The Heian period was a long time ago and everything was completely different back then. Men were considered powerful and would be responsible for women, while women were supposed to be submissive. Men would single out a woman and it seems almost immediately that he would be extremely attracted to her and desire her. There are many different characteristics that make up the men and women of the Heian period, compared to today; love, attraction and power are perceived very differently. The definition of an attractive woman during the Heian period is definitely not the same as women today. There are many unusual characteristics that make a Heian woman attractive. First of all, women wore many layers of clothing to cover their bodies. The naked body is barely mentioned in poetry and books, the more layers of clothing a woman wore; the more attractive she was to a man. The sleeves of women's dresses were very attractive and attractive to men. Next, women blackened their teeth with a sticky black dye; during the Heian period, white teeth were considered very unattractive to women. Along with completely blackened teeth, pale complexion was also considered attractive. Women would have to wear a lot of makeup to appear very pale white. An example would be Genji laying eyes on Yugao “…pale purple-gray dress over layers of white, and though there was nothing striking about her, her lithe grace and way of speaking moved him deeply.” (Page 66) After seeing her wearing many layers of clothing and her pale face, he became extremely infatuated with her beauty. Another very attractive aspect of a woman was long and beautiful black hair. The hair on a woman was the key point that would attract men. “The hair running down…the center of the card…men were obviously very controlling and had power over women. Women almost seem to have no choice but to obey and put up with the affairs their men had behind their backs. Throughout the book of Genji Monogatari, there are even cases of women dying because they couldn't handle their men cheating on them. The sickness of their men having constant affairs and leaving them alone would be too much for some women to handle. In fact, the jealous spirits of the lovers that men had were the murderers of other women. This strange period in which relationships between women and men have changed since then, but certainly cannot be forgotten. Works Cited Smits, Gregory. Chapter Three: The Aristocrats of the Heian Period. Retrieved from http://www.east-asian-history.net/textbooks/172/ch3_main.htm Tyler, Royall. (2006). Tale of Genji. England: Penguin Group.