CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
A. Background of
the Study
“Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder” is a saying we
all want to believe; that everyone is beautiful to another; however, this
insatiable idea of “beauty” has actually created the most painful situation for
us. It may seem superficial to allow this to abstract concept influence our world
but regardless, we accept it and we try to fulfill its meaning because we believe
that there is an ideal image strictly portrayed and dictated by our society.
Throughout the years, we have been influenced to have the perception that
beauty is achievable if efforts are exerted. Unfortunately though, these
efforts we exert to be “beautiful” unintentionally causes us endless pain.
We accept pain to
achieve the idea of beauty that the opposite sex imposes us to have. Women are
pressured to do this because we have limited time in finding a mate within our
prime years, and with this, we give such significance to try to be “attractive”
while we can. We all know that
attraction has a huge impact on the satisfaction we created for the opposite
sex because we are all superficial at first. Regardless if we deny this or not,
we all know that we always find a mate first through their appearance because
that’s all we can base our desires on. We are attracted to someone because we
desire or lust them, and here, attraction is the magnetic charm that lures them
to us.
(http://www.huffingtonpost.com/vivian-diller-phd/physical-attraction-is-love-blind_b_1302550.html)
Beauty and pain has never
changed, it merely evolved from corsets and foot binding to push-up bras and
heels. Throughout history, beauty was still given the same importance by women
and although their methods and ideas of it were different, they still pursued
it to the extremes, in example, make-up in the past contained toxic chemicals
that resulted in their death. Regardless
of such consequences, they still felt the need to satisfy this perception of
beauty. The concept of “beauty” however, still came from, not the minds women
who pursued it, but of others and what their society believed was acceptable.
(http://www.nbcnews.com/id/22546056/)
This ambiguous idea of
beauty is painful to achieve because there are too many opinions of it. We all
know that it is insatiable and yet, we still try to please everyone. We
compromise ourselves, our beliefs and perceptions just to appear confident and
to entertain the opinions of others around us. As if we were not pressured
enough within ourselves, we also get it from media and social networking sites.
These play a huge role in our lives because media has served to be the
influence for mass communication. Little do they know that their influence,
ideas and opinions actually put some women in harm’s way. Their ideas of models
are the influence of disorders like anorexia and bulimia. Of course some women
become so self-conscious that they submit to these resulting also in death for
some.
(http://www.glamour.com/health-fitness/2011/02/shocking-body-image-news-97-percent-of-women-will-be-cruel-to-their-bodies-today)
What’s surprising is
even though we are aware of pains we inflict upon ourselves, we still don’t
make the effort to just alter the insatiable perceptions of it. We still give
ourselves false hopes that this “beauty” the media promotes is absolutely
attainable; however, this is the reason why people put themselves under so much
pain, women especially. This perception of beauty makes people think as if we
are given a choice to be unattractive or not. A choice to change and to try to
attain the beauty the media presents. Therefore, having background knowledge of
beauty, we will be able to figure out if this endless pain is actually worth
it.
This paper hopes to open the eyes of women to reality and to give
realization that beauty is unsustainable and instead, it should be compensated
with skills and talents.
B. Statement of the
Problem
This study aims to answer this question:
1. How should women overcome the unsustainable portrayals
of beauty?
C. Significance of
the Study
Women in all shapes
and sizes. This study will help women notice how much pointless pain
they actually put themselves under with the realization that it is unnecessary.
Their own ideas of self-image should be the only thing they believe because to
please another’s will be an endless effort. Moreover, it is unfair to deny
women from society because of something they have no control over. With this
paper, they will gain awareness and maybe even feel empowered to love
themselves without needing the opinion of others.
Men.
Knowledge of this study will help men to realize that they are a main
reason for the pain women go through. Though they don’t know it, they are
unintentionally imposing ideal standards on women too difficult or impossible
to achieve. This will allow them to open their eyes because surely, they don’t
intend to be unaware of the extreme approaches women take just to be attractive
or beautiful in their eyes.
Media and Social
Networking Sites. Knowledge of this study should open their eyes to reality.
Their ideas of beauty only harm women in ways that should not even be. They
should reconsider or alter their beliefs of what should be accepted in our
society because every woman, in all shapes and sizes is beautiful in their own
way. They should realize that their dictation of beauty is impossible for most
women and goes against nature. Women don’t have much choice on their physical
appearance because they are acquired genetically. Also, there is a huge chance
that most of the females who work in social media are aware that they too can’t
achieve what they accept. So why give them the rights to judge the appearance
of others.
