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Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Culture Differences: Concept of Feminine Beauty


Every normal human being male or female is attracted to the opposite sex, but what is the characteristics,particularly in women that attracts the other party? The word beauty was originally taken from Greek language which carries the meaning"according to one's hour". This has philosophical implications it implies that everything beautiful has to belong to its time. So anyone who tries to change their physical appearance to look younger or older than their actual age is NOT CONSIDERED BEAUTIFUL. In western culture beauty is synonymous with "skinny". One is not considered attractive when one does not possess the ideal weight. It is an exact opposite in African culture where being fat is considered beautiful. Even today in Mauritania, a country in Africa girls are fattened to such a degree they they are at risk of getting sick at a young age. As very fat girls are easily married there, it is a common practise to force feed the girls to extreme levels.

In Asian cultures being fat and fair skinned is beautiful. In ancient Chinese culture particularly, other than having fair skin or shining eyes a dancing component was required of any women who wanted to think of herself as truly attractive. Other than that manners are also important, for example when a lady wanted to smile she must cover her mouth so that people cannot see her teeth. It is considered unlady-like to show your teeth when smiling. White skin appearance is prized in Japanese culture, even in childhood a Japanese women spends a great deal in tending her young soft skin with arrays of beauty products and the legendary beauty of geisha's depends on the whiteness and softness of the skin. To possess 'bihaku' (beautiful white) skin, women in the past used to scrub their skin with 'nuka' (rice hulls) for skin oxidation or grind pearls into powder for swallowing.
That is just only some of the many cultures of the world. Different cultures have different point of view or concept on feminine beauty.