Views on Beauty | Teen Ink

Views on Beauty

May 10, 2015
By gbremer SILVER, Carlton, Minnesota
gbremer SILVER, Carlton, Minnesota
6 articles 11 photos 3 comments

Favorite Quote:
It is both a blessing and a curse to feel everything so very deeply.


Looking through the an art gallery in Florence, Italy I realized that
1. The Italians love their nudity
2. The nude women were not skinny
This made me think about how our ideas of beauty have and have not changed in the past 500 years. I came to a painting of Venus. Venus is considered one of the most beautiful people in the world and she was definitely not a size zero. But I think that if you asked someone to paint Venus now based on society's views she would look very different.


How our idea's on beauty have changed:
If you go into any magazine right now what do you see? Most of the time skinny people. There is rarely a "plus sized" woman. I asked myself "How did our idea's of beauty change so much?" and I am still not able to answer this question. Another thing they has changed in skin color in advertisements. In America and Europe we see more different types of skin color than in places like Asia where there are only pale people in ads.


How our idea's on beauty have not changed:
Society thinks that the paler you are the better. 500 years ago the paler you were the prettier you were and the higher up in class you were. This is obviously not true. You can see that there are darker people that are absolutely beautiful like people from India. Women there have dark skin, long black hair, and dark brown eyes and all they want is to be pale, which I can't understand why because they are gorgeous and that is only one example. You could go to all of these different countries with beautiful people and they want to be pale. Sad but true.


Europe vs. America
Before coming to Italy I thought that there was only one attractive body type. I thought that all men were only attracted to skinny girls. In Europe this is certainly not true. They tend to go for the fuller women with hips, a waist, and a butt. In America I'm usually not hit on but I come here and men are hitting on me and one even bought me a drink. It's amazing how different it is over here compared to back home.


I'm not saying that one body type is better than the other. I'm just pointing out society's views and comparing and contrasting between time periods and cultures and how interesting I found it. I don't think that one skin color or body type is better than any other because they is a lot of beautiful people with different shades of skin and body types. I personally think that society should start to include more of a mix of people in advertisements and maybe our opinions on what is beautiful will change for the better.


The author's comments:

Walking around the Uffuzi Art Galley in Florence, Italy I pondered these things. 


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This article has 5 comments.


on Jun. 22 2015 at 10:36 pm
alaina_h BRONZE, Wilmington, Delaware
4 articles 3 photos 35 comments

Favorite Quote:
I believe in pink. I believe that laughing is the best calorie burner. I believe in kissing, kissing a lot. I believe in being strong when everything seems to be going wrong. I believe that happy girls are the prettiest girls. -Audrey Hepburn

This needed to be said!! I think men are groomed to have higher standards by society and social media when realistically, women don't look like that. Very insightful....I would love for you to read my short story when you get a chance! TeenInk.com/fiction/realistic_fiction/article/809491/My-First-Kiss/story

pprudhon GOLD said...
on Jun. 14 2015 at 2:10 am
pprudhon GOLD, San Jose, California
10 articles 0 photos 28 comments

Favorite Quote:
&quot;It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live.&quot;<br /> -JK Rowling (Harry Potter and the Sorcerer&#039;s Stone)

Before I go into the article, I want to make it very clear that nonfiction is not my area of expertise, nor is this topic. From a layman's perspective, it was an intriguing read, but there are a few things you could do to spruce it up a bit. 1. You keep posing the question about why society's view of beauty has changed over time and saying that you still don't know the answer. This is fine, but it leaves me to believe that you don't know is because nobody knows why time has affected what society finds attractive. I'm sure if you did a little digging, you'd be able to find someone out there has written an article explaining what things changed to make society shift away from fuller women, however, I suspect a huge part of it is the availability of food. 500 years ago, if you were thin, you were probably of the lower class and you didn't have enough to eat. Having a fuller body meant not only had enough to eat, but you could indulge, which meant you had money. Beauty standards may have changed, but people have always been attracted to wealth. 2. Your vocabulary is okay, but I think you could do a lot better. It's not as big of a deal, but it just makes for a more interesting read. 3. Last but not least, this article seems to be very based on opinions, and I would recommend a little research to validate your opinions. For instance, if I say that I think blue is the best color, you'll probably be more likely to agree with me if I give you the name of a scientist and cite their study about how the color blue has a calming affect which can lower stress. Overall, it's a good and intriguing article. Keep writing :)

on Jun. 8 2015 at 11:45 am
ABIGAIL.S PLATINUM, Trenton, Ohio
37 articles 3 photos 35 comments

Favorite Quote:
&quot;only you can start a change you want&quot;

I love this. You show how what we see as beauty changes. If you know me at all you would know I am big on pointing out how our world is changing and how its changing what we think or see. I am so glad to read something that shows what I'v been saying. Keep it up and show what you believe or see.

Beila BRONZE said...
on Jun. 7 2015 at 6:52 pm
Beila BRONZE, Palo Alto, California
3 articles 0 photos 516 comments

Favorite Quote:
&quot;The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco.&quot; -Mark Twain

The ideas behind this article are great, but you need to develop them more into a cohesive piece. Stay focused and avoid generalizations. For the most part, many of the things you say are true, but you're ignoring notable exceptions and changing trends in modern society. Also, I think you could flesh out some of your ideas more. You talk about how models of different races are more common in modern magazines. Why is that, do you think? What's your opinion on that? You kind of lead there toward the end, but you lose focus in the middle. Streamline, this, though, and you've got a great idea to contemplate and share your thoughts about.

on May. 20 2015 at 6:02 am
Katyaini SILVER, Greater Noida, Other
9 articles 0 photos 85 comments

Favorite Quote:
Life is like a chocolate covered chilly.... <br /> <br /> Some succeed because they&#039;re destined to; <br /> Most succeed because they&#039;re determined too

Totally right. Size 0 is certainly not a definition of beauty, nonne of the sizes are. The best thing is being yourself. Loved this article.