Justine Fernandez

December 2, 2014

Professor Young

English 1000

Is beauty true?

(Revised draft for portfolio)

Beautiful to me

            Do you ever just look at someone or something and he/she or it is so beautiful? Just looking at something in nature catches people’s attention right away. A flower is beautiful because it contains beautiful colors and it is from nature. Do you ever wonder why you think something is beautiful or appealing? Dennis Dutton stated in The Ted Talk “ Darwin Theory of Beauty” how beauty is constructed both by society and our ancestors. Construction of beauty is when you alter perspectives of beauty by enhancing or creating an illusion to seem appealing to the majority of an audience. Dennis Dutton also stated that there are reasons why we think things are beautiful. That it is not just simply humans expressing their desire but expressing what their ancestors thought were appealing. While many may think the construction of beauty is a good thing but in reality beauty being constructed is a bad thing.

            Beauty being constructed creates an illusion. An illusion that’s a misperception on what beauty is.  It creates an illusion of the perfect individual in society. In todays society advertisements and social media define beauty. The media all around us tells us how to be as individuals in order to fit in. We are surrounded by advertisements with photo shopped models and expectations of a person that are unrealistic. These advertisements give an illusion of what an individual should be like. According to media the ideal women is one that is six feet tall, one hundred and ten pound with long shinny hair basically the ideal model.  Cameron Russell who is a current model appeared on The Ted Talk “Looks aren’t everything. Believe me, I’m a model” to talk about her experience as a model. Russell comes out onto the stage with six inch heels, a dress that comes mid thigh and her hair perfect giving off the impression to the audience that she is just an average model. She soon realizes to get her point across to the audience she changes into flats puts on a sweater and a skirt that comes down to ankle length. “ I’m quite privileged to transform what you think of me in a very brief ten seconds. Not everybody gets to do that”(Russell 0:52-1:06). She transformed what the audience thought about her in just changing her clothes. She went to being a model that everyone envied to an average person that had a story to tell. Now with the audiences attention she tells the truth behind being a model. She talks about how modeling is not what it seems like. That there is an illusion created with models since they are always wearing name branded clothes and perceived as having the perfect life that they do. Which in fact she continues on to state that models are probably the most insecure people you will ever meet and that their lives aren’t perfect at all. They are constantly told how to be as a person by society and create an even bigger illusion by advertising it through magazines and commercials. Beauty is constructed and it is an illusion given to society to believe what is beautiful or not.

            In addition, beauty being constructed doesn’t give justice to beauty. Beauty comes in all different forms not just one. Society convinces the world that there is only one view of beautiful. That what ever society tells us is beautiful is beautiful and anything outside of that definition is considered ugly or not normal. All around the world there are different definitions of beauty not just one. In the Middle East it is considered beautiful for women to have their whole body covered just reveling their eyes. On the other hand in China it is beautiful to have small feet. There is more than one aspect of beauty in the world. Aimme Mullins redefines what beauty. She completely changes the word beautiful to a whole new meaning. In the Ted Talk “My 12 Pairs Of legs” featuring Aimme Mullins she walks out appearing as a normal individual until she tells the story of her missing legs and the amount of prosthetic limbs she owns just to fit in with society. She continues to explain that she is a model as well as an athlete. Mullins is featured in many well known magazines such as Elle and Vogue. While Aimme Mullins may not be the ideal image of a model she defines beauty with her own ways. She defines beauty as being a women without a pair of legs and still  can be featured in a magazines. That she doesn’t have to be six feet tall and one hundred and ten pounds. She encountered elementary school students where she told her story and surprisingly got positive feedback from children that are innocent from the world and that haven’t been exposed to the conformity of beauty. “ And just like that I went from being a woman these kids would have been trained to see as disabled to somebody who had potential that their bodies didn’t have yet someone who might have been super disabled”(Mullins 2:00-2:15). She completely changed the view of those little children by showing them a whole new meaning of beauty. Mullins changed her disability into an advantage. An advantage that will help the world to understand that there isn’t just one form of beauty but many. That all around the world people view beauty as different things we just need to open our horizons. Everyone has h own perspective on beauty. In my experience I found the changing of the leaves throughout the seasons is quite beautiful but not everyone is going to see the beauty within that.  Everyone has a personal definition of beauty. Beauty comes in all different shapes and sizes and by constructing beauty it doesn’t allow us to broaden our horizons of the definition of beauty. 

