Concepts of Beauty: How Icons Have Changed Over The Years
By Klena
Silver Screen Icons
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Beauty and How It's Changed
Something I've come to realise over my teenage years and into my 20s is that my personal ideas of beauty have changed as I've progressed. Recently, as I was with my family at Christmas, my father pointed out an article in "The Sunday Times." The article wasn't earth-shaking but it did provoke thoughts within my mind. The article was about how society was lacking because of our standardisation of societal ideas of beauty.
Who can disagree when such a thought unwinds in your mind? Think of the screen stars of the '30s, '40s and '50s. Consider all the icons of the silver screen. There was Bette Davis, Mae West, Ava Gardner, Elizabeth Taylor, Greta Garbo and Vivien Leigh. Think of Marilyn Monroe. Such variety in their looks! Dark haired beauties, red-heads, blonde haired ladies - tall and elegant or curvy and busty women.
How Have Things Changed?
Consider the list of images posted alongside this text.
These women today wouldn't fit with the "Hollywood" look that seems so popular. It's a strange mix because women today are so fixated with a particular Barbie-esq, synthetic image but whilst admiring the iconic looks of these old Hollywood starlets. There is a fixation with the red carpet glamour that hearkens back to the "image" of these actresses.
How many women still list Audrey Hepburn or Marilyn Monroe as style icons?
Yet the rules for what is "attractive" and "beautiful" have become much stricter over the years. If they were actresers in the Hollywood community today, it's not beyond speculation that Marilyn Monroe's luscious size 14 frame would be the subject of subtle passive-aggressive comments on Monroe's eating habits or her cellulite. The distintive heavy-set eyebrows of Audrey Hepburn, Lauren Bacall and Elizabeth Taylor would not exist, instead being waxed to fine sculpted shapes. It's even conceivable that the heavy-eyed beauty of Marlene Dietrich's femme fatale look would be "unconventional" in modern day Hollywood.
Modern Day "Beauties"
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Modern Day Screen Beauties
Today, who do women have to aspire to as beauty icons? Whilst we still have the icons of old, we women require current idols to advise us on what is stylish, what hairstyles are fashionable and how to wear our make-up. I very strongly remember the influence that the Spice Girls had on me whenever I was hitting puberty, particularly the way they dressed and their makeup (it is a vast understatement to say that I was not fashion conscious as a young lady!)
However, our "style icons" of today are ridiculously influenced by the media. Most actresses go blonde at some point in their career as it's seen to be more attractive. We've all read the salacious magazine articles regarding the fluctuating weight of actresses and models and pop stars.
We hear of the "necessity" of airbrushing magazine covers and photoshoots - telling us subconsciously that these beauties are not attractive enough and could always look better. Which leads me neatly to the phenomenal rise in cosmetic surgery. It has become normalized, which I must be honest, horrifies me. Where does it end? Why must we change ourselves physically to such a dramatic extent? The women I listed earlier never had such dramatic surgeries. And we still regard them as beautiful regardless of this face.
Modern Beauty Conventions
One idle day, during a meeting of our Final Year English students, I was suddenly struck with the overwhelming majority of girls with long blonde hair (natural or otherwise - generally otherwise), that were all dressed in a similar vein (Jack Willis meets hobo, on whole) with glamorous make-up.
In the States, a tan is not hard to come by - which means starlets tend to have a healthy "glow" to their skin. Here in the UK, we're lucky to have sunlight long enough to buy t-shirt, nevermind get a tan. So girls apply a lot of fake tan to get that "healthy glow" (a move the goes tragically wrong a lot - but that is not for this hub!!) and it is seen as positively strange to not apply fake tan. It's become an expected beauty act to apply fake tan.
These are just a small portion of what appears to be expected of women today in order to be seen as attractive or beautiful.
Alternative beauties
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It's Not All Bad Though!
Yes, not all women are being pressganged into these conventional ideas of beauty. There are some gorgeous female icons at the moment who are beautiful and curvy or beautiful and with dyed hair and tattoos or beautiful and slightly kooky/alternative.
Dita Von Teese is a gorgeous, curvy figure who screams back to old Hollywood glamour and the burlesque movement.
Christina Hendricks from AMC's "Mad Men" has a positively Monroe-esq figure and is being praised by a lot of magazines for not playing into the Hollywood diet fads.
Angelina Jolie is regularly on the "most gorgeous" women's lists but is covered in tattoos.
As long as we have these stunning women who return to the wide variety of silver-age beauty, I feel that society will be okay. Obviously a relaxing on the beauty standards by fashion publications would benefit the beauty ideals massively but I truly believe that society will eventually return to this recognition of beauty and the wide variety of examples that beauty comes in.
Books and movies with silver age stunners
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Who do you feel is the most beautiful actress?
See results without votingComments
Thoroughly enjoyed this Hub! Audrey Hepburn, Vivian Leigh, Katherine Hepburn and Greta Garbo are my personal beauty icons. Beauty today is so superficial and driven by fads. I'm with you, I hope we can return to a more traditional form of beauty and femininity.
