Cultures' Standard of Beauty

People are damaging and killing themselves to fit into societies definition of beautiful. Currently we live in a society that is composed of many cultures. These cultures can influence what ones day to day worries are; one of them is being part of a society’s definition of beauty. Some of these cultures are American, European, and Hispanic to name a few. These cultures have influence that way people live, act, and think. Often people find themselves picking up beauty tips form magazines sold at local drug stores. Advertisements of these beauty tips are spread out through ones everyday lives. But are these beauty tips a positive implementation to one’s culture? Are these tips standards of beauty a common and influential routine? Whether one is male or female, we are all influenced by our cultural background and surroundings. Some individuals discuss ideas about what is in fashion or simply converse about what is beautiful. On many occasions, people take these ideas of beauty and try to include them in their fashion trends. People are easily influenced by their peers’ opinion about their own ideas of cultural beauty, but the effects are not always positive.

First, unfortunately many people adopt one idea of beauty due to their peers’ opinion on this subject. Many people might share the notion that the standard idea of beauty includes being tall, thin, and light skinned. But these opinions might not necessarily fit everyone else’s standard of beauty, since this is something that differs among cultures. For example, Hispanic standards of female beauty are to have big hips, a moderate tan, and a short height. If any given Hispanic female has these beauty features, perhaps their standards of beauty would be more acceptable to broader numbers of people. Diets and body modifications are the desperate result of an individual who is trying to fit into the Hispanic standard or the “skinny” in ordinary fashion magazines. The motive why anyone would ever want to fit into another culture’s idea of beauty would simply be because of society’s constant pressure to look one specific way. A Caucasian female would not look acceptable tying to be like a Hispanic female, simply because Hispanics (just as any other culture) have unique characteristics. Julia Alvarez provides readers with an example of how difficult it is to fit into someone else’s ideals of beauty, especially when these differ form their own culture. When reflecting upon her past experiences, Julia says, “There she is, Miss America, but even in my up-to-date, enlightened dreams, she never wears my face” (151). This shows that no matter how much one tries to be like Miss America, or any other type of beauty for that matter, the ideal beauty face cannot be hidden to ones own. One may cut a model’s body out of a magazine and paste it on a picture of oneself to see the big “what if…” What if one had Cindy Crawford’s body? Reality is that it will mostly be a big struggle that one tries to live up to a standard of attractiveness.

Furthermore, many individuals accept suggestions and compliments as a way to alter their appearance in hopes that one will fit into the popular standard of beauty because that may be the temporary definition. People can contemplate what friends, and/or family can say about ones image. One can leave ones own natural beauty behind to fit into the superficial “beauty”. As Grace Suh shares in her essay “I made up my mind to become beautiful” (129). What the author says here is a firm decision of accepting one is not good looking. Then again the author later goes to a department store to get help with her “image problem” and dismisses the help. Another example of ways one alters one image is tanning. Many Caucasian females tan themselves endlessly to get an exotic look because that may be the temporary definition of beauty. The idea of having an exotic look is promoted by seeing others who have the same look. Later a female