Standard of Beauty?

Question

Why does the standard of beauty change? Someone mentioned it was because we as humans change physically. So is the standard of beauty in an era a representation of the average human being? What I'm wondering is that thousands of years ago in art beautiful women were portrayed as being curvaceous NOT fat. Why has that changed now? Is being curvaceous considered universally beautiful? In almost every culture and era women with curves are glorified, except for our current era.

Answer 1

OK, this is horribly obvious, but... Our generation is f*cked up beyond imagining. The era that we're in now is probably the worst one in which to be asking this kind of question. I'm different. To me, a woman, or girl, whatever (I'm 17...) has to be different than all the other girls, and have qualities that others may not like. If she ain't super thin and perfect, she's perfect for ME. People have flaws. I look for people with flaws because I know I have a lot of them. Imperfection is perfect. Beauty according to this sick generation is a lie. Beauty lies within personality and imperfection, and is in the eye of the beholder. The only thing is, most of the people beholding are just going by what one guy said, and the guy after him, and the guy after him... People's minds are too pliable. If a respectable figure or someone famous says something is attractive or good in some way, people follow that, and I ain't buyin' it. That sh*t is arrogant and stupid. I think the real answer to this question is: All individuality is steadily becoming eradicated. Perception had turned into conformity, erasing all counts of self-reliance on the subject of what's appealing to a person as an individual. In all honesty, it makes me sad to see our society as slaves to conformity... Slaves to laziness because it's easier to agree with someone rather than argue about something or present your opinion for fear of being judged by someone, when in all actuality, you shouldn't give a d**n what they think of you. Sorry for the long answer, but I really gave this question some thought, and the words kept comin'. And this is from a 17-year-old. Imagine if we got other people to think this way instead of being lazy. We could change everything... To the way it should be... There is only one rule that one should abide to in life, as it applies to many things, especially making friends and meeting significant others...

BE YOURSELF. I still wonder how people can forget that...

Answer 2

The pendulum swings all the time!  Also, one generation tends to go against the previous generation.

Despite the fashion industry's current obsession with stick figures, there are still people today who consider curvacious women beautiful...and I am NOT just talking about  so-called "fat fetishists" either.  Most real life men want something to hold onto...even the ones who claim they "only" want skinny girls. If they meet the right girl, it won't matter if she's skinny or large...because they'll be looking at her through the eyes of love. I used to work in TV news as a production assistant and I can tell you all of my former co-workers  (both production crew and newsies) were total horndogs, and initially they were all about  nailing the "hot" women...but after a few years, they settled down and got married, and guess who they married?  NOT the "blonde babes" but quite average women, and more than a few of those ladies on decidely the heavy/curvy side.

If I've learned nothing else in my 47 years on this earth about men, I've learned this:  what a man says he wants in a wife, and who he actually selects for a life's partner are often two different things!

Answer 3

It's cultural, not physical. Thousands of years ago (and even hundreds of years ago), farming and agriculture were not what it is today. Being fat was a way to show that you were wealthy enough to eat excessively, and wealth has always been an indicator of being capable of providing for a family.

Now in the modern era, food generally isn't that difficult to come by (in most Western cultures), so being fat is no longer seen as a sign of wealth, but rather sloth.

Answer 4

There are two things to address here.

Firstly, the representation of women in art and popular culture. The image of beauty is almost always associated with the image of wealth. Several hundred years ago, wealth allowed people to eat abundantly and have others do their physical work for them, so the image of beauty was soft and "doughy" looking. Now, wealth is associated with spending all day on the beach instead of in the office, and having a personal trainer and cook to keep you in peak physical condition, so a tanned, lean, muscular appearance is considered beautiful.

Secondly, you brought up women's curves as a sign of beauty. The important thing to remember is that curves and size are not the same thing. Many scientific studies have shown that what people consider attractive in women, regardless of weight or size, is a waist-to-hip ratio or 0.7. A prime example of this is that Marilyn Monroe, who at times was quite and armful, and Audrey Hepburn, who was impossibly thin, both had this "ideal" waist-to-hip ratio. It's very likely that most women portrayed in art hundreds of years ago and the super-thin celebrities of today mostly have this same ratio as well.

Answer 5

Because nowadays, fitness figure represents wealthy life.  The best food, the possibility to spend time on the gym, the best cosmetics and surguries... and so on.