The Changing Standards of Beauty
Is “natural” really the new beautiful?
By Anushka Poonia
“It’s not the clothes, makeup, colour or figure that makes you beautiful. It’s YOU that makes you beautiful.”
The beauty standards that we see today are very different from those of earlier times. The differences can be categorised as both good as well as bad. But this good and bad also depends on how we think.
Historically, beauty had always appreciated being curvy and considered it as ideal. For many centuries, being thin meant you were poor, for example, in museums we have seen figures with different postures relating it to certain things like poverty. The beauty standards have been considered with class and wealth. It was in 1800 that the word ‘diet’ started. But it’s good to see that the world is moving in the right direction, where everyone is more focused towards a culture of hidden beauty, one where everyone is welcomed.
Today we see some drastic changes to what we call beauty. Freckles these days are so sought-out that people are even drawing them on. Similarly, people stopped hiding birthmarks and go out flaunting them. Pale skin that ruled as the beauty standard for centuries has now changed to a new fashion of bronzed skin in the 20th century.
In India, the stereotypes about beauty are seen to be diminishing. One recent phenomenal example is of the face-cream ‘Fair & Lovely’ renamed to ‘Glow & Lovely’ for women, and ‘Glow and Handsome’ for men. The definition of beautiful women in the United States has been transformed, and women of mixed race are considered to be the most beautiful according to 2011 survey findings. One of the reasons could be because of increased diversity in the U.S.
It is good to see that acceptance of natural beauty is gaining what it deserves. It deserves the endorsement, it deserves to be embraced as a gift, it deserves to be recognised, it deserves to be treated as unique and precious. Celebrating natural skin colour has been a trend for the past few years. Hashtags like #nomakeup and #nofilter are very popular and are used more and more each day. Comfort is given much more weightage, for example, loose clothes are preferred, pictures are posted with easy postures with captions admiring the simple and natural way, and of course cinema is also playing a very important role in spreading positivity by covering all aspects of beauty.
How we carry ourselves and how we experiment is important and needed, but at the same time, I think one should never lack the confidence to flaunt their natural side as well. We can’t buy natural beauty and the moment we make a purchase, it’s not natural anymore.
Broad shoulders, chubby fingers, short legs, snub noses, wide hips wrinkles, bags under eyes, stretch marks, the way you laugh, the way you sit and so many other things, should never be taken as a burden.
Beauty comes in a thousand forms and each form is unique and hence needs to be enhanced.
Apart from being confident within ourselves, there is one more thing we should do: APPRECIATE. People don’t simply decide to hate their bodies, we as a society teach them to. A little appreciation can make someone’s day, and that appreciation is what takes it to universal acceptance.
Let us make the world more beautiful and welcoming with every beautiful person that exists. The world is our home and we all should live together like a family.
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