Throughout the years, the views of beauty have changed drastically. In the early 1900s, the view of beauty was that of a woman who respected her body. She respected her body by acknowledging that it’s okay to look different. They found no value in spending all their money on physical enhancements. Now, women feel as though they have to meet certain standards. They think they should have to wear makeup, revealing clothes and get plastic surgery upon discovering any “imperfections.” The modern view of beauty has a negative impact on society and how women view themselves. Society would be better off reverting to traditional views of beauty because it would restore emphasis on inner elegance.
Inner beauty should be important to society because the character of a person should dictate how others think of them. Character is the true definition of beauty; although many people misunderstand beauty as being based on appearance only. There is more to beauty than looks, such as values, intelligence and morals. These attributes are now overlooked since the modern population’s standards of beauty are so superficial. This superficiality is so recognizable even an eight year old notices it. According to her, “Beauty is defined as a person’s warmth of personality, smile, their kind gestures.” Women feel as though makeup, hair extensions, and plastic surgery are a necessity in order to “look good.” They shouldn’t need these things to feel beautiful. Beauty should be defined by what’s on the inside. Inner beauty is described as something that is reflected through a person’s character rather than appearances. It should be more valued than outer beauty because it shows the true colors of a person versus the physical features of that person. Outer beauty is idolized in a lot of places. In my high school I’ve seen a lot of girls that wear plenty of makeup. This contributes to the concept of beauty because it demonstrates the value upon appearances.
As Susan Sontag writes in "A Woman’s Beauty: Put-Down or Power Source," “… we are surprised when someone who is beautiful is also intelligent, talented, good.” With that quote, Sontag explains what it means to be beautiful. She bases her vision of beauty off the Greeks interpretation of a person’s wholeness. Earlier in the story, Sontag writes about how the Greeks viewed beauty as a two-part idea; inner and outer beauty. The Greeks believed beauty was a mix of physical and intellectual appeal, and that a person who held physical attraction but lacked moral and emotional intelligence was not truly beautiful. This viewpoint differs from the modern idea of beauty, in which we disregard inner beauty and emphasize outer beauty. Sontag’s story serves the point to bring inner beauty back into the equation.
Inner beauty has been disregarded and outer beauty has been more recognized. If we revert to traditional views of beauty and self-acceptance, the world would be a much happier place. Everyone has heard the phrase “The world is a beautiful place.” If that is to be held true, we must first see the beauty in ourselves.
