Perfection is a socially constructed ideal which varies massively depending on parts of the world and personal preference. I want to look into what perfection and beauty really is in order to develop my project and create images commenting on the negative effects of these ideas.
What I have learnt from looking into these definitions is that beauty is subjective and completely up to perception and personal opinion. Due to mass media peoples opinions have been channelled to view only specific things as beautiful. I want my work to tackle this and help people see this concept from a different point of view and realise that models seen in magazine and online are rarely an unaltered reflection of reality.
I also want to look into the varying beauty ideal around the world, different cultures have their own perspective on how people should look if they want to be considered beautiful. For example in parts of Asia pale skin and double eyelids are preferred and specific surgery, products and treatments are available to help people achieve this. On the other hand in Europe and America people spend time and money in sun beds or getting spray tans to appear to have more golden tropical skin tones. Maori tribes from New Zeland get traditional tattoos to display their status and beauty however in Dubai tattoo must be covered and tourists have in the past been banned from the country for having offensive tattoos on display.
http://blog.tripbase.com/8-ideals-of-beauty-from-around-the-world/
Beauty ideals are socially constructed from physical attractiveness and in the past has been seen as one of women’s most important assets. Throughout history beauty ideal have also changed and developed, during the Edwardian period it was though that pale skin was beautiful this was due to how it showed that someone lived a life of luxury inside being served for rather than working on the land and becoming tanned. over the years as industries changed and people started woking indoors tanning started to become popular as it showed a person have a life of leisure, lying on beaches and enjoying life. Industries and brands tend to exploit and encourage beauty ideals by creating products which can help you achieve the desired look and displaying the supposed results on a ‘perfect’ model.