            Therefore we have no control what we think is beautiful, it is chosen for us. What we think is beautiful is pre determined for us and we don’t even know it. We have little to no control over our desires. Without control in ourselves we have no control over the future of beauty. We don’t get a say on what we want to be defined as beautiful. We are in a constant trap of society telling us what is beautiful. In addition to society determining what our ancestors play a big part on our mind set of thinking. Our ancestors found functionality in objects and we later found beauty in them.  Dennis Dutton talks about ancestral beauty in the Ted Talk “ A Darwin Theory of Beauty” how our ancestors found function in the pear shaped weapon and we now find that pear shape beautiful simply because of the evolving idea of the shape. We now pass by jewelry stores and stop and stare at the pear shaped diamond ring that appears in the window. “Your distinct ancestor loved that shape and found beauty in the skill needed to make it “(Dutton 14:40-14:45). It goes to show that we do not care about the functionality of the object like our ancestors did but simply the look of objects and how the world will view it as. Beauty is constructed within us and it makes us only see one side of things inside of things not the whole picture. Beauty being constructed is a bad thing we have no control over it.

            Beauty being constructed is a bad thing.  It doesn’t give true meaning to the word beauty. What we as society think is beautiful is so ignorant and shallow. We see beauty is starving models and depressed teenagers trying to be that model. We don’t see beauty in the significance of a culture or a miracle. An individual not society should define beauty. As a society all those individual thoughts should make up worldwide beauty not one persons idea of beauty that is broadcasted throughout the world for many to follow. Beauty is shapeable and together we can shape society instead of letting it shape us.  

           

Work Cited

Dutton, Dennis. “A Darwin Theory of Beauty.” Ted Talk. Feb. 2010.   Lecture.

Russell, Cameron. “ Looks Aren’t Everything. Believe Me, I’m a Model.”     Ted Talk. Oct. 2010. Lecture.

Mullins, Aimme. “ My 12 Pairs of Legs.” Ted Talk. Feb. 2009. Lecture.

Justine Fernandez

Professor Young

Eng 1000

November 9, 2014

Beauty, What is it?

Beautiful In my Eyes

            Do you ever just look at someone or something and think that they or it is so beautiful? Just looking at something in nature catches people’s attention right away. A flower is beautiful because it contains beautiful colors and it is from nature.  Do you ever wonder why you think something is beautiful or appealing? The reason we think something is beautiful is because it is constructed within us. It is beautiful because beauty is both constructed by society and our ancestors.  Construction of beauty is when you alter perspectives of beauty by enhancing or creating an illusion to seem appealing to the majority of an audience. The way that we think doesn’t just come from automatically believing something is beautiful but there are reasons behind it. With beauty being constructed it gives humans a sense of direction as to what is beautiful. Construction of beauty can be viewed as negative but in reality beauty being constructed is a good thing because it is a misconception, gives hope for the hopeless and is uncontrollable because it is inherited.

            The construction of beauty is a misconception. Overall beauty being constructed is a good thing.  It gives us a different way to look at life and helps us as humans to get a sense of what beautiful is in the world. Without beauty being constructed we wouldn’t have any direction. We wouldn’t know if what we saw is appealing or not. For instance, if beauty wasn’t constructed there wouldn’t be any trends or clothing styles in the world. Also famous people wouldn’t matter because they would just be like every other person. Many people look at beauty being constructed as a bad thing because it persuades us to look at things differently when in reality you’re still voicing your opinion on things whether society thinks its beautiful or not. For example in the Ted Talk “Looks Aren’t Everything. Believe Me, I’m a Model” with Cameron Russell, she walks out on the show with a beautiful dress  along with the typical six-inch high heels that every model owns. People perceive her as a perfect human being because of the way she came out on the show. We perceived her as beautiful because magazines portray women as tall, skinny and beautiful. That was exactly what Cameron Russell came out as, tall, skinny and beautiful. Ultimately magazines shape into what we think is beautiful on a daily basis. But then she changed into a skirt that you could find in your everyday department stores and she took off her high heels. By her changing her clothes it gave the audience a totally different view of her because the clothes she was wearing made her a totally different person.

