Objectives
-Evaluate personal values and paradigms around body decoration and physical beauty
-Investigate how physical appearance affects definitions of identity and belonging
-Analyze values and belief systems of physical appearance across cultures, sub-cultures and generations
These are some of my closest friends. We range in ages but we are a family.
Reflection
This unit really made me think of why I surround myself with the people I’m closest with. In my reflective essay I discussed my personality, as well as my values. I feel my style can be partly represented by the photo above. I like to surround myself with fun, loving people who share a similar style and lifestyle as me. These lovely women are all open-minded and supportive of any (reasonable) tattoos or piercings I may choose to get. As said in the reading by Sanders, “attractiveness has considerable impact on our social relationships.” I agree with this statement, but think it is good and bad. One can only judge someone so much off their physical appearance or attractiveness. I admitted in my original post that I do give in and judge off their appearance, but I try to limit how far this judgement goes. Our society has a certain image they want people to be. This ideal person can be seen all over the media. It is truly unfortunate that our society emphasizes physical beauty so much but it is something we all must deal with.
What is considered physically attractive varies on the culture. The United States is known around the world for favoring slender women and shaming women considered obese or overweight. This does not hold true for all countries where having more weight means one is wealthy and can afford food. Physical beauty depends on culture, similar to how art is perceived different in cultures.
The course reading for this unit goes into detail about how people with body alterations like tattoos “deviate from appearance norms” and are therefore considered to be outsiders in society. I find this idea to be almost contradicting to how our society acts. Thousands of women each year get plastic surgery, nose jobs, breast implants, lypo suction, the list could go on. While some people try to hide this, these types of body alterations are more accepted than someone getting a large tattoo (mind you, it does depend on what the tattoo depicts). Why would one type of body alteration be socially acceptable and the other not? I believe it is based off values and identity. Someone may say that getting a nose job can makes him or her more attractive and fits social norms but getting a large septum piercing (or bull ring) makes him or her less beautiful and sets them apart from ‘normal.’ Our society has outlined what beauty should be and wants people to adhere to this belief. I have my own views on beauty that I’ve acquired overtime and they do not have to be similar to everyone else’s.
Future
I love learning about beauty and personal values regarding beauty. I think this subject involves a lot of psychology and really questions how and why people share certain physical preferences. I want to read up more on how our personal beauty norms shape us as a person and our preferences for social relationships.
Bibliography