Are Barbie & Ken Truly Beautiful?
Written by Sarah N. Amundson
It was once said that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. When you hear the word beautiful, what kinds of things come to mind? Many people will think of Barbie and Ken, Disney princes’ and princesses’, and all kinds of celebrities. Standards of beauty are ever changing, and are different in every part of the world and in every time period. Beauty standards have been a part of society for as long as there has been a society. Some people will always think that they are lesser than another person they see walking down the street, for whatever reason they see fit at the time. People will always wonder, “Am I good enough?” Beauty standards have caused beauty issues within young men and women in more societies than one would usually think.
Beauty standards are ever changing. One change in a beauty standard was back during and before the 1700’s when paler women were what was thought to be beautiful. They thought that women were supposed to be like trophies in the home and that they shouldn’t work, so “beautiful” women in that time had pale, delicate skin and small, soft hands. In more modern times, what is considered “beautiful” for a woman’s skin is always tanned. Society sees golden, tanned skin as what is beautiful. Another interesting change in a beauty standard is how much skin has been shown and is considered attractive. Several hundred years ago wealthy women wore long-sleeved dresses, with high collars, and that went down to their toes. Of course, these gowns had built in corsets and molded the woman into whatever was normal at that time. Only the women who were selling their bodies to men, back then they were called harlots, would ever wear gowns that would show skin. However, in more modern times it is normal to show a lot of skin when going out in public. The phrase “If you’ve got it, flaunt it.” comes to mind. One more thing that has changed throughout the centuries is how women that were curvier and usually weighed more were more “beautiful,” but then they wanted women to have tiny waists but large hips, and then it was thought that small women with boyish figures were beautiful, and now it has kind of averaged out. It was thought that if someone weighed more it meant that they could afford more food, and were usually wealthy. In the 1700’s and 1800’s most women wore corsets to cinch their waists, some even went to the drastic measure of having a few pairs of their ribs removed. In the 1920’s “beautiful” women were small, dainty, and had boyish figures. Those times eventually ended and women were wanted to have full hips, large breasts, and small waists again.
As I mentioned earlier there are different beauty standards across the world. There are many articles that can be found on this topic, including the ones from Buzz Kenya and Guiddoo. Among the more normal beauty rituals there are a few strange ones mixed in. The things that I think are strange could be normal to someone else. It all depends on where you live and the culture that you were raised in. In Balinese culture, once a child hits puberty, either the girl starts menstruating or the boy’s voice begins to change, they perform a ceremony called Metatah. Metatah is a tooth filing ceremony thought to bring out the evil and animalistic qualities within the child. It is found to be rather painful, however the children never cry out in pain. In the United States this would be seen as something very out of the ordinary. However, in Balinese culture it is perfectly normal. Foot binding, also known as lotus feet, were popular in China starting in the 10th century. Women who bound their feet were a symbol of pride for their husbands, and were treated as trophies because they couldn’t work nor be on their feet for prolonged periods of time. Having bound feet was a sign that women would be good wives and would serve their husbands. Parents would begin the binding process when their daughters were between the ages of four and nine so that their feet were not done growing. The process began by soaking the girl’s feet in a solution of herbs and animal blood to soften the skin, their toenails were cut back as far as possible, and then their toes were bent under their feet so far they would break. Their feet would be tightly wrapped in a cloth to keep them in place, until it became how their feet grew. The ideal foot length for that time was around two and a half inches. This practice was banned in 1911. There are still a few women alive in China with bound feet, and there is an article written on it for Daily Mail.
When society thinks of beauty standards, they usually think of those for women. However, men also face issues with beauty standards, as mentioned in articles posted for The Huffington Post, CNBC, and many more. The types of issues that men face within society are very different from those of women. Most of men’s issues are about staying fit and smelling good. Granted, I’m not male, so my thoughts on men’s issues may be a bit off. A lot of society doesn’t look very deep into men’s health issues. However, men have a lot of the same issues as women do. Both men and women can develop eating disorders, anxiety, depression, and many other terrible things. Women’s issues are more mainstream in the media, but it doesn’t mean that they are more important. However, in society women are told that they are not good enough without makeup or whatever is trendy at the time, men on the other hand do not have that problem. Men’s issues should be taken more seriously, but they shouldn’t be thought of as more difficult than women’s issues.
As I mentioned before, beauty standards are ever changing. I hope that I will have the chance, in my lifetime, to watch as things change within society. We, as a people, are constantly growing and changing. There are things such as good hygiene and clear skin that will remain beautiful throughout time, at least one would hope. However, things such as makeup, hair, height, weight, and body shape will be changing continuously throughout time. I think that it is important to know that the most important thing, the thing that is the most beautiful, is what is on the inside. Looks will fade, but your personality will last a lifetime.