 But what makes her the perfect human being? Cameron Russell is tall, skinny and she has long hair but does that make her beautiful? When Cameron Russell comes out onto the stage she gives the first impression of an ideal model.  Soon after she states “ I’m quite privileged to transform what you think of me in a very brief ten seconds. Not everybody gets to do that”(Russell 0:52-1:06). The impression that she gives off reflects the typical model but little do we know that it is quite the opposite of what it seems. She goes on to explain how models are probably the most insecure people you will ever meet. Also that being a model isn’t everything that it is cracked up to be. In the United States to be a model you have to be the ideal women who poses on stage with designer outfits and makeup and hair that stays for days. While in other countries the person defines what is beautiful by their personality instead of their looks. For example in some countries if a women is fully covered she is defined as beautiful while as here if you’re half naked that’s when people describe you as a figure of beauty. Society shaped us into believing that beauty is everything that we see in magazines. Society shaped our way of looking at individual’s beauty by choosing it for us. Society convinced us that beauty is being skinny, tall and having nice clothes. Therefore the majority of people will go along with this idea of beauty and would want to duplicate it. This is a positive thing because we have a different view of what is beautiful. We all have an idea what beautiful is to us but being surrounded by different views is a good thing. We are surrounded by different views from international magazines and the world around us. It gives us a different way to look at life because it ultimately shapes us from different angles. Different angles including fashion statements from around the world and lifestyles of people from different countries. From those different styles and lifestyles we then shape ourselves as individuals in society. Constructed beauty gives individuals options and depth as people because you can chose to follow or imitate anything you want. You can be your own person while still having different influences around you. It gives people depth because we get different ideas from around the world.

            In addition, beauty being constructed gives people a sense of hope for those that think they will never be beautiful because of worldwide media. Magazines and models are constructing beauty. Beauty is also being constructed by false advertisement. By false advertisement meaning breast implants, Botox and even in some cases prosthetic limbs. While enhancing yourself with plastic in your body is viewed as a bad thing it can be a good thing because it brings different ideas and different countries together. For example in the Ted Talk” My 12 Pairs of Legs” with Aimme Mullins she is viewed as a normal human being, meaning that she is just average. She doesn’t have the clothes or the look for a model. She just looks like someone that can walk down the street in New York City and passing people won’t stop and think differently of her.  She is viewed as a regular person until she reveals her story and the fact that she has prosthetic legs that help her function on a daily basis. She constructed beauty by enhancing what she didn’t have into a thought, a thought that no matter who you are you, you are beautiful even if you don’t have two functional legs.

  Mullins gives hope to those that are struggling with self-image by stating that even if you were born with a disadvantage that you can turn that disadvantage into an advantage, an advantage that society won’t perceive you as different but the same as everyone else. “And just like that I went from being a women these kids would have been trained to see as disabled to somebody who had potential that their bodies didn’t have yet someone who might have been super disabled”(Mullins 2:00-2:15). She completely changed the view that people had on her by taking her disability and making it an advantage. She constructed beauty so that the rest of the world can have a piece of them that is beautiful as well. That goes away from what everyone else thinks is beautiful. It gives a different view on beauty. Beauty has many different angles. Beauty is hope for many.

            Therefore, Beauty is something that we don’t have control over. We don’t have a choice to decide if something is beautiful or not. What we think is beautiful is already programmed within us. It is something that we do automatically without even thinking about. “Your distinct ancestors loved that shape and found beauty in the skill needed to make it”(Dutton 14:40-14:45). Things that our ancestors thought were beautiful back then we still have the same perception on it just altered over time. Back then our ancestor’s thought that a hunting rock in the shape of a pear was beautiful. They thought that it was beautiful because it served several purposes such as hunting and surviving. Now we think that the shape of a pear is beautiful. Many things come in a pear shape such as diamond rings and assorted jewelry. We as humans don’t even think twice about the shape of things and why we perceive them as beautiful. In the Ted Talk “A Darwin Theory of Beauty” with Denis Dutton he talks about how we have no control over how we perceive beauty. Something that we think comes so simple to us is really something that we don’t have quite the control over.

 We don’t have control on what society thinks is beautiful because it is created for us by people around us. Big companies and the fashion industry create beauty and what they believe is beautiful. All together it gets us to think the same exact thing about beauty. We ultimately go with what media thinks is beautiful hence trends in fashion and the in and outs of a social groups. Media shapes us into what we think is beautiful. Advertisements influence us without us even knowing it. We choose companies over others because it is more present in society. Evidentially what we decide is beautiful now will carry on for many years to come and will influence generations. What will the pear shape of two thousand and fourteen look like in twenty years?

