In America there's a big emphasis on being "skinny". The media circus and the celebrities it hones in on do a fantastic job of equating skinny to beauty. In the Philippines where I'm from, having tan skin is unattractive, implies that you labour outside and come from poverty. On the other hand, having fair skin is very desirable, implies you are respectable and come from wealth. But in the United States people bake themselves or pay to be tan because it is considered appealing.


So, how does your race or culture define beauty? And, how do YOU define beauty? Just for the record, I'm referring to "physical beauty" only.

I'm in Canada, so it's the same as the US. My family is Hungarian and beauty is young (18-20) with childbearing hips. LOL.

Unfortunetly, the idea of "skinny" is becoming more of a world issue. I'm from America, but I have been living in Japan for the last two years, and I think the idea of "beauty" is a little scary over here.
Just like in the Phillippines, pale-white skin is considered beautiful, (and I'm fine with that). It has historical significance relating to the time of the geisha.
But its the diets over here that are scary. Most skinny girls in Japan are considered "skinny-fat". Because of how they diet, they lack muscle. Its based on what they eat, or lack-there-of; the type of excersize they do; if they take supplaments, and others.
If you read magazines on diet and weight control, they have many before and after pictures that don't make since. Why go from 60kilo (~132lbs) to 42kilo (~93lbs)??? Granted the normal female Japanese body is smaller than an average American or European, but still, they find less than 100lbs appealing.

Also, the Japanese way of thinking does have an affect on us foreigners over here. Because we need to buy cloathes too, its a bit difficult to find something in our size. You think, "Ohh crap, I need to diet". And its also based on what we see in magazines and on TV. Japan is no differnt from America, except maybe in the weight goal area.

Society has become very critical when it comes to beauty. So I think its best to use what they think as a basis of what we'd like to look like, not what we should become. Its next to impossible to meet society's standards.

(whew...sorry, it feels good to vent)

Yep, muscle in places like Japan and Korea is considered extremely unattractive on women. When I was in university, a lot of the exchange student girls spent hours walking on the treadmill and eating maybe 1 bowl of kimchi & noodles per day. I was in the TESL program (teaching ESL) and the girls were quite open about it, as well as their disapproval of my hobby (weightlifting).

KattoS - reminds me of a few years back. I was accompanying my bf at the time on a biz trip in Tokyo. He forgot his belt, and we were down the st from the Banana Repulic in Rippongi (American biz district for those not there). I ran down to pick one up for him and was shocked (but yeah duh!) to find out the largest men's belt size was a 32! Usually at least a 40 at BR here in the US.

VENT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We get so crazy about who thinks what is beautiful and why. I will tell you this - I know a lot of supposedly "homely", very happy & married people with wonderful lives. The thing about focusing solely on outer beauty is how it makes us OBJECTS. I know that there are certain elements of health that are "beautiful" and are hard wired to attract a mate to ensure successful procreation (hips, youth, shiny hair, complexion) Beyond that, it is fad, fashion and can bring out the worst in people. Men in India trying to lighten their skin. That is a good example of beauty as racism! Women and men in North America getting turned into giant, orange oompa loompas with fake spray on tans. Millions of dollars spent on unnecessary and sometimes dangerous surgery Hair Extensions. Boob jobs. Heels high enough to ruin your feet. Ads for wrinkle cream showing 22 year old models (wow - she doesn't have ANY wrinkes!)

Sorry. I wish my "culture" really valued inner beauty but I know it doesn't. At least, not much.

BTW - to anyone living in a country that doesn't want to sell clothes to different sizes of people - shop online! I lived somewhere very far from my favorite stores (like Nordstrom) and I didn't feel like driving five hours so I tried it. It's great!

Wow - I don't know what inspired me to rant! But, there you have it. Whatever your "race" or "culture" finds beautiful has to be balanced with the fact that we are made in God's image and are beautiful anyway.

I'm an American in Japan too!

"Beautiful" in Japan unless you are a member of a fringe subculture equals pale, pigeon-toed, and very petite and slim. There is a growing appreciation for the athletic, "healthy" body, and most of my high school students are in fairly good shape. Still, the biggest clothing size sold in mainstream stores is a US 8 or so.

The diet supplement ads in magazines are ridiculous. Recently I saw one where the "before" is 45 kg (99 lbs) and the "after" was 38 (83 lbs). Really?!

That said, Japanese people generally have long life expectancies and it's rare to see overweight and obese people around here, so I think they're doing something right. It's easy for me to make snide comments but half the time I realize I'm doing it out of jealousy!

Interesting. I have friends from China, Korea and Japan who all say that girls are encouraged to not develop any muscle. Apparently a strong girl is very unattractive in general. Who'd have thunk it? Although people who are Asian generally weigh less because they have lower muscle and higher body fat percentages naturally.

I'd say in the US, really slender with just a touch of muscle tone is considered very attractive by many (for women).

I actually want to travel (and maybe even live for a while) in places like Japan, China, several places in South America, and more. However, if I stay a long time, I'll need clothes. I'd never fit into anything they have as of now. That's another goal of mine - be small enough to wear foreign sizes that are smaller.

