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Beauty Standards In Chinese Culture

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Aesthetics has always been an integral part of the Chinese culture. The topic of beauty made its frequent appearances in many of the infamous artworks, sculptures, architectures, and poems. It undoubtedly guided and shaped beauty perceptions of Chinese women throughout history. For example, the bounded feet culture started in the Song Dynasty was based on the belief that small feet represented beauty. Although beauty standards varied drastically from different periods, Chinese women always have no say in the standard. This essay will discuss the beauty standards from three main time periods of Chinese history, Tang dynasty, Qing Dynasty, and modern, and their negative impacts on health. To start with, Chinese Females endured the conformity that rotund is gorgeous in Tang Dynasty.The Society required the females to keep a rotund body shape for the male appetite.The most renowned example from the Four Beauties of ancient China is Yang Guifei, the beloved consort of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang. She was seen as desirably fat in Tang dynasty. Since then, the concept that fatness is …show more content…

There is always a Chinese saying that “one white complexion hides three flaws”, outlines how society places utmost importance on having lighter skintones. For the sake of meeting the criteria, Chinese females lead a detrimental life. Keeping a slim sinuous body shape, females make every endeavor to keep fit. Averting a muscular build, female go on a diet rather than work out. Retaining a white face, they even stay away from sunshine which makes them lack of vitamin D. Models with body shapes such as the hourglass or slim figures are often showcased on media as they are also considered role models among female viewers. For the time being, Chinese females sacrifice health in exchange for beauty. In short, Chinese females have no say in the modern concept of

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Ideas of what beauty should be are a simple influence by the media. These ideals can be a simple commercial that projects the image of beauty as thin, certain skin type, and hair length. A lasting impression is made on all who view these images. Fiji was once unbiased as to weight and outward appearance of others. The women would greet each other without remarks or negative tone toward one another.

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Not Just a Bowl Beauty is one of the main foci in society today where selfies, beauty enhancement or plastic surgery, celebrities, and the media reign over society—constantly defining what people should aim for in terms of appearance. Appearances are everything to many people rather than inner beauty such as character and values. In turn, this beauty-obsessed world has led to people becoming more shallow, superficial, and unaccepting towards anything besides the “norm.” It is quite ironic to have a “norm” considering how each individual is different and live in different cultures and such. People are not meant to be or look the same neither should they adhere to a certain standard in which someone else has established.

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However, an individual’s cultural standards have an influence on their perceptions of beauty. For example, an

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