
The construction of the ideal beauty model in the modern world is much variation from the earlier established models in the world. Modern man has technologically improved his world, and so are his aesthetic standards. While the modern idealized figure is of slenderness, the consideration differed in the severity with which the same models were measured some ten years back. The average size of the model ten years ago measures almost ten times bigger to the modern size. Increased beauty products, cosmetic surgery, waxing, skin tanning, and other beauty practices have had a negative impact on the body in current practises. However, the beauty figure is easier to achieve through the different methods than in it was in the past when one had to grapple with their looks without much capacity to adorn a makeup.
Works cited
Bennett, J., “The Beauty Advantage.” Retrieved from http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2010/07/19/the-beauty-advantage.html web May 2012
Gill, Tiffany M. "Style and Status: Selling Beauty to African American Women, 1920-1975." Business History Review 82.1 (2008): 146-9. ABI/INFORM Complete. Web. 24 May 2012.
Lajos, Cheryl Ann. "History of Beauty." Library Journal 130.3 (2005): 125-. ABI/INFORM Complete. Web. 24 May 2012.
Latoya P., “Allure Marks Shifting Beauty Standards; Declares The “All-American Beauty” Ideal Dead.” Retrieved from http://www.racialicious.com/2011/03/23/allure-marks-shifting-beauty-standards-declares-the-all-american-beauty-ideal-dead/ Web. 24 May 2012.
Persaud, Babita. "Ethnic Pride Unfolds at Minority Women Beauty Contests: Minority Women’s Contests are growing in Popularity as a Source of Identity and Pride." McClatchy - Tribune Business News: n/a. ABI/INFORM Complete. Feb 17 2008. Web. 24 May 2012.
Stearns, Peter. Fat history: bodies and beauty in the modern West. New York: New York University Press, 1997.
Stuttaford, Genevieve, Maria Simson, and Jeff Zaleski. "Fat History: Bodies and Beauty in the Modern West." Publishers Weekly 244.16 (1997): 51-. ABI/INFORM Complete. Web. 24 May 2012.
