Complimenting imperfections

Outlines of Lena Dunham in the series "Girls" (by me)

Beauty has evolved throughout the years. Hollywood beauty years ago did not resemble what it has become today, just as we do not identify with the Versailles Court's beauty criteria. Indeed, the quest for beauty took an entirely other form. Think of the mouches nobles applied to their face because it complemented their look. Think of corsets that made women have tiny waists, even they had to stop breathing throughout the day. Now issues are not about asphyxiating yourself to look beautiful, or powdering yourself with white, but about anorexia, lack of self-confidence, and other cases of beauty mischiefs.

Thankfully, this era's quest for beauty seems to take a new turn with newly emerged codes and acceptance of the body as it is. Would "As you are" be the new beautiful, at last? While there are still numerous cases of women changing their body to attain an ideal (dictated by Elle or Vogue, but they're not alone, or the show business), there is a growing realization that what may be beautiful is the body left untouched, the natural traits of a person, as polarized from beauty ideals as they may be. There is a new place for curvy, round, for gapped teeth, broad shoulders, small breasts, short legs, for thick eyebrows and long teeth, pale skin, dark skin, crooked smiles and unstoppable freckles, for red, and blue, for uncontrolled blushing and morning eye bags. Sure, it may not be easy at all ages, or in all places. But I feel there is a growing awareness that there are all kinds of beauties, and therefore a multitude of ways to attain this or that physical appearance.

It's a fascinating era, allowing new possibilities for the human body, but more importantly for accepting it the way it was brought onto this Earth. It feels like we can breathe better, up is up and down is down, and being ourselves is more and more embraced. The trends of "stars without makeup" articles or "curvy models" starring in campaigns show more openness about the ideals of beauty. There is also more and more speaking out against photoshopping photos, from various sources such as supermodel Gisele Bundchen, using her powerful status to defend that women should stay "real and raw" when represented. Plus, it seems that imperfections - or at least as they were called out by the beauty industry - are becoming a trend of their own, with models such as Winnie Harlow, Georgia May Jagger or Lindsey Wixson. Embracing your imperfections seems to be all the rage.

This is also why I chose Lena Dunham as a representation for this article. Apart from magazines, TV series are great influencers in our perception of beauty. Therefore, it plays an immense role in the way the quest for beauty evolves. I've come to love the series Girls, in which Lena Dunham stars as the main character, Hannah. This is another representation of the liberalization of the body. Lena does not hesitate to show her body, as different as it is from the mainstream ideals of beauty. In doing so, I believe it is creating a real tank for future changes in the way we pursue beauty and in the way we see ourselves. This is also what the website Herself is trying to achieve, by displaying nude photos of absolutely raw and real women. And this should be the future of beauty: being able to see and appreciate it in everyone, in all its forms.

On that note, feel free to visit The Atlas of Beauty for 27 beautiful portraits of women around the world, and Herself, which attempts to give a new image of women's bodies

And wander off to this song:

Through others' eyes

Photography by David Sims for French Vogue August Issue n°949, modified by me

My first year of high school, I moved to Japan with my parents. I had lived in Detroit for the past four years – Detroit, Michigan, USA – and I had never been kept up at night by beauty or the quest of beauty as concepts. 

Beauty as a sociological matter never hit me as much as in Japan. The quest for beauty had never been so palpable. The quest for specific attributes, the quest to attain certain physical traits, comparing oneself to pale-skinny-big-eyed-girls who looked like they were twelve, seemed to be the rage. At least from where I stood. Suddenly, what I had always called pale became “fair”, and what I saw as unhealthy skinny became fashionably thin. At the same time, the tiny noses and thick black hair I envied weren’t enough for Japanese girls. Suddenly, it became clear that what seemed so obviously beautiful through my eyes, was a whole other set of adjectives through someone else’s. 

Living in Tokyo opened me up to countless encounters of incarnated quest for beauty. I became fascinated with the tendency to transform one's body to a new form. One would think the quest for beauty has never been so vivid than in the 21st century. Sure, the cosmetic industry, the plastic surgery empire, and constant innovations for new ways to mask our imperfections, enhance our perfections and glamour our traits, would be enough to conclude to that now is the era of metamorphosis. But the quest for beauty, and the recognition that beauty may be present in the human body, if exposed, has been present for centuries. Maybe even since the beginning of mankind. This is where it gets interesting. 

It seems that the representation of what beauty entitles has not been the same from one century to another. Let alone been unique within one era. The first representations of mankind were found on tombs. Maybe this is when the quest for beauty began. Yet, the criteria beauty was judged upon were probably, evidently, different.

I find fascinating how relative beauty criteria are. Who is beautiful, what is beautiful, am I beautiful. And it seems to be the talk on everyone's lips today. More and more we turn to beauty we had not considered. We look at different, we look at atypical, we look at deformed, and wonder if it wouldn't also be beautiful. Or rather she, or he, wouldn't also be beautiful. The relativeness of beauty criteria fascinate me. So do the attempts to look at new ways we can celebrate the human body. New ways we can transform it. That's all part of the quest for beauty. Dressing the body up, putting make-up on, tattoos, implants, body creams, gels, serums, powder, foundation, lipstick. Exfoliating, pulping, firming, hydrating, lighting. We have developed an infinite set of words to describe how we transform the body. Such a set comes with a palette of possibilities to alter the human form to pursue beauty. But upon different criteria.

Such differences are even more current with globalization. There is a gradual realization that there is not only one ideal beauty, but rather a multiplicity of beauties. I will try to explore the ways we, as humans, view beauty, its criteria, its leading issues, depending on the time period, but also on geography and culture. Try to grasp the underlying elements of the quest for beauty.