Beauty-
How are we defining it?
Ah, so here we go again dealing with the age-old question on beauty. I have to tell you when I hear the word
“beauty” or “beautiful” my mind clicks back to black and white pictures, you know pre-color television, pre-color
film. For me, the words in and of itself sound, well, dated. But that is not to say I don’t say “beautiful” when
something catches my breath, like a baby’s smile, a hot, sunny morning or a great theatrical performance.
In this issue we are asking how we are defining beauty as well as who is defining it. As clichéd as it may
sound, beauty is still in the eye of the beholder. What is attractive or irresistible to me may be blasé to the
next person. Age plays a major role in how and who is defining beauty as well. What is beautiful to a 50-year-
old woman may not be to a 30-year-old woman. It’s a topic that will always be up for debate. Yet if we as
women, particularly women of color, succumb to the pressures of the beauty industry, it almost becomes like
chasing one’s tail. Can we ever be beautiful enough? Intellectually, we know that the beauty and advertising
industries work hand-in-hand to create and sell us countless products that claim to restore youth, retard
aging, diminish this or enhance that. Still, we feed these industries to the tune of billions of dollars each year.
Beauty knows no limits. It is no wonder that the hair care and cosmetics industries grossed well over an
estimated $10 billion dollars in 2009. (2009 estimate.)
And we are "going under the knife" in record numbers to conform to our own notions of beauty. My interview
with Sheila Bond, M.D., F.A.C.S., Specialist in Cosmetic and Reconstructive Plastic Surgery, Plastic Surgery – Foe
or Friend was an enlightening and humbling education about the physical and psychological reasons women
choose to have plastic surgery.
We may all be victims to some extent of wanting to (achieve some level) of beauty. It is not a social crime to
want to be seen as good looking, attractive, fine, gorgeous, pretty, and yes, beautiful. It is problematic
though to let the models who grace the covers of magazines set the beauty standard. There is a difference
between wanting to look good and feeling pressured to succumb to it as if we were ongoing projects. I like
makeup, getting made-up and looking intentionally good or enhanced when I go out into the world. I think it
says something about how I feel about myself. I do it for me.
Anyway, that's the way I see it.
The Way I See it...
The Way I See It is just that. True to VisibleWomanOnline’s mission to address a
particular topic in each of the bi-monthly issues, The Way I See It column is rooted in
opinions and observations related to the topic.
Take it or leave it, my viewpoint may certainly not be the way you see it or then again,
maybe it is. The Way I See It is my personal soap box. Yes, I said it. After all, the way I
see it, we all have a right to free speech whether it offends or uplifts. Unfortunately
many are silenced from speaking their mind or choose to be silent because it is easier to
just be quiet. I leave you with these words from bell hooks…”I made speech my
birthright…talking back became for me a rite or initiation.”
I totally agree.
particular topic in each of the bi-monthly issues, The Way I See It column is rooted in
opinions and observations related to the topic.
Take it or leave it, my viewpoint may certainly not be the way you see it or then again,
maybe it is. The Way I See It is my personal soap box. Yes, I said it. After all, the way I
see it, we all have a right to free speech whether it offends or uplifts. Unfortunately
many are silenced from speaking their mind or choose to be silent because it is easier to
just be quiet. I leave you with these words from bell hooks…”I made speech my
birthright…talking back became for me a rite or initiation.”
I totally agree.
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Ivy Pittman