Essay 3 Rough Draft

Massimo Sarracino

Professor Young

11/4/14

Engw 1100

Benefits of Beauty Construction

Beauty can be defined as a combination of qualities, such as shape, color, or form that pleases the aesthetic senses, especially the sight. While many people today think of beauty to be all-natural, most people have different ways of constructing their beauty. Cameron Russell believes that beauty can be constructed, but in the modeling industry, these constructions can create illusions of beauty and of the model. Differently, Aimee Mullins explains that there are benefits to the construction of beauty that empowers the individual.  Also, Denis Dutton discusses that beauty is timeless and can be seen as anything done well. Constructing one self’s beauty has its benefits; it can make you feel more confident, give you a purpose, or even attract you to the world around us. Cameron, Aimee, and Denis  believe that constructing your beauty could be used to give you confidence, give you a purpose, or even attract you to the world around you.

First off, there are many ways that beauty can be constructed.  Cameroon mentions, “They are constructions, and they are constructions by a group of professionals, by hairstylists and makeup artists and photographers and stylists and all of their assistants and pre-production and post-production, and they build this. That's not me.” (5:26). Beauty can be constructed by stylists, makeup, clothes, implants, Botox, etc. Models especially have their beauty constructed every day. Cameron Russell mentions in her perception of beauty talk video that image is powerful but image is superficial. A terrible habit that the media has instilled into woman and even young girls is to make them feel the need to construct their beauty in order to be noticed. True beauty is natural and does not need to be masked by makeup or plastic surgery.

        In general, Cameron Russell explains how beauty is constructed in the modeling industry. She tells us how the worlds view of beauty is constructed by stylists, makeup, clothes, implants, Botox, etc. In her video Cameron says that image is powerful but it is also superficial. What Cameron means by this is, even though it is important to have a good image, it should not be the only thing that the world sees you for. You shouldn’t be defined by the way you look or by the beauty that has been constructed.

        In addition, today’s society judges women by the way that they look before anything else. If our society would take a second and look at someone for what they are instead of what they look like, women would be more comfortable with themselves as they are. It is because magazines and media portray women and even young girls as sexy or beautiful with makeup on or plastic surgery done. That makes every other girl feel not good enough if they do not construct their own beauty.

Secondly, Aimee Mullins discusses how beauty and the body can be constructed in many different ways ranging from something as simple as makeup, to something more dramatic such as plastic surgery. Your body can be constructed for different purposes as well. You can construct it to be appealing to the outside world, or for your own confidence. Aimee Mullins says, “It’s a conversation about potential” (8:04).

Aimee Mullins talks about her 12 pairs of prosthetic legs and how they transform her from being disabled to a woman with much more potential than she had. Aimee Mullins discusses how her prosthetic legs have changed her life and how they have allowed her to do things she would have normally not been able to have done. Her legs grant her the ability to have speed, beauty, and even add an extra six inches of height if she wanted to. She talks about how different people construct themselves for different reasons. The reason Aimee does it is to give her power and self-confidence that she did not have before.

          Moreover, constructing yourself or your beauty can be done for a variety of different reasons. Some people construct their beauty to be more appealing to others or for self-confidence. However, what we don’t see often is people like Aimee that need to construct themselves to have a normal life. She now has the ability with her prosthetic legs to be whoever she wants to be. They give her confidence and opportunity. Your body can be constructed for different purposes also; you can construct it to be appealing to the outside world or to better your confidence. Overall, Aimee agrees that constructing beauty is good when used for giving potential.

        Finally, Denis Dutton discusses the human perception of all things beautiful. All from human beings, natural land forms, works of art, and even skilled human actions. Humans perceive these things as beautiful because of the way we have adapted to them. Dutton says that beauty is not in the eye of the beholder; it is deep in our minds and is passed down from our ancient ancestors. They were attracted to the skills used to construct beauty mainly because they did not have a way of communication or a set language. We see beauty the same way our ancient ancestors did and that is why we see skills and things that are done well as beautiful.

Furthermore, as humans we perceive almost anything that catches our eye as beautiful. Weather it be a human being, natural land forms, works of art, and even skilled human actions. Dutton says, “Now, I personally have no doubt whatsoever that the experience of beauty, with its emotional intensity and pleasure, belongs to our evolved human psychology” (4:03). Dutton believes that these perceptions of beauty come from deep in our minds and are passed down from our ancient ancestors. This would surely explain why we see natural landscapes, similar to the ones that our ancient ancestors lived in, as beautiful. Also, our ancient ancestors did not have a set language or a way to communicate with one another. This made them more attracted to physical skills and intelligence. That is why humans today see things such as a last play, game saving win or a physical human talent as beautiful.

       In conclusion, the world has portrayed the construction of beauty as a bad thing because it is changing who you are, but we need to move farther past that. The construction of beauty can be used in many different scenarios. Cameron, Aimee, and Denis believe that constructing your beauty could be used to give you confidence, give you a purpose, or even attract you to the world around you. Cameron Russell believes that beauty can be constructed, but in the modeling industry, these constructions can create false illusions of beauty and of the model. Differently, Aimee Mullins explains that there are benefits to the construction of beauty that empowers the individual.  Also Denis Dutton discusses that beauty is timeless and can be seen as anything done well. Many different people will always have their opinion of what true beauty actually is and why people feel the need to construct their beauty. What is your opinion on the construction of beauty done for a purpose?

Works Cited

Dutton, Denis. “A Darwinian theory of beauty.” Ted Talks. Feb. 2010. Lecture.

Mullins, Aimee. “My 12 pairs of legs.” Ted Talks. Feb. 2009. Lecture.

Russell, Cameron. “Looks aren’t everything. Believe me, I’m a model.” Ted Talks.      Oct. 2012. Lecture.