Beauty and the Beast

There are many expressions relating to beauty, such as "beauty is in the eye of the beholder" and "beauty is only skin deep".  How true these statements are is to be questioned.  There is a universal par for physical beauty; foundations that people seem to agree on.  So when beauty pageants are held, either for Miss World or Miss Universe, there are basic elements that the world, (including the different judges) agree on.  Beauty is not a myth, but rather it should be regarded as an admirable quality like courage, honesty, intelligence and dignity.  Some women and also men decide to use their beauty as a "means to an end", and this is when it becomes a bad quality to have.  For these shallow people, "Beauty is a currency system like the gold standard. (12)"  And once they grow old or loose their beauty, they realize they don't have much to be proud of. 

These days there is an acute pressure not just on women but also on men, to be fit, thin, and fashionable.  The percentage of men doing cosmetic surgery has risen, perhaps as a direct result of women wanting to stay young.  The Media, fashion and fashion magazines, TV programmers such as celebrity news, and music clips, all highlight the importance of looking good.  It's as if they're saying "this is what you have to look like" to have fun and be successful."  Our generation has grown up with different values than our parents, who learned to admire the good qualities in people, and if these people were also good looking, it was a bonus.  Our generation looks good at the "feel good factor", the healthy trim body with the perfect hairstyle.  There is a lot of emphasis on looks that have become easy to perfect with airbrush and Photoshop.  So now, when flicking through the magazine, the reader sees perfect bodies, and flawless faces, whereas before, faults were allowed to show.  These perfect images work on the subconscious, and the psyche becomes geared towards achieving better looks.  Without even given it much consideration, people head out to the plastic surgeons, to the shops, and to the dentist for that perfect white smile they see on models.  And they do this because they can.  Nowadays, if you don't like your nose, you change it.  If your face is too thin, then you use fillers.  If you don’t have cheekbones, then you take out your bad teeth.  "The newly made up or coiffed or thin women, the women with surgically new face, celebrates her identity and returns to take up what she does hope will be an improved status... (101)” ere is something to be done for the tiniest imperfections.  We are lost for choice, and all the choices are geared towards beautifying one's self.  We are surrounded by the choice, that at the end one succumbs to it.