News

6 Different Cultures Perception of Beauty

As straightforward as these few words may seem when it comes to beauty, it actually refers to more than just “the curves” of the body that may come to mind for most of us. This quote makes a point when it comes to revealing a general definition of beautiful or beauty. However, “the curves” change around the world (in dress contours, make-up lines, hairdressing, jewelry) as it makes beauty be perceived from different, sometimes astonishing perspectives. It is a clear fact that beauty is subjective and various cultures prove it in the most amazing way.

India

Different Cultures Perception of Beauty
Different Cultures Perception of Beauty

A perfectly proportionate and contoured nose is highly appreciated in Indian women. A colorful sari can bring the light to their big black eyes, but when it comes to accessories, beauty can achieve amazing points of perception. Indian women wear earrings, bracelets, necklaces, and rings, but also bracelets for the ankles and rings for the toes. Jewelry for covering up the hair or even for the “third eye”. Moreover, the beauty also reveals through body decorations, such as traditional patters painted in henna. These types of decorations are mostly encountered in celebrations, such as weddings, symbolizing love and fertility.

Asia

Different Cultures Perception of Beauty
Different Cultures Perception of Beauty

In most Asian countries, the subtlety and the color of the skin are the ones that define true beauty. The ideal of a perfect bronze that keeps tanning beds restless is absolutely out of the question in Asia, as women, there are appreciated for their light porcelain skin. Their thick shine dark colored hair comes to complete the image of Asian beauty while color is brought to light through a powerful reddish lipstick. Moreover, contoured curves aren’t an important feature of the Asian beauty ideal, as most Asian women are naturally thin. This comes with a logical explanation as Asian bodies, in general, are less able to store fat.

Brazil

Different Cultures Perception of Beauty
Different Cultures Perception of Beauty

Brazil is another region proving that climate influences the perception of beauty. Warm weather and hot sunny days in Brazil have turned the tanned skin of most women into a beauty ideal. However, what has started to undertake changes in the last decades is the traditional “guitar shaped” body of the last generations. Before Western culture began influencing the perception of beauty, Brazilian curvaceous hips and thighs were an indication of health, even wealth.

Burma : The Kayan Tribe

Different Cultures Perception of Beauty
Different Cultures Perception of Beauty

The emblematic image of a long-necked woman is an ideal of beauty in the Kayan tribe, Burma. Women actually “earn” this trait of beauty through the sufferance of their body, as from an early age (5 years old) they start to wear heavy brass rings around their necks. Coils are added each year in order for the increasing weight to push down the shoulders, thus creating the image of a longer neck. When thinking about a 22 pounds neck ring used to enhance beauty, body waxing is just a walk in the park.

Maori tribe – New Zeeland

Different Cultures Perception of Beauty
Different Cultures Perception of Beauty

We may not know much about the Maori tribe, but one thing’s for sure: they have praised beauty for hundreds of years through the image of a unique tattoo called moko. Men, as well as women, wear this sign graved in their skin, revealing a sign of adulthood (for the men) and beauty (for the women). As far as Maori women are concerned, the most encountered pattern of beauty is represented by full lips and tattoo across the chin. In the back days, the process of getting a moko was actually painful, as the Maori tribe used scalpel-sharp chisels in order to cut a certain pattern on the face. Apart from being a sign of beauty, the facial tattoo is also a sign of identity, as no two mokos are alike.

Middle East

Different Cultures Perception of Beauty
Different Cultures Perception of Beauty

In the Middle East beauty is not something that reveals, but something that is kept secret from the human eye, enhancing mystery and a specific charm. Arabian women respect their tradition by covering up the curves of their body and hair, revealing them only to family members. However, this doesn’t mean they don’t have a preoccupation for enhancing their beauty. Given the fact that the hands and the eyes are the only visible parts of the body, Arabian women, make sure to underline their eyes with kajal and their hands with henna tattoos. Wearing a powerful perfume is another way to stand out from the crowd of many beautiful Arabian women.

Aditya Goel

Aditya Goel is the CEO and Publisher of QuirkyByte. He has 14 different Specializations varying from Mathematics to Computer Programming and has written for various blogs and worked as a freelance writer, programmer and developer on Elance and Freelancer. Very passionate about Technology, Movies, International TV shows especially White Collar and Cricket as a sport.
Back to top button