Beauty is in the eye of those who appreciate and recognize it. Considered to be an universal language which can be defined in so many ways with a particular candor.
What defines beauty? who can set the standards of what is beautiful or not? Media. Society. Religion. Culture.
No matter the many centuries that pass, beauty will forever be a threshold of affirmation and identification in terms of individuality and society both on a microscopic level as well as universal. We do have beauty pageants which are recognized worldwide.However this type of recognition some consider to be shallow and superficial which does not give justice to the definition of beauty. Again this makes us ask the question; what defines beauty? Beauty is an universal concern that does not have prejudice. Beauty is measured for both men and woman as well it can be applied to different cultures, race or religion. Moreover, most will agree with the fact that beauty has its pros and cons, strengths and weakness, fairness and unfairness which varies in gender based on rules in our society.
The stigma associated with beauty and women has been a battle that been ongoing for many decades. Being beautiful can also provide a sense of vulnerability and pressure among women, society is to blame for this. According to society, a woman should be beautiful instead of having focus of having beauty inside. with the media putting focus daily on how to be more beautiful and society on an specific kind of beauty, most woman specifically at a young age have become preoccupied with this concept of beauty that the media exploits.
However, for maturing woman beauty takes form in another sense, relating it to self-accomplishment still maintaining the physical media driven ideology. As matter fact, with this contradiction beauty makes a woman stronger but also can make them weak as they get lost in the real definition of beauty. With this being said we can certainly said that beauty is not only the physical aspect of a person but the inner person not being vicious, selfish or malicious, but the kind, unselfish person that recognize when is wrong but help others without expecting anything back.In The House on Mango Street Esperanza’s.
Physically beautiful perhaps but her beauty is driven by a sense of autonomy. By the end of the Book, Esperanza idea of beauty significantly shifts and becomes the power within her, her accomplishments and independence is her beauty. House on Mango Street is a coming of age novel where we see how Esperanza’s growth obviously in a physical way but more in her intuition based on her experiences. In the novel she is referred as ugly. But based on her rebellious self its transcend as beauty.Her self- affirmation and importance not caring or following the cultural phenomenon that machismo and marriage played in her family made her beautiful.
Esperanza was able to overcome adversity in many ways and the way she survived living in Mango street as a teenager was an example to follow. We can certainly assured that Esperanza is a feminist and it is through her weakness of being a woman that her beauty is evident. From the superficial beauty of trying a certain point to be like other girls in Mango street to her struggle of overcoming poverty, the rape, submission etc.; the sense of power is her motive and idea of beauty.With power of a woman she feels she can control men and with self-autonomy she can leave Mango Street and all of the Irrationalities involved in her culture. Just as Esperanza, in our society we can point certain public figures who also have overcome adversities and are beautiful not only physically but also inside have taken their power to use it not to their advantage but to help others a big example of this is Angelina Jolie and Oprah Winfrey.
Angelina Jolie’s beauty voted in numerous occasions as one of the most beautiful woman worldwide.Angelina similar to Esperanza, as a child she was called ugly and peculiar by her peers at school as well as her lifestyle while being a young adult. While establishing a stable and successful career in acting, she became a worldwide sensation through her acting roles although people focused more on how beautiful she had become. With her fame, controversy regarding her lifestyle and relationships has been criticized. In her role as Lara Croft Tom Raider, she received worldwide recognition due to her physique.Additionally, it was during the filming of this movie that she was introduced to a different world to her in Cambodia.
Her humanitarian efforts were noted through the adoption of her first son. Her participation in relief efforts on an international level as well as bringing awareness to global issues has made this universally recognized as a beautiful woman, gracious and humane individual who is constantly battling for human rights. She has been inducted as an UN ambassador and a UNICEF representative as well as innovated the idea of being a responsible famous person.It is through these innovations and acts of selflessness that have created a completely different idea of a women beauty, having Angelina not only physical but also inner beauty.
On the other hand, we have Oprah Winfrey a national icon. Oprah has surpassed all barriers from a conflictive abusive childhood to one of the most influential people in our time. Overcoming adversities and criticism for not having physical beauty, she has created and empire with her strength, drive and efforts both personally and publicly making her a truly beautiful woman.Similar to Esperanza, Oprah was a woman of a different race growing up in depleted conditions and not allowing the negative experiences affect her future. She focused on her passion for journalism as did Esperanza as a vehicle to survive her surroundings and rise above her generation. Finding herself anchoring Oprah Rose to fame and has become worldwide recognized for her efforts to improve society and empower women of all generations, cultures and religion no leaving out her passion for helping woman in South Africa were she founded a Leadership Academy for Girls in which the main goal is to help girls learn empowerment and self-confidence.
However, Much Controversy has unfolded through the years due to her physical appearance. Some consider her beautiful, but her weight battles have been public and her efforts to create a new image regardless of her physique has been noted. Efforts such as leading weigh loss campaigns and allowing the world to see her without makeup shows the sense of control and power she has in exemplifying a new idea of beauty. Her experiences have molded her into the woman she is today not running from her past using it as a motive to help her empower woman.This has given the concept of inner beauty a true meaning.
The ability to not be considered extraordinarily physically beautiful as Angelina Jolie yet, being able to achieve brilliant success while having a voice and strong character has given Oprah a label of inner beauty. Beauty has evolved with time and will continue to do so. Again, what defines beauty? Our experiences. Our sexuality. Esperanza, as most young maturing women, has felt judge by their appearance, insecure and not accepted.
This lack of security, which has been share by Angelina growing up teased by her physique and Oprah because of her skin color has had an impact in their sense of self-confidence and acceptance. It is through these weak and vulnerable moments that directly influence your perception and eventually what defines beauty becomes more of in-depth instead of just being a purely physical at times. In the end your accomplishments and legacy create your beauty rather than the concept that some would say changes as you age due to a direct result of your experiences.
