July 25, 2011

  • Friendly Fire: Provocative Thoughts on Beauty I

    I felt like starting some arguments tonight about our thoughts and perceptions of beauty. Here's how the game goes. I'll post the first excerpt now. Once I get 10 individual comments on it, I'll post the next one and direct everyone there. If not, I'll just save the other excerpts for some other day. This little blogging exercise ends at midnight. Feel free to write your own on the theme, and tag me, I'll recommend as long as it's not R-rated or what not.

    I.
    When it comes to beauty, do we only find beauty in what we are used to? Do we have a bias towards the familiar? I saw a lovely woman who seemed to be Latin American today as I was walking. There was a hilariously absurd moment when my brain thought "Oh yeah! Latinas! I forgot that they could be so pretty." Ridiculous, right? Where I live, there are not that many Latin Americans. And so, it is almost out-of-sight, out-of-mind.
    But let's suppose that many of us only do find beauty in the familiar rather than the exotic. Isn't it problematic, then, that so few women of color are on TV? (Good luck finding an attractive black woman who is a regular character on HBO most seasons, for example...). That's where, for many boys undergoing puberty, they start realizing what they like in a woman. And if those boys can't see examples of black beauty* on, say, the 8PM sitcom, doesn't that provide a large obstacle for women of color to overcome? Prove me wrong?

    *There's also an additional, general argument that when other races are shown on TV, they often dress, look, and act in ways we tend to associate more with white America.

Comments (14)

  • I can only speak from personal observation, but there seem to be just as many people who are attracted to the familiar as there are to the exotic.

  • I think Derek Morgan on Criminal Minds is super hot. And I'm not usually attracted to black guys.

  • Where's the comment from Google+ at?! Xanga is so far behind! Meh.

    Twitter and Facebook don't seem to work from Chrome.

  • I think society has a lot to do with what we think is "attractive" or "beautiful." You can see throughout history examples of beauty and in each era it is something different. I personally look at some of those examples and go "Seriously? What were they thinking?" If I look at my own paradigm though, I can see how skewed it has become. I think of beauty being model-esque and super skinny, even though I have seen many many beautiful women who had curves. I know various black women who are drop dead gorgeous, and I tell them regularly (not in a lesbian way, just like in a "Sheesh you're so gorgeous it's not even fair." way.) I think it depends on society, the paradigm you view things from, and the way you were raised. Since my mum is white and my dad is Hispanic, I was brought up thinking that all races were beautiful. But balance that with my want to be skinny and seeing skinny girls as beautiful and well you have my sense of "beauty." Physical beauty that is. I'm not making sense at all. *sigh* I feel like this should be discussed over coffee and not when I've just gotten off of work with a splitting headache.

  • "that so few women of color are on TV?"

    Is this really true? We really trust Asian news anchors: Liz Cho, Betty Nyugen, Something (I forgot her first name) Chong. There must be a dozen others on CNN alone. 

    I myself don't think in terms of familiar and exotic, but I have once thought in terms of asians and not-asians. (I know, really mature). 

  • This is a weird question for me because I've grown up in a very diverse area. So in a way, the "exotic" look is very familiar, and there are races I find attractive other than my own. I can't really say if it's because it's familiar to me or not though, as I've never really experienced not living in a diverse area :P

  • @MagisterTom - really? facebook works for me from chrome!

  • I don't know if I have a bias towards the familiar. I do like darker skin though. And not fat. Both of those things aren't very common in my area (most people are pale and fat), so maybe that's why I love the characteristics so much. 

  • I'm Latina r u trying to say I'm ugly!!!!????????? Lol jk

  • I actually see the beauty in all, exotic or not... I don't know to me it's much more than just the beauty you see but their mannerisms. 

  • Even the people on TV who aren't white often have traits that most find beautiful in lighter-skinned peoples. Maybe you like Eva Mendes and Penelope Cruz (and feel good about liking someone not like you, how culturally appreciative!) but they and most other Latin-Americans (female and male) are almost always cast as passionate, over-sexualized caricatures--stereotypes made large. Sure we like Zoe Saldana, but she looks like a Swedish supermodel--she just happens to be darker than Swedish supermodels. We absolutely place non-whites and the culturally different in the guise of white America and sell it as multiculturalism. It's a damn shame.

    We find beauty in ways that we are taught to find beauty: by our parents, friends, and the magic box. We also learn by observation. Oh, they think she's pretty; I might find her pretty, if it's possible for me to see what they are seeing. And if that is so, I might find other people like that pretty, too. I can tell you I didn't find men who weren't white handsome until I spent a great deal more time with non-whites. Now I'm equal-opportunity on the male-gazing (HA) and would be open to dating someone who wasn't white. My grandmother (and maybe my mother) would have a fit, but she doesn't get to pick.

  • I can't prove you wrong cause I agree...

  • I think there's more influence on a person's tastes than his regular television programming (or I at least hope so; call me an idealogue, whatever).

  • @lovejennyy - yeah he's mean isn't he :P

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