Introduction

This Blog will look into how much of an effect race can have beauty if any. Today’s contemporary society looks to have banished overt racism and multiculturalism looks to be prospering, however many studies and surveys have shown that we unconsciously take race into consideration. As an 18 year old white male, my perceptions of beauty have already been sculptured by the western culture, and many things seen as 'beautiful' in one culture, i look upon as unattractive. I will research to see weather the 'Beauty' category would be easier to break into being white, or otherwise.

Lookism or Racism

Lookism is discrimination to others based on their looks, and racism is discrimination of others based on their race, clearly both are intertwined as different racial groups have basic facial norms. I will look into how much discrimination is based on facial features and how this could lead to a beauty ideal based on race.

Outer beauty is comprised of health, youthfulness, sexiness, symmetry, averageness and complexion, obviously all these vary from person to person, and race to race. The theory that 'beauty is in the eye of the beholder' is very true however we have a tendency to pick certain features over others when deciding weather something is beautiful, a vast majority of scientists argue that the deciding factor is symmetry.

Below is an image of facial symmetry, high or low, this research isn't into how beautiful symmetry is, but how we prefer it to a face that's not symmetrical.

The research done by Anthony Stirling showed that the more symmetrical the face the fiercer gender contrast, the male symmetrical faces were far more masculine and vice versa.

Scientists have linked a more symmetrical look to a more natural look, some of society prefer a more perfect and artificial beauty, however many look for 'natural beauty'. A 'panel of experts' (beauty and fashion editors, make up artists, photographers and model agencies) voted on the 100 most naturally beautiful woman, the top ten were;

10 - Elle MacPherson

9 - Helena christensen

8 - Halle Berry

- Halle Berry has been a leading actress in America for a decade or more, she is the only woman of African American decent to win 'best actress'. Could her western influence be a factor to her success? she actively conforms to the mainstream western cultural expectations of skinniness, make up and skimpy clothes, all of which in some cultures would be frowned upon. However she was voted 8Th most naturally beautiful woman ever, and insists on not having any surgery, she spoke out about being 'beautiful' - "Being thought of as a beautiful woman has spared me nothing in life. No heartache, no trouble. Love has been difficult. Beauty is essentially meaningless and it is always transitory." Although Halle clearly is beautiful in the western culture, i will research into weather western cultural expectations would be seen as beautiful in other cultures.

7 - Juliette Binoche

6 - Natalie Imbruglia

5 - Grace Kelly

4 - Angelina Jolie

3 - Cate Blanchett

2 - Liv tyler

1 - Audry Hepburn

Audrey Hepburn represents the beauty ideals of the 50's, smaller hips and a large bust line was considered to be the most beautiful. obviously the beauty ideals have changed over time, once an ideal is reached by many (everyone becomes thin and busty) the ideal changes to something which is harder to retain, from the 60's the ideal has become 'Thin is in'.

This research shows how symmetry could make a more 'beautiful' person, i researched how other celebrities would look if their faces were more symmetrical. These following pictures have been taken from a photography competition to address celebrities facial symmetry;

The above photoes illustrate how beauty cannot be defined as simply as symmetry, Ruskin developed further theories to why someone is beautiful and why someone is unattractive.

Ruskin

Ruskin was an influential English art critic and social thinker in the Victorian and Edwardian era, he disagreed with scientists and thought that beauty was to do more with plainness that symmetry. Michael Vincen wrote "he is able to discern between that which is beautiful, and that which is imitation; between that which is pleasing to the eye, and that which is familiar to the eye" Ruskin believed that what was more familiar to the eye was more important when regards to looks and likability. 

Below is a picture of a unedited photo (left) and edited with glossy mag technology (right) which is better to look at, and therefore more attractive?

I conducted a survey asking friends and family which one of the above photos most resembled their view of beauty; out of 30 people, 24 preferred the photoshoped picture on the right. Was this just because the participants in the survey were all from a western culture and have been bought up in a media started society? some evidence shows that the older participants preferred the unedited photo on the left because their beauty ideals were formed when artificial beauty was undesirable. 

I believe that Ruskin's theory of the difference between something being pleasing to the eye, and familiar to the eye could contribute to the dominant western beauty ideals in the UK. Because over 90% of the UK's population is white, and white is familiar, this could contribute to the underlying racism that's thought to be in our modern society. 

Beauty ideals from one culture to another

 I have looked at different tribes that haven't been affected by western cultural imperialism, these photos show how beauty ideals vary from culture to culture. These beauty ideals are very specific and only hold cultural value in these remote locations.

African tribes use lip plates, they do this to show their economic and social status, however for some the size of the lip is just an asset like having your ears pierced. These tribes see these ‘ornaments’ as a status indicator and a beauty product.

To a western society these pictures may look 'Alain' and deformed, however these are norms for their culture and just another way of looking beautiful. These pictures can be compared to the 'alien'  like beauty ideals of the western culture, in some ways the beauty ideals are much the same. Having a lip plate is obviously not natural but bears cultural beauty value, just as being size zero is not natural, but bares cultural beauty values in the western society. 

To study the African beauty ideal in detail i looked at the 'voice' of the African media, the largest African fashion magazine is 'fashion Africa', to asses how race affects beauty i looked as the beauty standards that are set by the domestic fashion/beauty industry. It appears that the domestic institutions are not forcing western imperialism but allowing natural African beauty to prosper, the models dint have lip plates (tribal African beauty)... but they also don't have straightened hair(western beauty ideal). For example one of the lead models 'Aina Fadina' who represents the beauty ideals in Africa, 

 

It was comforting to see that out of the top ten models for fashion Africa were of African decent, however there are many African models that look as if they are under a lot of influence from the western culture. 

