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Friday, October 1, 2010
October: The Concept of Beauty
Laini says, "In 'Goblin Fruit,' Kizzy can't see her own 'weird species of beauty' for what it is. Do you think that as we get older, our concept of beauty changes?
Definitely. People, the world and the way we see the world are always changing so our concept of beauty changes too, it kind of has to.
When we're younger, we view the world through rose tinted glasses but when you get older and that innocence and ignorance fades away, you can't see the world the same. You can't see beauty the same.
When I was little, I thought perfect existed and perfect was beautiful - as I got older I realised that the idea of perfection is subjective and perfection doesn't really exist and now I think that beauty is in imperfections and one persons ugly can be another persons beautiful.
And with the world changing all the time, how we view beauty is going to change too -- take weight for example, back in the days of Marilyn Monroe and all that, her body type was considered beautiful but now Hollywood is filled up mostly with size zero girls and they're called beautiful and plastered all over magazines and young girls want their bodies to be just like them so they can be "beautiful" too.
Sorry, I'm not explaining well, but yes I think our concept of beauty changes as we get older.
I agree--there is so much beauty that you can't see when you're younger. I used to stare at beauty queens and imagine that was beauty. Then I graduated to fashion magazine worship. Now, hopefully, I'm coming into a lasting impression of beauty that has more to do with an inner glow, a sense of security and the true warmth of the person I'm seeing.
Yes, I think that when we're younger we're more prey to the very most basic ideas of beauty, the kind of "catalog model bland pretty", the cheerleader look. But I know that my own notion of beauty has evolved into an appreciation of uniqueness -- strange eyes, interesting coloring, severe features, etc. And then there's the whole other issue of how perceived beauty is affected by character, like the great Roald Dahl quote from The Twits:
"If a person has ugly thoughts, it begins to show on the face. And when that person has ugly thoughts every day, every week, every year, the face gets uglier and uglier until you can hardly bear to look at it.
A person who has good thoughts cannot ever be ugly. You can have a wonky nose and a crooked mouth and a double chin and stick-out teeth, but if you have good thoughts it will shine out of your face like sunbeams and you will always look lovely."
I really think that's true! And I think we learn to appreciate that, and to look at people in a different way, as we get older.
I saw a woman once who was a Picasso painting in human form. Her long face was anything but symmetrical and a younger me might have dismissed her looks as "ugly." While her appearance was shockingly out of kilter with what is considered "normal beauty" in that culture, it was all I could do not to jump off the bus and chase her down for a photograph. Her face still haunts me, in a good way, as an example of a beauty that simply cannot be defined and categorized.
I think we start to define beauty more broadly as we age because we want to see what beauty looks like in the age group we're becoming a part of. I know that I didn't really think much about what a beautiful woman in her 30s 40s 50s meant until I got into my 30s myself.
I agree that beauty is about your spirit, your ideas, your humor. It's about caring for yourself too, feeling confident and proud of who you are.
And nail polish. Beauty is also about nail polish. ;)
*sigh* I love these comments, everyone. To find beauty, take a nude figure drawing class. I'm serious. You will learn to see beauty in every single person. It's a matter of training the eye and the heart.
I'm so late to this discussion, but I loved reading the posts and agree that we all need to let our inner beauty shine through us. At age 57 it's a must for me. Also I see beauty all around me and bring it inside of my heart as I view it -- what if the sunrise were my morning mirror????
11 comments:
Definitely. People, the world and the way we see the world are always changing so our concept of beauty changes too, it kind of has to.
When we're younger, we view the world through rose tinted glasses but when you get older and that innocence and ignorance fades away, you can't see the world the same. You can't see beauty the same.
When I was little, I thought perfect existed and perfect was beautiful - as I got older I realised that the idea of perfection is subjective and perfection doesn't really exist and now I think that beauty is in imperfections and one persons ugly can be another persons beautiful.
And with the world changing all the time, how we view beauty is going to change too -- take weight for example, back in the days of Marilyn Monroe and all that, her body type was considered beautiful but now Hollywood is filled up mostly with size zero girls and they're called beautiful and plastered all over magazines and young girls want their bodies to be just like them so they can be "beautiful" too.
Sorry, I'm not explaining well, but yes I think our concept of beauty changes as we get older.
I agree--there is so much beauty that you can't see when you're younger. I used to stare at beauty queens and imagine that was beauty. Then I graduated to fashion magazine worship. Now, hopefully, I'm coming into a lasting impression of beauty that has more to do with an inner glow, a sense of security and the true warmth of the person I'm seeing.
Yes, I think that when we're younger we're more prey to the very most basic ideas of beauty, the kind of "catalog model bland pretty", the cheerleader look. But I know that my own notion of beauty has evolved into an appreciation of uniqueness -- strange eyes, interesting coloring, severe features, etc. And then there's the whole other issue of how perceived beauty is affected by character, like the great Roald Dahl quote from The Twits:
"If a person has ugly thoughts, it begins to show on the face. And when that person has ugly thoughts every day, every week, every year, the face gets uglier and uglier until you can hardly bear to look at it.
A person who has good thoughts cannot ever be ugly. You can have a wonky nose and a crooked mouth and a double chin and stick-out teeth, but if you have good thoughts it will shine out of your face like sunbeams and you will always look lovely."
I really think that's true! And I think we learn to appreciate that, and to look at people in a different way, as we get older.
Thoughts?
Yes, we definitely redefine beauty again and again throughout our lives.
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
I saw a woman once who was a Picasso painting in human form. Her long face was anything but symmetrical and a younger me might have dismissed her looks as "ugly." While her appearance was shockingly out of kilter with what is considered "normal beauty" in that culture, it was all I could do not to jump off the bus and chase her down for a photograph. Her face still haunts me, in a good way, as an example of a beauty that simply cannot be defined and categorized.
I think we start to define beauty more broadly as we age because we want to see what beauty looks like in the age group we're becoming a part of. I know that I didn't really think much about what a beautiful woman in her 30s 40s 50s meant until I got into my 30s myself.
I agree that beauty is about your spirit, your ideas, your humor. It's about caring for yourself too, feeling confident and proud of who you are.
And nail polish. Beauty is also about nail polish. ;)
I agree with what everybody else has said. :) And Laini, I love that Roald Dahl quote a lot - and it is is so true.
*sigh* I love these comments, everyone. To find beauty, take a nude figure drawing class. I'm serious. You will learn to see beauty in every single person. It's a matter of training the eye and the heart.
Beauty of the spirit, of the creative soul, of the compassionate heart...that's all that really matters.
I'm so late to this discussion, but I loved reading the posts and agree that we all need to let our inner beauty shine through us. At age 57 it's a must for me. Also I see beauty all around me and bring it inside of my heart as I view it -- what if the sunrise were my morning mirror????
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