            Beauty being constructed is a good thing. Because it opens doors for us that we never knew really existed. It gives us different perspectives on beauty. It goes to show that beauty can be constructed like a super model or it can be an enhancement to our every day lives. Beauty is constructed in the best way possible to fit human needs in every way. In my experience I have encountered many things in my life that I personally found beautiful that other people do not. Such as the way that the leaves sprinkle down to the ground every fall and how beautiful the colors look all meshed up together. Not everyone is going to find that beautiful but everyone has his or her own perspective on beauty. Resulting from the way that society has shaped us into thinking what is beautiful and what is not.  The construction of beauty is fair. It is fair because everyone has his or her own way to look at beauty. Even though media and society has an influence on people everyone still has their own option of beauty. It is how you shape society not how society shapes your beauty.

Justine Fernandez

Professor Young

Eng 1000

November 4, 2014

Beauty, What is it?

Beautiful In my Eyes

            Do you ever just look at someone or something and think that they or it is so beautiful? Do you ever wonder why you think something is beautiful? Beauty is both constructed by society and our ancestors. The way that we think doesn’t just come from automatically believing something is beautiful but there is a reason behind it. Beauty being constructed is a good thing.

            Overall beauty being constructed is a good thing. Many people look at beauty being constructed as a bad thing because it persuades us to look at things differently when in reality it is still your still voicing your opinion on things whether society thinks its beautiful or not. For example in the ted talk with Cameron Russell she walks out on the show in super model clothes and people perceive her as a perfect human being due to the fact of how she came out. But what makes her the perfect human being? Because she wears fancy clothes and that fact that she is skinny and tall? Society shaped us into believing that beauty is that. That beauty is being skinny, tall and having nice clothes. This is a positive thing because we have a different view of what is beautiful. We have a wide range of depth.

            In addition, beauty is being constructed by magazines and models but beauty is also being constructed by false advertisement. By false advertisement meaning breast implants, Botox and even in some cases prostatic limbs. While enhancing yourself with plastic in your body is viewed as a bad thing it can be a good thing because it brings different ideas and different countries together. For example in the Ted talk with Aimme Mullins she is viewed as a normal human being. She is viewed as a regular person until she reveals her story and the fact that she has prostatic legs that help her function on a daily basis. She constructed beauty by enhancing what she didn’t have into a thought that no matter who you are you are beautiful even if you don’t have two functional legs. She constructed beauty so that the rest of the world can have a pieve of them that is beautiful as well. That it goes away from what everyone else thinks is beautiful. It gives a different view on beauty. Beauty has many different angles.

            Therefore, Beauty is something that we don’t have a choice of weather or not we think is beautiful. What we think is beautiful is already programmed in within us and something that we do automatically without even thinking about. Things that our ancestors thought were beautiful back then we still have the same perception on it just altered over time. For example In the Ted talk with Denis Dutton he talks about how beauty is something that we have no control over and that Charles Darwin created for us. Something that we think comes so simple to us is really something that we don’t have quite the control over it.  We don’t have control on what society thinks is beautiful because it is created for us by people around us. We ultimately go with what everyone thinks is beautiful hence trends in fashion and the in and outs of a social group.

            In conclusion, beauty being constructed is a good thing. By beauty being constructed it opens doors for us that we never knew really existed. It gives us different perspectives on beauty. It goes to show that beauty can be constructed like a super model or it can be an enhancement to our every day lives that we just believe is an addition that we take full advantage of and we tell society it is beautiful by a full movement. Beauty is constructed in the best way possible to fit human needs in every way.

Justine Fernandez

Professor Young

Eng 1000

November 4, 2014

Darwins vision on beauty

            In the Ted talk featuring Denis Dutton they talk about how beauty is something that's constructed within us. That what we perceive as beautiful isn’t because of your culture or because of what society thinks is beautiful but what happened millions of years ago. We think everything in society is beautiful. We think people are beautiful, objects and scenery. But how did we come to that conclusion?

            Today we as a society believe that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. We think that what is beautiful depends on the person that is looking at it and where they come from which includes their heritage and country.  Denis Dutton talks about how for example when you look at an pear shaped diamond and you think that it is beautiful It is in fact because at one point or another your ancestors thought that they shape of their tools were appealing and it just carried on to us today.  It is an instinct that has come naturally to us without us even knowing that is already programed into our thought process. Beauty Is constructed through the past and how we encounter the same situations now.

            In conclusion, beauty is something that can be a combination of both instinct and a quality that we adapt through society. Not only do we have natural instincts on what we think is beautiful but over the years we develop our own idea on what beautiful means to us.  Society shapes what beauty is and makes us go along with the ideas of beauty. While our culture and where we are from also has an effect on our vision on beauty. Beauty is ultimately in the eye of the beholder and how much you believe something is beautiful.