Sunday, February 18, 2007
The true measure of beauty
Beauty depends on size as well as symmetry. No very small animal can be beautiful, for looking at it takes so small a portion of time that the impression of it will be confused. Nor can any very large one, for a whole view of it cannot be had at once, and so there will be no unity and completeness. Aristotle
I've been working extra efforts to reduce the size of my beer belly. What a struggle to perform sit-ups and crunches. Wait I'd just probably lend the machine a friend bought at a shopping network.How much time and money do we spend to look good and conform to the standards of beauty? We're immersed in this dog-eat-dog society where we are constantly measured by impressions. And once ruined, there's no chance in taking it back.
Each of us has our own standards on what we may brand as beautiful. But what the media feeds us, is the likes of Anna Nicole-Smith, Barbie, Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt, etc. From magazines to billboards, everything. However, a local beauty pagent in the Philippines dispelled this definition of beauty by crowning Juliet Chavez, a dumagat as the over-all winner. Due to her success, a short story of her life would be featured on national TV to inspire people and to bridge the gap between the cultural minorities and urban folks. They even granted a scholarship for Juliet. Praises ***$Praises...
An on-going campaign by Dove also gives a twist to it by challenging the public with their opinion on the images they provide by creating polls, discussion boards, to name a few.
Why all the fuss in beauty? One of the reasons is that beauty sells. All these make-ups, slimming tea, asthetic medical treatments, all of them in the market has their fair share in attracting the public to conform with beauty standards they themselves create. Be as appealing as the endorsers. I have an American friend who spends much time on the beach, and much money at tanning salon. When I told him that, here in the Philippines, what sells are whitening soaps, lotions, pills, mostly anything that would turn a brown skin to a lighter tone. He just couldn't understand the reason of it. You guys want to be tan, while some of us wants to be white.
What I think of beauty is the soul of a person. This beauty emits from within. Undeniably something worth to paint not only in a canvas, but also in our hearts.
Labels: Dove, Dumagat, Juliet Chavez
posted by Mon Paningbatan at 8:11 PM, | 
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3 Comments:
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I like your post-your perception of real beauty. I was able to watch the Rated K episode about the dumagat who won the pageant. It was a shift from the norms.
Thanks, Rosel. Yes I saw it too. That's just one of the few reasons I made this post. Did you play the Dove short film? I think its so appropriate for the subject.