Name: Sara Neel
Period: Mr. Thomas, 1st period Psychology

This is my final project for Psychology to examine and analyze the psychology behind people's perceptions of beauty. This includes such influences like the Media, Society, DNA, and Personal Preference.

As I was sitting here thinking for a picture I could use that would portray society vs. beauty, I thought of such things like fashion magazines.

But then I realized that those are in fact part of the media.

As I mentioned earlier, the media and society are directly related. What is considered as beautiful by society is showed by the media, and the media influences views on beauty. Opinion lies within the majority, so as long as the majority believes that something or someone is beautiful, it will be defined as beautiful. And if it's defined as beautiful by society, then that's what people will strive to be. Their views will be morphed to what others believe; they will conform.

Probably what affects a person the most is how others view them, and what they think about them. If someone finds someone else to be attractive, that person's self confidence will most likely be boosted. Yet, the opposite will happen if someone finds someone else to be unattractive. This is a direct way that one is affected by society. And, if enough people think the same thing about a person, it will become "more true". Thus leading to my conclusion that opinion lies within the majority.

But, the real question is: How far will society go to be beautiful?

There are millions of ways to change the way you look. Haircuts, hair dye, makeup, plastic surgery, etc. All of these things are becoming more and more common just so one can conform to society's standards. Even celebrities that are the epitome of beauty so it seems, and are idolized by society, still change themselves to fit the unnatural standards that we put on them. As such ways to change how you look are becoming cheaper, more "regular" people are doing it too. From things such as lip plumping to nose jobs, there are an infinite amount of ways to change how someone looks. There's even a whole profession in makeup manipulating and artistry. Not to mention all of the procedures to "become" the opposite gender and face transplants.

There once was a point where it wasn't even possible to do such things. Yet, today they creating technology to make one able to see what gender and color hair of one's baby will be in the womb. There's already technology to see what you will look like when you're older. The impossible is becoming possible.

Botox.


Angelina Jolie before and after plastic surgery.


What's interesting, though, is how society's standards have changed over time. A couple centuries ago, it was considered very attractive to be overweight. This was because if you were fat [by today's standards], it meant you were wealthy and could afford copious amounts of food. Whether or not people actually found it to be physically attractive, or if money was just more important than looks, I cannot say.

Even today there are many Alaskan Native American tribes whose men find larger women to be attractive because it means they are healthy. And, since it is Alaska, it means that the women will stay warm easier.

Society and the media correlate directly. One affects the other; but both, in turn, affect how one views beauty. The ability of humans to have opinions of one another and act upon them is a deathly curse that can have a positive or negative effect on one's mind.

All images taken from DeviantArt. Layout made with Adobe Photoshop.

June 2009