D. Scope and
Delimitation
This study only focuses on the specific pain women inflict
on themselves by their subscription to beauty. Also, focuses on ways that women
will be able to benefit from this necessity that the society dictates them to
have.
E. Materials and
Methods
The researcher collected data to find a trend to be
able to predict where beauty is going. This prediction is that women will give
less importance to the idea of beauty that the media portrays and will focus on
their skills instead. This idea will give all women a fair game with a
sustainable advantage.
F. Definition of
Terms
Beauty. The quality present in a thing or person that gives
intense pleasure or deep satisfaction to the mind, whether arising from sensory
manifestations (as shape, color, sound, etc.), a
meaningful design or pattern, or something else (as a personality in which high
spiritual qualities are manifest).
Insatiable. Incapable
of being satisfied or appeased.
Self Image. one's own idea
of oneself
or sense of one's worth.
CHAPTER 2
DISCUSSION
How should women overcome the unsustainable portrayals
of beauty?
Definition of Beauty
Beauty from
its definition is the quality present in a thing or person that gives intense
pleasure or deep satisfaction to the mind, whether arising from sensory
manifestations (as in shape, color, sound, etc.), a meaningful design or
pattern or something else (as a personality in which high spiritual
qualities are manifest). This abstract concept is always said to be “… in the
eyes of the beholder” only because it has no solid meaning. The substantial
definition will be derived from each and every person’s specific views on it
and this is the reason why women intend to push themselves to the limit just
for the sake of satisfying what is insatiable.
Although we
know that it has a subjective meaning, we still believe that it is possible and
is evident in celebrities. We are given
the idea that it is a responsibility of women to achieve the way the media
portrays beauty. Beauty to the industry is a weaker woman, subordinate to man,
a sex icon and a lesser sex. Not only that, but we are pressured to have the
body image of being tall and thin, beautiful face, similar to models and famous
stars who are presented to be flawless and perfect.
Negative Effects to Consider
Since as
humans, we want what we cant have, we try our very best to pursue the closest
thing to it. Since we know for a fact that perfection is an illusion, we try to
achieve it every way we can. Women have accepted the infliction of pain upon
themselves because they refuse to be rejected in society; for example, to be
rejected by men because of unattractiveness. Many women would much rather
submit to ways just to be accepted rather than not. Another is the pain and
effort in spending so much time and money on make-up just to be able to conceal
natural aging. Lastly, the physical pains caused by what women see as
necessities like bras and heels or the disorders, we allow just because our
society has manifested a type of beauty they want to accept.
We may see all
these reasons why beauty should be protested against because its negative
effects on society and women have been evident for many years. Women have made
a connection; the belief that beauty is pain, and have applied it on
themselves. Many years ago, in China, women were compelled to bind their feet
and basically break their bones to fit a 3-inch golden lotus shoe. This foot
binding was important for women at the time because it presented status and
that a woman was ready to be married with money. A different type of pain,
popular in west is plastic surgery. The reason why women undergo cosmetic
surgery is because, like a quote has explained, “The internal motivation to boost self-esteem by
looking ‘perfect’ is likely the strongest.” Women feel that they will gain a
confidence boost by impressing other people and not themselves.
(http://www.stylist.co.uk/life/why-are-women-going-under-the-knife#image-rotator-1). It is a huge question as to why women allow themselves
to undergo such pains because it seems unnecessary, but is it really?
Advantages and Reason for Beauty
Being beautiful will have its
advantages like; a beautiful woman will be the first noticed in a job interview
and in reality, can we really just disregard the meaning of beauty? It is
impossible because it is what separates people and we have accepted and allowed
for this. If not, there would be no one to look up to. We believe that people
desire the beautiful because they seem to possess better communication skills
because they are more confident. In the basis of looking for partners,
beautiful people are also first in line to be chosen because it is the first
step of science of attraction. Lastly, beautiful people have a higher self
esteem because people will look up to them. Regardless of all these advantages
though, people have found loopholes to protest their exploitation to beauty and
perfection.
Women have become smarter and more creative
with what they think it means to be beautiful. They also are using beauty to
their advantage in ways to be successful and to be a better role model.
However, how far will her beauty go? Feminists have stood their ground to
protest what others want of them. They now realized that beauty is an
unsustainable idea and have compensated for it in means of skills and success.