You are so right about this. Having watched Mad Men I have become a huge fan of Christina Hendricks portraying a more authentic woman. Modern day beauty as lindacee rightly states is very superficial and feels quite fake to me.
Great hub, look forward to more of your thoughts.
You make a very valid point. The search for the ideal has gone too far. Unfortunately, we are swamped by that much media, that there is little hope for complete sense and sensibility. Media created stereotypes dictate and I think there is a need for a wider debate and change!
Rhonda, thank you so much for your kind comment! Marilyn Monroe was such a gorgeous woman and I agree with you, such a tragic end. I hope you and your family also have a fantastic New Year :)
Lindacee, you have excellent taste in beauty icons! I would love people to start rethinking the "fad" driven beauty industry and return to these traditional forms of beauty. Thank you so much for your comment and I hope you have a wonderful New Year!
Rich, thank you so much! Christina Hendricks is a modern day icon to me and may she help the industry rethink its positions on the "larger" lady. I hope you have a great New Year :)
Sanjayazad, I couldn't agree more! We are swamped by the media and never get a chance to formulate our own opinions because we are constantly bombarded with these ideas and stereotypes. Here's hoping for wider debate and change! Thank you so much for your comment and I hope you have a fantastic New Year :)
Very interesting hub Klena, and so well written. I very much share your point of view. I find it a shame the way many present day actresses are literally ruining their beauties through procedures to "keep up" with Hollywood beauty standrads, which in my opinion are impossible, unhealthy and ridiculous.
I need not mention how many gorgeous women have ended up as train wrecks in the process of trying to stop the time. What a pity!!! Whatever happened to aging with grace and most important of all preserving your human features?! Personally I get literally scared by the siliconized beauties of nowadays. I can't help but wonder, what's wrong with them? Most propably issues that lie much deeper than their skins....
Loved Audry Hepburn... by the way :-).
Have a beautiful new year and good luck in all.
Cheers, Edlira.
Thank you so much Edlira for your thoughtful, wonderful comment and for reading this hub :) The standards for Hollywood these days are impossible aren't they? You can't win with the media or with the directors, it must be awful to have that pressure put upon them.
You definitely don't need to mention them as we're constantly presented with them through the media. It's wildly hypocritical that these women know they need to undergo procedures and yet when it goes wrong, Hollywood attacks them for it. The siliconized beauties are terrifying! I think of the Stepford Wives a little when I see them.
You have excellent taste then! Audrey Hepburn was a stunning lady.
I hope you have a wonderful 2011 and all goes well for you! And thank you again :)
Hi Klena, nice hub.
I look at beauty more on the personality rather than the physical.Especially these days that many people resort to the artificial methods to enhance their looks. I'm not against these procedures, but, I like the natural beauty more.There's no need to mess with what God has given us. Be contented, feel beautiful, be good and everything else will be beautiful.
Hi Theseus, thank you for your kind comments :)
I do agree with you, that a wonderful personality makes a person more beautiful. I do agree with you, that people shouldn't have to pressurised to conform to those procedures but it is actresses livelihood. It's sad but a fact of their life.
That is great advice thought, thank you :)
I never thought Monroe was particularly gorgeous - probably because I could have been a body double for her in my teens and early twenties. Guess that means I didn't think I was beautiful either, LOL. Always thought Audrey Hepburn was amazing, though.
I've only recently begun watching Monroe movies and I am struck by how attractive she was. I think a lot of the appeal of her was the way she dressed to accentuate her curves.
You were lucky to have such curves! But sometimes we just can't see our own beauty, isn't that right? I hope you've come to realise it now though! :)
I agree beauty is only skin deep . . . beauty is as beauty does . . . but I'm all for a resurgance of defining beauty as curvy and busty!
Thank you for your lovely comment Truckstop Sally! I think we should start a campaign for a resurgance of busty/curvy beauty! :)
Good work Klena. Where I hail from, a busty and curvy beauty wins the day, especially when we consider how wasteful ailments leave an emaciated body in its wake. Modern beauty is quite artificial. Nothing real to look at and really appreciate what God created.
Thank you for your kind comment Anjili :) I'm so glad to hear that there are still places where busty and curvy is viewed as a pinnacle rather than an unusual beauty.
That is such an excellent point regarding ailments, and something I never considered. What a true point, thank you so much for pointing that out to me.
A really interesting read Klena, glad I found you! I believe that beauty radiates from the inside out! Great hub and voted up.
Thank you for voting my hub up and taking the time to read it, Acaetnna :) I'm really glad you enjoyed it!
I feel exactly the same as yourself. Women are always the most beautiful when they're true to themselves, it just shines through them :)
This is really helpfull and i agree with you :-)
All of the above are stunningly beautiful but voted on Angelina. Loved the seemingly never-fading blend of classic and modern beauty in her. Traditional beauty still reigns. Thank you for this very beautiful hub Klena. I'd say really beautiful! Voted up really awesome! Take care.
Rhonda Waits 16 months ago
Hello a great hub. I like Marilyn Monroe now and always. She was a great actress and a beautiful woman. So sad her life ended the way it did. Great writing thanks for sharing. Have a Great New Year.