Notes on Beauty
Does objective (physical) beauty (of persons) exist or is it relative?
This is Naomie Ishimwe, Miss Rwanda 2020. I think she is absolutely, unquestionably gorgeous. Now, there are three considerations of beauty based on debates I saw when I brought up the beauty topic on Facebook:
1. Does beauty exist? If beauty does not exist, then Miss Ishimwe is no different from any other girl.
2. Does objective beauty exist? If objective beauty does not exist, then Miss Ishimwe will not be considered beautiful by everyone.
3. The role of race in beauty perception. Do I think Miss Ishimwe is beautiful because I am brainwashed by a Western ideal of beauty?
What Lao Tzu Had to Say about Beauty
Lao Tzu (the S. Mitchell translation) said:
“When people see some things as beautiful, other things become ugly.
When people see some things as good, other things become bad.”
A different translation:
“Under Heaven all can see beauty as beauty only because there is ugliness.
All can know good as good only because there is evil.”
How Beauty Brings Great Misery to the World
The attitude to beauty worldwide is wholly one of comparison: ownership and superiority. Capitalism and classism and racism.
The man wants to own a beautiful woman. He feels superior when he does.
The woman feels superior for attracting high-value men who own things.
The white woman feels superior to the black woman.
The black woman feels inferior and tries to beautify herself to look more white.
The beauty industry capitalizes on the insecurity of women to mint cash money.
Advertisers manipulate their audience to feel insecure about their looks so as to sell them products they don’t need.
All in all, beauty is a cause of great misery.
Beauty as a Pawn of Capitalism
If the beauty myth was bad before, when the means of disseminating its odious influence were from above (advertising, cinema, music videos, magazines, comic books), it must be on steroids right now when it is being propagated from the bottom-up in the age of Instagram, filters, and Photoshop, when every woman has the ability to turn herself into an illusion for others to gaze upon.
No wonder the levels of dissatisfaction and self loathing are higher, no wonder social media influencers who sell makeup and beauty products are becoming billionaires.
The woman has to buy the products being sold because what she is putting out there is an illusion, not her real body, and that creates a gap: in which lies her guilt (for projecting a false image), self loathing (that she is not as beautiful as the illusory image she is projecting to the world), and dissatisfaction.
Such feelings are the stuff that sells products. Advertisers and marketers have known for decades that the way to sell products is to create dissatisfaction (happy people don’t buy shit). For black women, the beauty myth’s influence is even more pernicious, because it comes with a desire to be white: even more dissatisfaction and self loathing, hence even more products to sell!
Something I have Heard
Is it true intermarriage of races and tribes produces beautiful offspring?
Perceptions of Beauty as Relics of Colonialism
The last bastion of decolonization is perceptions of beauty. You can become woke about everything, but changing what you think is beautiful is nigh impossible — or at least extremely difficult to do intentionally. If you think light-skin women are beautiful, you can’t change that. Or maybe you can with a lot of unlearning. It’s probably something that drops naturally — if it does.
I remember when we were kids, we always admired the kids who were “brown”. Light-skinned. We all wanted to be brown. Colourism. Only later when you grow up do you learn about its racial origins.
Meanwhile beauty is a whole industry. Capitalism at its finest. Racism and capitalism seem to go hand in hand in most cases. Skin products to make you whiter.
Objectification in Music Videos: A Conundrum
Objectification: does it exist if one is the architect of their own objectification?
For instance, when a Beyonce or a Kardashian does it.
I understand a stripper is a pawn in a game where men (strip club owner) are getting the profits and men (strip club patrons) are getting the visual satisfaction of gazing upon her body.
But when a female musician objectifies her own body on a music video, is she empowered (considering she is in control and it’s her choice) or is she a pawn too (or the men are the pawns, considering they are bewitched by her and will take money out of their pockets and put it in hers)?
I think, if she is a pawn, then she is a pawn of the system (the music industry), but that she has used it to her own advantage. It’s a curious question to ponder and there is no one right answer.
We are Never Satisfied With What We Have
Is it cruel that somewhere in this world there is someone who is tired of boning your crush and takes her/him for granted?
Sometimes I see a beautiful woman in the street and I feel a feeling as I realize that somewhere in this world is a guy who is tired of her. I can’t believe it, that anyone would get tired of her beauty — and of course I too would tire of it after a while.
And to some guy out in the world, I am that guy and he wishes he were in my place. He is looking at me and thinking, “What a cruel world. Some people are so lucky and can’t value what they have.”
Meanwhile I am looking at some other guy and thinking the same.
Time vs Beauty
But what is sadder than to see the effects of time on the complexion and beauty of the most bewitching, mesmerizing screen sirens and songstresses of your childhood or adolescence?
I hate time.
