Concept of Beauty is Universal

Article by Rayner

The word beauty was originally taken from Greek language. According to the Greek interpretation, the word’s meaning was – according to one’s hour. This has philosophical implications as it implies that every thing gorgeous has to belong to its time. So any one who is trying to look too younger or older for their actual age cannot be considered gorgeous!!

Beauty is a property associated with human beings. This could be considered even as a characteristic. Beauty is not only related to human beings. Beauty can be associated with locations, certain concepts, certain things etc as well. This property or characteristic named beauty makes other people pleased about it. Any thing gorgeous is a joy for others to watch.

Now the concept of beauty is universal. But the way people from one geographical location analyze beauty can be different from the perception of beauty as looked at from some one from a different geographical location. These are the cultural differences of beauty. A gorgeous person in American culture may not be the same as that in African culture. A simple example is the weight of the person. In the western culture beauty is synonymous with skinny. But in many parts of Africa and Asia, being stout is considered gorgeous. This could be understood in the case of Stone Age man, as a stout person would have a much better chance of surviving a famine. When hunting was the major source of one’s income, having a really stout wife would have been the equivalent of riding a Lamborghini in today’s world!!

Even today in Mauritania, a country in Africa, girls are fattened to such a degree that they are at risk of getting sick at a very young age. As very stout girls are the only ones who get married easily there, it is a common practice there to force feed the girls to extreme levels.

Most societies considered being stout as gorgeous until a century ago. The concept of thin beauty is a very recent phenomenon.

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Filed: Beauty
tags: african culture, american culture, asia, beauty, better chance, characteristic beauty, Concept, cultural differences, extreme levels, famine, fat person, geographical location, girls, greek language, human beings, hunting, lamborghini, perception of beauty, phenomenon, philosophical implications, stone age man, Universal, western culture