In Portugal we have got more or less the same beauty standards as in the US (skinny and tanned), except without the plastic surgery (but lately many celebrities have been getting breast implants and the like).

Weighing in on this as well as I've lived in a number of countries.
I'm from Germany and here it's pretty much pretty = skinny. However, I have also lived in the US for 9 years and I do notice quite a difference. In Germany there isn't so much obsession about celebrity weight as I saw in the US. I read the "gossip" magazines when I'm at the gym and I have yet to see a single article about it or those terrible "beach pics" (cellulite!!! Muffin top!!!) they always have in People magazine. In fact, there has been a big movement to change the obsession with super skinny models as the biggest women's magazine (Brigitte) is now only using "normal" women on their cover and throughout the magazine.

Also, I thought in the US there was a very "standard" look that everyone aspired to - I call it the "high school sweetheart Katie" (sorry, no offense to any Katies on here ): Tall, skinny, long hair (preferably blond), perfect skin, big boobs. In Germany I feel like there isn't just ONE look that's considered the ideal. You see a lot more women with short hair or wearing glasses and these people are still considered pretty (as long as they are skinny). In fact, my American friends always said you can recognize a German by the stylish glasses they wear .

The thing I realized about beauty is that there's one basic rule that applies across the world: Beautiful is always what you aren't by nature.
Asians want to have white skin. Europeans/Americans go to the tanning booth to get darker. People with curly hair want straight hair. Straight haired people get perms. People with small boobs want big ones. Women with really big boos would like smaller ones. Europeans want to be petite and fine-boned - which most of them just aren't.
It's really insane!!!

When I lived in India, there were a lot of Indian guys that definitely seemed interested (at least they said so ). I suspect it had something to do with the fact that I'm white as my Indian friends have confirmed to me that many Indian guys dream about having a white women at some point - must be the influence of Baywatch . However, from personal experience I can say that men from some African countries certainly do appreciate curvy women though

See how this is all just a media thing, a consumption thing?? It's another means of population control, so that we keep buying stuff, keep consuming, and keep feeling so darn insecure about ourselves that we don't dare feel empowered and happy. Because when we are, we won't be fiending for the next "miracle natural diet pill with green tea and ****ake that really works" (really why not just drink organic green tea and ****ake for maximum effect. Oh what, it doesn't really work without all the chemical compounds in it? That's not very natural is it, but that's OK you can still get away with it until too many people have heart attacks and you face a class action law suit. At least you made some money in the meantime.)
No matter what the beauty standards are for each country or region, it always comes down to the same: Be what you cannot be or were not meant to be. Because there is no sales in telling people they are beautiful and powerful on their own. No. They need to go to the media for advice. What do men/women want in bed? How to satisfy your partner with these simple exercises. Cut calories in half with these simple tricks. Kiss your cellulite goodbye with this and that. Pluck out any unsightly hair so your date doesn't think you're a freak. How to get that fabulous wardrobe on a budget (which is usually like $500 FOR ONE OUTFIT?). Are you kidding me? This is NOT what society wants, it's what society thinks it wants, because it's being told so.

"People want to be what they are not." But why? Because magazines/TV tells them to. And why? Because they're gonna go buy the cellulite cream, the roll-on eye serum, the microdermabrasion, the collagen injections, the tights with the buttocks padding, the slimming shakes and diet pills. And who will be cashing in their money? The same people who told them they needed those products in the first place.

We have a 33-BILLION dollar a YEAR weight-loss industry. Industry??? They are paying big money to get the results these same companies are pushing on them.
Magazine says "You need those perfect abs!"
"That's right I guess I do, look at these models, if I can't be fair-skinned/big-boobed/long-haired like them I need at least SOMETHING that'll make me attractive."
"Give us your money we'll give you an ab machine that'll do it all for you." "Oh thank you big slimy corporation, let me try and get those abs in 30 days as you advertise, and when I cannot commit 5 hours a day and am unable to obtain the results you advertise, let me give you more of my money in the shape of 10 failed attempts at commercial fad diets that you advertise in those pages!"

I'm sorry, but that's all it is. There will always be hordes of people ready to put you down and make you feel terrible for how you look NO MATTER HOW YOU LOOK. That also means there are always going to be people who will ENJOY how you look and find you attractive NO MATTER HOW YOU LOOK because no matter what the media says, there will always be someone who will agree and someone who will disagree. What's most important is how you think of yourself personally and how satisfied YOU are with yourself. Because next month the magazines will want you to try something else because you're not good enough yet. That's how they sell and how they stay in business, by making you feel so uncomfortable that you feel like you need their help to guide you in what you have to do to feel better. Except next month they'll have something else to make you feel like crap about, and again sell a million copies. Plain and simple.

Wow... rant much? Sorry. But this is what I think and we need to stop worrying.

(wow I can't believe the filter censored S H I T A K E mushroom. Wow, come on).

It is spelled shiitake.