Beauty

Confucius once said, “Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it.” When people think of beauty, they may think of natural scenic view or a supermodel. For some, beauty goes beyond the visual aspect and translates to emotions. Everyone views the world differently. Some let their experiences and personal beliefs shape the way they see beauty, while others allow society to tell them how they should perceive beauty. Beauty is a word used to describe an experience that has evoked a feeling of awe.

Beauty is not necessarily the lack of flaws, but rather a harmonious symphony of imperfections and different elements that make something beautiful. An old chair that is hand carved out of mahogany with small scratches and imperfections that has been passed down through a family can be far more beautiful than a perfect, factory made metal chair. “Imperfections” are most often the qualities that make something beautiful. For example, freckles on a woman’s face are often airbrushed out in magazines because they are viewed as imperfections. However, freckles are most often viewed as unique markings that make a person uniquely beautiful. In fact, imperfection is not the right word for qualities such as freckles and dimples. These qualities do not make someone imperfect, but rather unique. Individuality, not perfection, attributes to beauty.

 Beauty is not physical perfection attained through computer enhancement. The Merriam-Webster Dictionary’s first definition of beauty is “the quality of being physically attractive” (Beauty). This definition best reflects society’s perception of beauty. In the media, physical appearance is the basis of beauty. The creators of an advertisement cannot sell a product to consumers based on the charming personality of their model. No one looks at a Victoria’s Secret advertisement and comments on one of the model’s caring and kind nature. In media and business, this standard of beauty that is set negatively affects society. Young girls develop eating disorders because they believe that they need to achieve the perfect toned body that a swimsuit model has. In current times with photo enhancing technology, companies can take a woman or man who is already incredibly fit and attractive and airbrush him or her to be even more physically appealing. Many people see no harm in the use of photo enhancing software in magazines and advertisements. Unfortunately, these images are setting unrealistic standards for people to achieve. Now young men and women are striving to look like a person in a magazine that does not even exist. Men and women of all ages feel inadequate because they don’t have the sculpted abs and perfect skin of a computer generated model. Airbrushed and unattainable physical qualities are not beauty.

Beauty can be experienced through senses other than sight. Merriam-Webster’s second definition of beauty is “the qualities in a person or a thing that give pleasure to the senses or the mind” (Beauty). This definition goes beyond the visual aspect of beauty, as it should, because there is so much beauty in aspects that we cannot see. If beauty is based solely on sight, a blind person could never experience it. There is a survey in which multiple blind people are interviewed about what they believe beauty is. One woman said, “I think beauty is experience. The smell of warm, baked cookies. The warm, breeze against your skin. The feeling of grass underneath your feet” (Mosbergen). Tommy Edison, who has been blind since birth expressed his belief that he is blessed to be blind because he “sees” individuals for themselves, rather than what they look like. He does not recognize race or stereotypes. He is virtually immune to society’s perception of beauty because he can see the beauty in people through their character and personality rather than their appearance (Ericson). Tommy Edison proves that beauty is so much more than a physical appearance.

Some people believe beauty can be achieved with wealth. Many people will dream about a beautiful, perfect home, which they believe can only be achieved through money. This is partially true, because without money, an individual cannot afford a beautiful mansion. Most of the United States owns smaller homes. Many of those homes are incredibly beautiful and quaint, mostly because of the unique and eccentric families who live in the houses. Billionaires like Bill Gates and Warren Buffet have said that there is no joy or beauty in large amounts of money and a large mansion, but rather in the family that lives there. Although sights are satisfying and exhilarating, it is the people that one experiences the sights with that make it truly beautiful.

Society’s perception of beauty is constantly changing. Throughout history, humans have always created art that illustrated their idea of beauty. By looking at sculptures and paintings from all of history, one can see how the perception of beauty has changed. For example, in the renaissance, women were depicted as motherly and soft. They did not have flat stomachs because the ideal woman at the time was a mother who could nurture her family. They did not need to be fit because it was the husband’s job to do laborious work. Even in Ancient Greece, men were painted as incredibly masculine, muscular warriors, fighting off monsters. Perhaps the fact that the idea of beauty is constantly changing proves that there is no concrete definition of beauty. Society has always possessed an incorrect idea of what a man and woman should look like based on stereotypes, unrealistic expectations, and a false idea of perfection.

Beauty is not strictly a physical appearance. Beauty is the sound of birds chirping in the morning, the feeling of rain on the skin, and the soft touch of a puppy’s fur. Beauty is the sound of children laughing. It is the caring heart of a friend. Beauty is so much more than what society leads us to believe. It is in every person no matter what they look like. Beauty is not the lack of imperfections, but rather the qualities that should inspire society to embrace imperfections and enjoy life.