20th Century Beauty
April 15th, 2009
The 20th Century has seen a huge interest in physical beauty particularly for women. Plastic surgery has thrived on women’s quest for beauty. Definition of beauty in the 20th century , when referring to physical beauty, are nearly always constructed in terms of outward appearance and sexual attractiveness.
A truly beautiful woman makes the best of her physical assets but more importantly she radiates a personal quality that is attractive and this is so in any century. The beautiful, it would appear, are those who are exciting to almost all of the opposite sex. In the Victorian era that we talked about last episode it was considered a woman’s duty to make herself beautiful. Some of the more bizarre and painful beauty aids of the Victorian era continued to be marketed well into the 1920’s. One of the main ingredients of the 20th century that sets us apart from the 19th century is the popularity of cosmetics. From puberty onwards-young girls use cosmetics in order to look older to attract older boys, unlike their mothers who use cosmetics to do the reverse and to disguise the flaws of age. Many feminists believe marketing of cosmetics to be an exploitation of women by the male industry mogul and some women resent being part of a ritual with cosmetic application. It is not purely for the benefit of men that most women wear cosmetics but for themselves and each other.
The growth of the film industry has had a huge influence towards beauty especially in this century. Have you noticed that the bar is continually being raised on exactly what physical characteristics define beauty? Is it the pouty lips, perfect bone structure, flawless skin, size 2 waists, and hair that resemble spun silk? Take these same beauties and plop them back in time when the advent of modern cosmetic technology had not even begun to reach its full potential. True genetics play a role in physical beauty, but with the likes of total extreme makeover reality shows and abundant publicity, we see that beauty can be achieved with a few thousand dollars and a good plastic surgeon. Not only that, today’s cosmetics in general are so technologically advanced you can improve your looks by makeup applications and home treatments.
Cosmetic marketers and science have joined forces to give women everything they ever wanted to be their most beautiful and feel better about themselves. After all isn’t this what makeup and beauty is all about. Beauty ultimately is an investment in your well being, self-esteem and many times mental and physical health. For many women it’s fun to experiment with different looks and products. It feels good to be noticed and when you feel beautiful you tend to radiate confidence and power. It’s inherent in women’s nature to want to feel feminine and look and feel great.
Hey, women have come a long way, and they deserve to feel sexy and confident – beyond smoke and mirrors.
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A woman with a high forehead was considered beautiful during the Elizabethan era, and upperclass Elizabethan women plucked or shaved their frontal hairs to achieve this look. These women also covered their skin with lead based makeup which caused many deformities from chronic eye problems to disfiguring scarring which in turn required a greater application of the lead based makeup.