Some people believe beauty to be a quality that graces us spontaneously –

“Beauty shall be convulsive or it will not be . . . Convulsive beauty shall be erotic-veiled, explosive-fixed, magical-circumstantial, or not be.” ~ Andre Breton

My experience of beauty is that it is intricate, natural and surprising. Something that cannot be pinpointed, held onto, or maintained; something that flourishes naturally, something that, like sunlight, comes and goes of its own accord regardless of when and where you seek it.

But other people, particularly with reference to their bodies, appear to be of the opinion that beauty can be created and held on to provided you follow the appropriate steps.

This idea is reinforced by our culture.

Advertisements encourage us to think of beauty as something permanently removed from how we are naturally.

As Kaz Cooke explains on her website completely GORGEOUS - “The easiest way to sell people something is to convince them they need it… not much money can be made by telling women there isn’t anything wrong with them and they don’t need to buy anything to fix it.” Advertisements explain that they have the answers and that if you spend enough time and money pursuing beauty you can successfully construct it.

What emerges is an idea of beauty that is informed by a desire to be beautiful or have beauty.

 

Kahlil Gibran wrote: “…beauty is not a need but an ecstasy.

It is not a mouth thirsting nor an empty hand stretched forth, but rather a heart enflamed and a soul enchanted.

It is not the image you would see nor the song you would hear, but rather an image you see though you close your eyes and a song you hear though you shut your ears.

It is not the sap within the furrowed bark, nor a wing attached to a claw, but rather a garden forever in bloom and a flock of angels forever in flight.

Beauty is life when life unveils her holy face. But you are life and you are the veil.

Beauty is eternity gazing at itself in a mirror. But you are eternity and your are the mirror.”

So basically, women begin to conform to the hairless ideal because they have heard that beauty and attractiveness can be pinpointed and defined by smooth skin. This is clearly demonstrated in the responses to the second Hair Questionnaire and by the research done by M. Tiggermann and S. Kenyon. It is as though “I am beautiful” is something a woman needs to be, needs to feel, and needs to be seen as. (See Our Search for Identity). This could be because beauty is associated with femininity, which has sexual connotations - making a confirmation of beauty also a confirmation of femininity and desirability.

When people talk about beauty they are usually talking about the hard-to-gain and hard-to-maintain ideal that is promoted as the best, prettiest, most desired and most fashionable body that’s largely supported by the television, magazines, film and fashion industries.

It is possible to construct this kind of beauty but it cannot be kept, it requires maintenance. In this case, how beauty dresses and what body alterations beauty requires of you is dependent on what decade and what culture you are looking at.

Real beauty, however, is not a formula. It cannot be found in a make-up bag, a clothes store or under a surgeons knife. It requires no maintenance, in fact it refuses to be fixed even for a short time.