Topic > What constitutes true beauty? - 1023

The perception of beauty is subjective; it's not always what people think it is because it can be described in different ways. Margaret Wolfe Hungerland said, “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.” This means that there is no exact definition of "beauty", it is what others perceive. In today's society, attractiveness through physical appearance is the most common attribute when it comes to beauty, but there is much more. In addition to being the main focus, intelligence, emotions, wit and social attractiveness can also be used to contribute to one's beauty. Perhaps the most biased way to describe it, beauty is often used to refer to someone's physical appearance, focusing primarily on facial features. , body type and skin. This plays an important role in today's society, as it affects both males and females of all ethnicities. In one discussion it is stated that "what society considers beautiful has a tendency to change, meaning that our pursuit of beauty tends to be lifelong and subject to the whims of trendsetters" (Edmonds). Pop culture has manipulated society into believing that beauty means having a perfect facial structure, a slim body, and flawless skin. While having these particular characteristics is fine, it's simply not realistic. People tend to use cosmetics or cosmetic surgery to improve the beauty of their facial structure. Women also want to have a nice body type, which basically means being thin. Lastly in the black community I have noticed that there is a problem with skin tones. It is said that lighter skin is considered beautiful while darker skin is not. While this issue is based on opinions, it does not define beauty. Aside from the superficiality of today's society, beauty is also challenging... middle of paper... high school students and appears to be attractive to them. Another aspect is that when someone is influential they gain a reputation and become trendsetters. When someone is a visible trendsetter, it doesn't matter if they are physically or mentally beautiful, what matters is their social stature. These are not all the attributes of beauty, but five that I can somewhat identify with and that are understandable to others. "Beauty consists of an eternal and variable element, the quantity of which is extremely difficult to determine" (Baudelaire). Baudelaire says that beauty is very difficult to determine due to its many details and multiple meanings. Beauty is like a philosophical phenomenon that is not really understood. I would say it is what one sees in another, a descriptive term given to a person by another person to show that he or she possesses an attractive trait.