They believe that competence in a work place will go farther than beauty
itself. The reason for this is because success is not based on how many people
notice you because of your face but is based on how many people notice your
work produced. A quote from Vivian Diller, a psychologist, "[These
women] were very connected to the belief that the way to be successful was to
maximize their other assets and minimize their looks”. They figured that once they are more successful with
possibly owning their own business or becoming professionals that they will
surpass the dying need to be beautiful. People will look at them more as equal
to man and not as an entity that is incapable of anything but the idea of
beauty. (http://www.businessinsider.com/beauty-paradox-societys-view-of-women-looks-2013-9)
Beauty vs. Success
Some women
have already opened their eyes to what is real; the reality is that not
everyone can have the hourglass figure or the most beautiful face. That doesn’t
mean however that they will allow themselves to still be rejected by society.
Women now have become empowered to be more independent and to open their minds
to what is right. They know that if they can’t have it, compensate for it and
many women have done so. Instead of focusing on being beautiful, they focus on
a career that will make them successful.
This problem
is not only present in our society but is also currently an issue in China, and
surely, in many other countries as well. Specifically though, in China many
women are called “shengnu” meaning
“leftover” once they have passed the age of 25 and are unmarried. Many women
felt the injustice of being labeled as this for having the choice to not be
married yet and for focusing more on themselves. However, witty as they are,
they figured out that “sheng” means
“victorious” and not “leftover”, therefore they defended their case saying that
they are victorious because they would much rather spend their time trying to
be successful rather than be a subordinate to the men they will be married to.
Women are pushing to be independent without the need for men and are beginning to
create their own standards of what the society should accept. The empowerment
women are becoming unstoppable.
Another example is Miley Cyrus, many would argue that she
has become an obscene woman ever since her fiancé, Liam Hemsworth has called
their engagement off. Others however would call it empowerment to be able to
stand on her own and focus on her career. She has come back to singing even
more powerful than before. Her video of Wrecking Ball has created some
controversy but the researcher believes that it also gave her a huge advantage
to create a stir in her career. She is greatly recognized as the girl creating
a new movement and Miley has stated that: “I'm not really scared or insecure
about anything because I'm used to people judging me. I'm used to people
knocking me down, so I'm used to getting back up." The researcher has found this beautiful in that Miley
could care less about what the media expected out of her, still she continued
on for her success.
Changing Idea of Beauty
Since women have proven to show that their compensation
of skills and success are better and more sustainable than the abstract idea of
beauty, more and more women are also realizing that the media is noticing this.
Before, the media only presents women of “perfection”, the sexy iconic body,
beautiful face and perfect smile. However; it is evident now that their
standards and ideas are changing.
Already, some
media have altered their understanding of beauty. They may not be pushing for a
social movement but their campaigns have created a new understanding for those
women who see it. Though Dove’s intentions were not to push for a specific
change, regardless, their new campaign has become a powerful example of a new
movement towards the idea of beauty. Some women have assumed their campaigns to
be creating a different standard for society. They show different women of
different shapes and sizes and post them on a billboard with a title “Real
Beauty”. Of course, we have a mentality that only models would be plastered on
a billboard; however, in this case, they allowed all types of women to be in
it. Also, Dove’s video ad went viral when they presented sketches of different
women, allowing them to describe themselves to an artist and the sketches were
actually more attractive than they would have thought. Many women were touched
by the portraits the artist presented because they realized that they are the
worst critics to themselves and that they are actually more beautiful than they
think they are.
Mirrors are a girl’s worst enemy because all it does is
make us insecure of the things we do have and don’t have. Surely women will
agree that when a guy compliments them that they will tend to disagree and
instead point something out that is bad about them and wait for agreement. Men
will accept average women who are confident rather than a beautiful woman who
is insecure. In J.Cole’s song, Crooked Smile, he raps about crooked smiles
being natural and no one is perfect. He explains that he realizes women are
forced and pressured to try to become beautiful by exerting all their efforts
to be noticed. Lines from his lyrics, “No
need to fix what God already put his paint brush on…/ You keep falling victim
cause you’re insecure…/ So all you see is what you lacking, not what you
packing…/ We don’t look nothing like the people on the screen/ You know them
movie stars, picture perfect beauty queens/ But we got dreams and got the right
to chase em/ Look at the nation, that’s a crooked smile braces couldn’t even
straighten…” (http://rapgenius.com/J-cole-crooked-smile-lyrics#note-1834407). Though we look up to stars and celebrities as “perfect”
people, that does not make them perfect. Also, just because we don’t think we
are beautiful enough, that does not give us the right to surrender our dreams
and goals in life because our competencies will not change whether we are
beautiful or not. In this case, women could become empowered to become more
confident about themselves through the words and actions of a man.
