Raw Beauty

There’s this hype all over the internet about Photoshop and unnatural, high expectations for beauty.  Stories about people who want to be beautiful and perfect in every way, that is beautiful to them but are never happy.  Others, who love their bodies just as they are, unhealthy or healthy, judge and critique those who suffer the burden of aiming for unrealistic beauty perceptions that are shown in the media and in magazines daily.

The reason I am joining in all the hype is to add to it, in a different light.  All this has left me with questions that maybe you and others are left pondering as well.  So, I’ve done a little research on what experts are saying about “beauty”.

When did beauty become important?

What I found is that having certain levels of expectations in people to be beautiful is something that is naturally built into us even before we are born.  We like beautiful faces and look for beauty when we search for our mates.  We are drawn to beauty because we are looking for good genes to reproduce.  We especially seek beauty in the eyes and symmetry in faces.  Though beautiful in our brains doesn’t mean just symmetry…  People may have strong symmetrical faces and still may not be considered beautiful.  So, I think the saying that goes “beauty is in the eye of the beholder” has a lot of truth to it, because it’s a little different to every single person on earth.  Some various studies show that both men and women will make their choices of what they perceive as beauty in their counterparts depending on what characteristics they are seeking.

Humans are always going to be more attracted to looking at beautiful people than not.  But can the way we see beauty be molded by other sources besides what our brains tell us are “good genes”?  As we have been shown throughout history, perceptions of beauty have changed many times.  Where once women with a small bust and a wide pelvis, a slim woman with no bust and no hips was seen as beautiful… today it’s women with big busts and big hips.  As times change, our ideals also change and with that we create our own statistics that grab the attention of money grubbing marketers who can and do use their talents to manipulate the few uncertain thousands left behind; those who are still considering whether or not what is seen by the majority as beautiful is indeed beautiful to us…  When this happens we’ve basically created a trend.  We do this by looking only at beauty as a psychical trait.  While we’ve learned it’s not something we can help by nature when seeking a partner, it can be something we make ourselves aware of when interacting with others, choosing a qualified employee and our friends and being in tune to our true likes and wants instead of  being forged into believing others perceptions of beauty rather than our own.

Right now, Photoshop is starting to become more of an evil then a beneficial tool.  Before all this I used to see Photoshop as an art; a tool used to create a fairytale, enhance and sharpen images.  I am guilty of using it, although not in the way the media uses it, but certainly would still utilize it if I thought it would make an image more fun to look at.  I think society tends to always to pull hard towards one side or the other.  Right now it’s between overly enhanced images of people and untouched images of people bare to show how flaws that can be impactful in a beautiful manner.  However, where is the in between?

                                                                                         Is Raw Better?

It’s OK to look at a person and admit that they are beautiful when they are mostly flawless and confident, and it’s also OK to be to be average or asymmetrical with many flaws and still be just as confident.  There is a group of individuals who have the power to say that having a perfect body image is the only way to be labeled “beautiful, strong and confident”.   Even if you don’t consider yourself (or society) as this perfect image, it is still o.k. to be confident and strong.  That within itself is what makes you beautiful.  Seeing yourself this way, even if you are not “perfect” doesn’t mean that that are giving up and that only your actions are what will allow others to see the beauty in you, as it's been stated by many.  Beauty is only built in us as a reproducing tool but confidence and strength is what allows us to really live on this planet.  People don’t mess with strong                                                                                                    confident people, perfect in society’s eyes or not.  In the end that’s the                                                                                                only thing that makes us happy and “yes” who we are.

What is Beauty without a strong confident personality…?

Grammy Award-winning, singer-songwriter Colbie Caillat released her new EP,Gypsy Heart Side A.  Her album’s lead single “Try” makes a powerful statement about beauty ideals.  (lifebuzz.com)