Why is awareness of the passage of time so depressing? Because it is synonymous with awareness of the fleetingness of existence, the constant approach (like a locomotive that never stops) of your own death. How depressing. Tied in with it are questions like: how have I spent my time on this planet? Quite depressing. It all occurs on the subconscious level, you get the blues but you don’t know why. Sunday evenings as the weekend ends, you’re filled with the blues, and this is why: awareness of passing time due to awareness the weekend has come and gone makes you aware that the years are racing by, and that is subconsciously saddening. No one enjoys being aware of the passage of time. We have a deep fear of time, related to the fear of death (and old age and loss of youthfulness and beauty). If we were immortal, the passage of time would not depress us. Man’s time on earth is spent trying to fight time, to outlive his time, by gaining immortality, to be remembered even after he is gone. If we were immortal, would progress happen?
I should not hate time though. I should learn to find beauty and wisdom in the destructive effects of time. The Japanese are very good at seeing that beauty, an aesthetic attitude they call “Wabi-Sabi”. Modern life (western) does not like to see the old or time-ravaged, we only care about the young (“digital”). In Africa, before the white people arrived, the old were the most respected people, the libraries of the community. Today, we have zero use for them, this era of capitalism.
I don’t like to google actresses and songbirds I was infatuated with back in the day.
I have no right to expect anyone to stay forever young, but it hurts, how it hurts!
I suck at wabi-sabi.
Wabi-Sabi: Seeing Beauty in Imperfection
Conclusion: we need wabi-sabi.
Wabi-sabi is a Japanese aesthetic/philosophy encompassed in the ability to see beauty in things that are old, lonely, sad, used, impermanent, imperfect.
Japanese poets like the master Matsuo Basho expressed wabi-sabi in haikus.
Consider this haiku by Basho:
even that old horse
is something to see this
snow-covered morning
Hollywood’s Obsession with Beautiful People
Have you ever realized that British actors look like ordinary people but American actors look like gods and goddesses?
Prose Poem for the Beautiful Women
Beautiful women, they fill my dreams with light.
Beautiful women in dresses and skirts.
Beautiful women singing or dancing.
Beautiful women drinking shots.
Beautiful women curled up with books, wearing shorts, their legs long and soft.
Beautiful women with eyes that twinkle and sparkle.
Beautiful women that watch sunsets with tears in their eyes.
Beautiful women who like to lie on sand at the beach, under the sun, listening to waves crashing nearby.
Inner Beauty = Goodness
The concept of beauty has always intersected with the concept of good. And language often reflects that. Like when we say “goodlooking”. When God created the earth and looked at it, he saw that it was “good”. Not beautiful but “good”. In kiswahili, beauty is also “uzuri”. When Nonini and Bobby Mapesa did a song about a pretty woman, they called her “mtoto mzuri”.
K. Chebet brings up an interesting pov. She says:
“Beauty can be a representation of a kind spirit. Ever look at people who are not conventionally beautiful or pretty but you like how they look? Because they’re good. And I’ve personally noticed it with myself. On days I have a happy spirit, when I’m feeling kind and generous, I look better. On days when I’m angry and bitter, I look and feel ugly. I remember this one time, I have this spiritual friend and this period of time I was really into people, always showing up for them, and I was so happy and she was like, you’re glowing from within, you’ve really been doing good for others, haven’t you? Your karma is radiant.”
Beauty and goodness and truth (wisdom) have a symbiotic relationship. And nowhere is it more apparent than when St. Paul writes to the Philippians:
“Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable — if anything is excellent or praiseworthy — think about such things.”
So one can find goodness by seeking inner beauty. One can find outer beauty by seeking goodness. And one can find both by seeking true wisdom. Wise people are pleasing to look at (particularly their eyes) and their hearts are filled with goodness.
And I just realized “inner beauty” basically means “goodness”.
Physical beauty is what leads to the ugliness of comparison. But when one has a good heart, their beauty is undeniable, and there is nothing subjective about it. Inner goodness is objectively beautiful. Like a pretty sunrise. Or the twinkle of a baby’s smiling eyes.
Why does the contemplation of beautiful things make us feel younger, healthier, and even kinder? I mean, like when you contemplate the beauty of nature.
On the other hand, contemplating the beauty of a Mercedes Benz is likely to inspire feelings of inadequacy and envy. So there is a kind of beauty that inspires inner ugliness instead of goodness. Manufactured beauty. Hence the beauty industry only brings suffering to its victims (customers). It brings envy and feelings of inferiority.
When beauty is tied with ownership and superiority, it inspires ugliness. When beauty is tied with goodness or naturalness, it inspires goodness.
Beautiful African Women
I can’t stop looking at this sculpture. Such wholesomeness. They are beautiful in a way that takes beauty for granted. They are African in a way that takes Africanness/blackness for granted — not “black and proud”, just themselves, just humans, people, women, friends, sisters, the kind of wholesomeness photos sometimes capture. I love how the sculpture manages to convey the personalities of the three women — especially the one in the middle. Just looking at them, I can come up with their names, personalities, dreams, the stories of their lives, and the relationship dynamics of their friendship.
Interesting Read
- Look for a book called “The Beauty Myth” by Naomi Wolf
- This Quora discussion on why British TV shows feature regular-looking people but American TV shows favour highly attractive actors.