Another faction of society that havnt yet been under influence of the western beauty culture is In the African nation of Mauritania, where being large is prized. To achieve the desired fatness they are taken to family ‘fattening farms’ where they are forced to over eat. This is done because fat means wealth and the husband will only marry a fat woman because it looks as though he has fed her well. 

Karen Padaung tribe

Thiland  is home to the Karen Padaung tribe, the woman of this tribe wear multiple brass rings round their neck, arms and legs. These rings are the most prominent sign of female beauty and status, the more rings the more beautiful, as a result, long necks are desired as more rings can be fitted.

As a white middle class male i find it hard to see this as beautiful, the beauty ideals that have been enforced into me from primary socialisation differ from those of the Karen Padaung tribe. This could this be the most important factor in race deciding beauty, in these certain culture's the more rings the more desirable, however much this differs from the western cultural view on beauty there are links to one another. The practice of wearing jewelry is common in the western culture, for example the US sell over 30 billion dollars of jewelry to domestic users only. Jewelry is used all over the world to show class and wealth so in that sense the western culture and the Karen Padaung tribe's beauty ideals don't differ as much as i first thought. 

The Karen Padaung tribe shows how some tribal cultures share the same practices as the western world, another example of where the Western culture has swallowed up the local practices. 

In the Philippines – tattoos are a symbol off beauty, maturity, rank and bravery. The western civilisation has adopted the practice of tattooing and now 40% of 25 to 40 yer old's have tattoos. Tattoo's have lost their old fashioned cultural meanings due to the western society, however each tattoo has a individual meaning to the individual which promotes a post modern society. 

How beauty varies through time

I have looked at tribal beauty ideals and cultural practice and seen how each Vary's, however on a larger scale it seems that global imperialism is appearing. The next two video's show how beauty ideals vary during time, the ideals of the 1800's and the 2000's.

New Beauty ideals

Past beauty ideals

These classic paintings show the beauty ideals in the 1800's and how the natural, curvaceous woman was idolized, and the need to be size zero was non-existent.

These paintings were removed and replaced with new beauty ideals and the new found obsession for size zero.

New beauty ideals

These are the current beauty ideals promoted by the mainstream media, in magazines and on the t.v. Not only promoting white as the natural color but also an unattainable size, next i will look into how much our media saturated society affects the need to be white to be beautiful. 

Media saturation

The public is very influenced by the powerful institutions of today's society, this is shown from popular artists like Boyonce and Rhianna and how they have changed their appearance from their traditional beauty ideal and now conforms to the Western ideal.

The public are bombarded with images to form their ideal self out of, the basic needs of our modern beauty ideals are to be light skinned, straight hair and white teeth. To be different isnt looked upon as beautiful, however there are different cultural institutions that reflect the beauty ideals of the different modern lifestyle such as;

These two represent the select part of society that differs from the tastes of the norm, so the beauty ideals in these types of magazines vary unlike the magazines below;

however there are many magazines that only reflect the wants of the mainstream homogeneous beauty ideal. These 'Lads Mags' have been filled with the 'ideal' woman for men, they conform with the typical western beauty ideals of being skinny, big bust, straight hair, lots of make up and skimpy lingerie. However i have noticed that there has been a shift from classic 'pin up's' to a more Hispanic look, Eva Mendes has been the leading model/actress who is shown in the 'Maxim' above and below;

The common saying is that 'beauty is in the eye of the beholder' which would allow each person to hold their own beauty ideals and reject those of others. Today's media saturated society has compromised the thought of an individual being able to judge beauty, a constant beauty ideal is upheld by those who own cultural making institutions.

To me (an 18 year old white male) who has grown up in today's media saturated society i have a beauty ideal that is portrayed in 'Nuts' and 'Maxim', however in our increasingly post modern world i also have my own personal beauty ideals where my beauty ideal doesn't involve race.

Can beauty lead to success?

Studies show that good looking students get higher grades from their teachers than those with ordinary appearance. This is not un-common, subconsciously everyone takes looks into consideration, even patients who are better looking get more personalised care from their doctors and handsome criminals receive lighter sentences than less attractive criminals. 

Studies suggest that the amount a person earns is affected by their physical attractiveness, the results show that "people low in physical attractiveness earns 5 to 10% less than ordinary looking people, who in turn earn 3 to 8% less than those considered good looking." these statistics can be used in a Marxist theory. These statistics link success and beauty, the beautiful are getting paid higher and in higher status jobs which allow them to own cultural making institutions and instead of controlling the working class they control the less attractive and exploit them. 

Or, can success lead to beauty?

The argument that race affects beauty is confirmed by the western beauty ideals where to be in the 'beautiful' category is easier if your white. This is because the western media control the beauty ideals portrayed and all the cultural making institutions are formed by the west. However the economic development of china has allowed them to challenge the wests dominance and make their own cultural beauty ideals therefore withstanding the western imperialism. 

This could lead to a new way race effects beauty status, with the rise of china's economic power there could be a shift in the way beauty is portrayed, However Asia has been under huge influence by  the west and already share some of the same mainstream beauty ideals. 

If china continue to grow as rapid as they have been doing so there is a possibility that the traditional beauty ideals of the Chinese could influence contemporary beauty ideals. 

Could the beauty ideals of traditional China seep into the newly formed beauty ideals of Asia?