On Wednesday I made a post encouraging you to watch Oprah’s “Beauty Secrets from Around the World” show which, aired today. The show heard from women all over the world (Japan, Brazil, France, New Zealand, Indonesia, Iran, Mauritania, Oman, India, and more) who shared common beauty rituals and what their country considers to be beautiful. Oprah concluded by saying that “beauty really is in the eye of the beholder. Beauty is whatever we think it is.” I enjoyed the show, and as I watched I took detailed notes for this post.
Here are some of the highlights, in case you missed it:
- in Japan, smooth, flawless, fair skin and straight hair are considered essential for beauty
- consuming beverages that contain collagen is so common that they are even available at convenience stores
- many women swear by the “bird poop” facial - Brazil is one of the most beauty-obsessed countries in the world
- Brazilians consume the most diet pills in the world, though fitness is gaining in popularity
- plastic surgery is popular even in extremely impoverished areas - Iran is considered the nose job capital of the world
- because women cover most of their bodies in public, the beauty of the face is considered the most important
- having had a nose job is a status symbol, even people who cannot afford to have one still buy nose bandages to make it look as though they have - in Mauritania (northwest Africa) the most desirable women are plump, divorced, have thick ankles and stretch marks
- gaining weight is considered so essential for a woman that young girls are even force-fed
- men, on the other hand, are expected to keep slim - Parisian beauty is about being elegant and beautiful in a natural, subtle way
- beautiful skin, sexy lingerie, and great clothes are important aspects of appearance
- there are intense pressures to be slim — most stores in Paris only carry up to a size 12
I don’t see anything inherently wrong with the pursuit of beauty. In fact, I think it will always be a part of our lives and can be quite fun and positive. What is unfortunate, is when the pursuit of beauty reaches such extremes that it endangers ones health (physical, mental, or emotional), interferes with daily life, or results in financial problems. Hopefully learning what other cultures consider beautiful will put into perspective the beauty ideals of our own culture and encourage us to broaden what we think of when we hear or see the word beauty.
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