In America, beauty dominantly follows white standards consisting of the typical straight blonde hair and the striking blue eyes. Hamm states, “Despite the racial progress that proceeded Lupita’s swift rise…
China is very rich in its cultural heritage. Their culture has survived for many centuries. Highlights of their culture include particular festivals, dresses, foods, music, etc (Bransteller, 2006). Chinese culture was once one of the most significant opponents of globalization. But as going from one country to another in search for better jobs and lifestyle, people meet other nationalities and results to cultural diffusion. Influence of globalization in the Chinese culture has caused by several factors.…
A Roman philosopher Plautus once said, “A woman without paint is like food without salt”. It is in human nature to always strive for perfection and new ways to express our selves, cosmetics is the way. Hair care, skincare, toiletry, perfumery and decorative cosmetic products are all used in our daily routines to keep us clean, maintain healthy skin and teeth, to look good and smell nice. European laws that ensure the safety of these types of product call them ‘cosmetics’ and this is the term. Beginning with the Ancient Egyptians 10,000 years Before the Common Era up through today, the 20th century. Civilizations have used forms of cosmetics for centuries in religious rituals, to enhance beauty, and to promote good health. The entire population with large use of cosmetics honored gods, although some of the ingredients were poisonous, allure of cosmetics did not lessen. In Rome, there was a period of time when women were not considered beautiful if they did not wear makeup. England almost accepted a law in 18th century that enabled men to divorce their wives if they caught them wearing makeup. Century later, Queen Victoria publicly declared public use of cosmetic improper and vulgar.…
This chapter introduces the student to China, the only continuing civilization that has its origins in the ancient world. This early period of China laid the foundation for many of the tenets followed by later generations of Chinese. The written language developed early and remained fairly static in its evolution. The development of the religious and philosophical systems of Daoism and Confucianism occurred very early in Chinese history and impacted not only China, but also other areas of Asia. China served as a conduit for the dissemination Buddhism throughout West Asia. Art forms and visual aesthetics developed during this early period as well. When answering the following questions consider three art historical thematic trends:…
Colorism is the prejudice or discrimination based on the relative lightness or darkness of the skin. The documentary takes a look into the trend of black women all over the world investing in the multibillion dollar business of skin bleaching creams. Duke and Berry also examine how black women are trying to look more Caucasian, while white women are trying to look more ethnic by using tanning booths and botoxing their lips. Colorism appears to be more of an issue within ethnic groups. Within the black community, it is preferable to be “light skin”. The “paper bag test” is, holding a brown paper bag next to your skin, if you are lighter than the brown paper bag then you are considered beautiful and smart, if you are darker than the bag then you are considered unattractive. This discriminating method was once used to admit people into groups or organizations and even to get jobs. When interviewing black men on the street, they found that many said they prefer to date light-skin women because dark-skin women are “mean spirited, angry and unapproachable”. It was also found that a dark-skin women dating a dark-skin man is less common and even sometimes considered taboo compared to one individual in the relationship being lighter than the other. African American women are the least coupled group in the United States. Statistics show that 41.9% of black women in America have never been married,…
China has been a powerful empire for a very long period of time, China has not always stayed the same though. Throughout its expansive history China has evolved in many ways while retaining many of its original values. Some examples of this can be found in the way China conducted its economy, its openness to other ideas, and its methods of leadership. Specifically, there were very large amounts of change that took place between the warring states period in China and the Yuan dynasty.…
When Ginika first arrives in America, she finds out that most of the white girls are skinny, so she starts to lose weight. When Ifemelu goes to a job interview, Aunt Uju suggests her to relax her hair so that she and white person will look more alike . All these details illustrate that people, no matter they are white or not, consider not looking like white as not being beautiful. Servility is the eager to look like…
Evolution of Beauty Standards (1900s-Now) The definition of beauty is a view of perfection as a part of aesthetics, culture, social psychology, philosophy, and sociology that is admired by a particular culture. The definition of a standard is an idea used as a model for comparative evaluations. A beauty standard is a popular trend of looks and style that people are expected to be.…
However, when rich Americans took vacations on the French Rivera it wasn’t until the 1920’s that tanned skin essentially became a fashion statement. Because of the great depression the 1930’s women got even skinner. There wasn’t much control over this although.…
Throughout U.S. history race has proven time and time again to be a focal point of many countries’ issues and conversations. As time has changed so have the definitions of who is white. In Whiteness of a Different Color: European Immigrants and the Alchemy of Race, Matthew Frye Jacobsen argues that the idea of race and whiteness has changed rapidly in U.S. history because of the strength it holds to serve as tool of power. In short Jacobsen’s argument is that race is a social construct and not a biological fact, Jacobsen shows how this premise is applied to the Irish throughout the 19th and 20th centuries. Essentially the label as a social construct could and was both applied and even denied when needed to serve political purpose.…
Tate, S. (2007). Black beauty: Shade, hair and anti-racist aesthetics. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 30, 2, 300-319…
From the very first view of the movie, the film promises the importance and significance of love as well as sacrifice but there are nearly infinite references to the Chinese culture in the film Painted Skin. Set in some other era, the film portrays the old dynasty system in China which was prevalent centuries ago. It also displays the culture that it possesses in the richly made costumes and sets. The martial arts historical epic fundamentally has all the ingredients for an action packed story but its essence definitely reflects of its culture.…
Biologically speaking, it’s just as possible for a given white person in Florida to have genetics similar to his neighbor down the street as it would be for the same white person to have genetics similar to a black person in Nigeria. We could just as easily disregard skin color and pay attention to hair and/or eye color. Sociologists make this claim because they argue that the definition of what constitutes a race is something that is arbitrarily decided by society. Additionally, what it means to classify yourself or someone else as a particular race carries social meaning. Sociologist claims that race as a biological concept does not exist. However, the consequences of classifying someone as a certain race as certainly real enough. It needs to be said, though, that not every discipline agrees that race is merely a social construct. Forensic psychology absolutely identifies at least three racial categories. Some geneticists and epidemiologists also recognize race as a legitimate biological category. Race can be biological and socially constructed at the same time. The big difference is sociologists emphasize social definitions and meanings, rather than the biological aspects of race.…
In U.S. Society, the beauty standards for women are to be thin but sculpted with an hourglass figure, have long hair, have a large bust and butt, a perfect Hollywood grin, be young, and be abled-bodied. In contrast, men must be tall, sculpted and chiseled with muscles, tan, no hair in the abdominal/chest/or back area, have groomed hair that is not balding, and a large area in terms of male anatomy. With these differences, male beauty standards correspond to worth and opulence while in contrast, female beauty standards are tied to bodily appearance. Considering beauty in one society may be completely diverse in another. In other words, what may be beautiful in one society may not be in another. To illustrate, a few societies stretch their necks with extensions or insert augmentations into various places in the facial/neck area to make the neck appear long and the head shapely. In correspondence. beauty standards have evolved rapidly throughout cultures and in different societies too. In U.S. society, there was corset training in the Victorian era, the boyish and flapper look in the 1920s, long hair and short skirts in the 60s, the craze to be fit and tan in the 80s and 90s, Botox and smokey eyeshadow in the 2000s, and contoured makeup with shaped eyebrows in the…
The story of how white people became white in the United States goes as far back as the 15th and 16th century. People born white in this country were born with great privilege. It was an honor to be classified as a white man, or woman because white people had the pleasure of enjoying the many benefits that other cultures could not. If a person was classified as anything other than white, they were called minorities. Being a minority meant that one had no rights. People of all cultures set out to prove that that they belonged to the white heritage, and that’s how the story of How White people Became White began.…