On Beauty
I know not how to describe the meaning of beauty in this era. Is beauty the definition of what the eyes can see? Can we taste beauty? Or, is it the total configuration of an individual’s mind, body and soul? Dear reader, how do we describe this word?
The word is spoken of among men but is least known or properly discussed. No concrete definition is given. It is often described as a myriad of things. There are mere cyclical thoughts around it. Society has its definition, individuals, and animals too, have their definition of beauty.
Yet, beauty is desired everywhere, beauty is desired in works of nature, in works of art, beauty in morals: and when found it is often followed by an emotional outpour of affection.
A ten year old black boy once revealed to me that “I hate my skin, I’m not beautiful like them.” We continued the conversation. I tried to question his conclusion and he dealt this final blow “if you have to look beautiful, you have to look and behave a certain way.” After his rant, he slept off and started to smile, perhaps he began to see beauty in his sleep.
To him, first of all, beauty is measured by the colour of his skin, he claimed that his history teacher told them about slavery and he didn’t want to be associated with such a past. Secondly, he believes that one has to conform to the rules of society to look beautiful. Can one be be rebellious and still maintain a beautiful outlook.
But when you ask a group of people, what is beauty that allows them pour out emotion, what’s the basis, the precise notion, the true idea that makes them conclude that something is beautiful then they might give you a list: innocence, originality, rebellious thoughts, presentation, character and many other things encompass the definition of beauty.
Then why do we focus on the part and not the whole on the definition of beauty? What has made our ten year old boy focused on his skin as the wholistic definition of beauty? How can we rethink and redefine the concept of beauty? When is someone beautiful? How is someone beautiful? What makes a person beautiful?
Ask these questions, and you will immediately see the complexities laden in beauty. It’s an idea cloaked in many things.
Like a work of art splashed with colours, brush strokes, concepts and ideas of the artist, beauty is born out of a collage of features:ugly mixed with beauty, reason mixed with unreason and boldness mixed with fear. That’s beauty.
Someone will perhaps say to me that “beauty is in the eyes of the beholder”. The question remains, can beauty be influenced? What’s the right way to define this term?
I do the Twitter thing @moshoke