Beauty vs. Healthy
For quite some time, women were at a disadvantage to
beauty; however, to see it in a different light will only benefit them from now
on. A saying, “If you can’t fight them, join them”. Women should learn to find
loopholes because it is possible to change the idea of beauty and the only way
this idea is going is towards change. People are finally realizing that the
media’s idea is insatiable and will never be enough. Perfection is just
impossible. So to compensate for what is trending nowadays, health is more
appropriate. We can say that a person is beautiful or handsome based on their
physical health rather than their mere attractiveness because health can be
achieved naturally by anyone to be more attractive. A recent trend has bloomed
and more and more people are hitting the gym and are becoming more physically
fit. Throughout history to present time, beauty has been given such
significance but doesn’t beauty mean being healthy because it implies that one
is genetically attractive. If we compare this to evolution, the physically fit
are those who survive and are the ones able to procreate, not necessarily the
most beautiful or the most handsome. Those who are able to adapt their way
through any challenges and situations are those who survive, which means
“survival of the fittest” must consist of those who are smart and have skills
to help them survive. (http://edition.cnn.com/2013/11/01/health/evolution-exercise/)
Woman vs. Man
If we were to look at life in this way, that the only way
to “survive” is to be fit, then shouldn’t we attain skills and talents more
than beauty and attractiveness. For women, beauty is so important but what
about for men. Men are not pressured to be beautiful or are not pressured to
exert as much efforts to vanity as much as women because people look at their
successes and their handsomeness only as an extra plus. If more people and
women themselves subscribe to this idea, that success is over beauty then it
would not only show empowerment but equality as well. For a long time, women
were making less than men and for a long time, women are being labeled as sex
icons displaying beauty; however, this can be changed only if women do not
allow impositions coming from opinions of others. Women should be able to focus
on their successes alone and be given equal opportunities to do so, as compared
to men. Since success has been one of the most important attributes in a man,
why can’t it be the same for women. Nowadays, women do not need to rely on men
as much because they are becoming just as skillful and if this continued on in
the future, women might just break the idea that they have to pursue beauty to
survive and the idea that they are subordinate to men. (http://www.theguardian.com/business/2013/sep/17/median-wage-income-gap-women)
CHAPTER 3
SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS AND
RECOMMENDATIONS
SUMMARY
This paper attempted to open the eyes of women to reality
and to give realization that beauty is unsustainable and instead, it should be
compensated with skills and talents.
This research used
current beliefs people have for beauty; the pain women subscribe to just to
satisfy this idea. The research predicts that it will stray away from this
insatiable idea to a better and a more sustainable trait like skills and
talents. The research findings
1. Women
are pained in every way: psychological, emotional, and physical trying to
satisfy the media’s idea of beauty.
2. In
any period of time, we see the significance of beauty especially for women and
through out, their ways to achieve it are different and evolve to the current
trends of their society.
3. The
media gives the biggest influence when promoting the ideal beauty for women.
They present people that we want to and should accept, while unintentionally
distorting the self-image of others and causing them to inflict pain upon
themselves.
CONCLUSIONS
Based on the findings of this study, the
following conclusions are drawn:
1. Women
have accepted the negative effects of beauty because of the advantages it has
in life, especially in the workplace.
2. Nowadays
though, women are beginning to find loopholes to the idea of beauty and are
trying to replace it with a more sustainable trait like talents and skills. They
are beginning to change their ideas of what beauty actually means and are
putting their success above it.
3. Women
will be empowered to view themselves equal to men and will allow success to
compensate for beauty. Since society has approved this for men, women will
later on understand that they can change the way people will look at them.
After drawing conclusions of the
study, the researcher hereby makes the following suggestions/recommendations:
1. After
much research on beauty, it makes sense why women allow subscription to pain in
trade for its advantages. However, since it is an unsustainable trait, women
should instead try to achieve something that is less painful but with a greater
advantage, one that will not only allow for them to be noticed but one that
will put them equal to men.
2. Scholars
later on should research on women of the future and their subscription to
beauty. If women still give beauty the same importance or if they are changing
their ideas of it and would much rather be successful.
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