Beauty. What is beauty? Can one correctly define it? Or is there not even a pure definition for beauty? The world’s objective towards beauty empowerment, today, is focusing directly upon feeling complacent with one’s physical qualities. However, this intention is not favored in America. Different from the rest of the world, America does not have a traditional way of life and is considered a “melting pot.” The beauty statements made in this country are mainly portrayed through media and celebrity statuses. Some may say the American culture is saturated with messages propagated by mass media (Chapman). Although this may be true, standards of “true” beauty can be portrayed in our daily lives with items we do not realize are affecting us such as …show more content…
In the light of the world’s objective towards beauty empowerment, the feeling of being complacent with one’s physical qualities is habitual in Western-influenced beauty standards. Specifically, this technique is highly acknowledged in Muslim women and Muslim adolescent girls in which thinness is an ideal analysis of what beauty and attractiveness means in their powerful, male prejudice, religious system. Similarly to the United States, Muslim women and young girls expressed society can impose a desirable figure of the female body. For example, an interview given by Professor Abu-Lughod discusses the attitude towards Muslim women in the wake of the American war in Afghanistan. In spite of the interview not directing it’s focus towards beauty standards, Professor Abu-Lughod directs burqas as a “portable seclusion” from strange men in their societies. This statement correlates with beauty standards and perceptions because a Muslim woman can feel free in public where she is respected and protected in male dominated societies. She also questions the “choice” these women take by wearing veils. By questioning this fashion statement, she shows that culturally, Muslim women work