What Society Thinks; Ladies of Hive Community Contest #122

created with Dalle ai.

It is yet another amazing week in the Ladies of Hive Community. It is always an honor to be here learning and sharing with you all.

1️⃣ Why do you think society places such a high value on beauty
when it serves no functional purpose?

This is a very interesting yet tender question to dissect by @justclickindiva. Society, beauty, and standards. These terms cannot be divorced from each other when it comes to the value that is placed on beauty.

To first answer this question, one needs to ask about the meaning of beauty. I think that the definition lies in the eyes of the beholder. It further leads me to another question. If beauty is relatively distinct from one individual to another, one race/civilization to another, why then are there certain unspoken standards placed on beauty?

Society placed a high value on beauty when it created standards for it. You need to be a certain height, weight, body type, complexion and even muscle tone to be considered beautiful. As such, people who do not share similar criteria are considered less attractive. Now, people want to look only a certain type of way just to be accepted. We've forgotten that variety is the spice of less.

created with fotor ai.

Beauty, however, you define it is a very important element. Like a black-and-white movie, life would be devoid of color and spark if we do not see beauty in the things that please our eyes and soul.

Just like humans exist in various sizes, shapes, and what have you, beauty comes in every shade whether inner or physical. In my opinion, nobody gets to call the shots about the standards and definition of beauty.

We are visual beings just as we are spiritual beings. This means that we are always attracted to what pleases our senses. However, as a society, we have become so fixated on what feeds the eyes and less on what nourishes the soul.

Society has now weaponized that idea to place such a high value on beauty. The truth is, beauty sells and beauty is a multi-billion business Industry. The idea is to thrive on the psyche of people. Because people like to see what pleases their eyes, everything is tilted towards exploring that pleasure. As a result, it's been a lifetime of subliminal programming. We now believe that beauty has to be a certain way and we go out of our way to achieve that.

Hence, every day, we put in more work to look beautiful rather than feeling beautiful. Then I pose another question, why can't we have the luxury of both? We can still have a healthy personal standard of beauty and still pursue other aesthetics of importance. We don't have to be packed up in a single box. There is no box.

Physical beauty is eye candy while beauty from the inside is soul food. A healthy dose of both will surely stimulate the taste buds.

You are beautiful, smart, and important just as you are.