When reading the latest issue of Vogue, the young women in the U.S. know that beauty is very narrowly defined in our society. And although Americans, with our self-centered yet self-loathing mentalities, may not realize other standards and ideals exist around the world, they do. Leave it to Oprah to find a place (Mauritania- a desert on the northwest coast of Africa) where the fatter the women are the more beautiful they are. However, the sad reality in all countries, including our own, is the reason all women around the globe are pushing themselves to great extremes. They all want to feel whole, and they believe they will only feel this way when they finally look like the beautiful ideal and attract a husband. Yet as many of us have already discovered, it's the inner work on ourselves that must be done to feel whole. The beauty and the beast are just icing on the cake (that American girls would never eat). But even though we may know this, we as women will always push ourselves to be better. I've mentioned many different celebrities' unique, sometimes bizarre, beauty secrets, but now here on the secrets of the 'average' woman in the different countries around the world.
Japan: Women will eat collagen infused foods and drinks so that their skin looks clearer, younger, and smoother. Some facial treatments also use nightingale droppings to improve the skin. The ideal in Japan is very, very light skin and perfectly straight hair. The women will use face whitening cream to lighten their skin. This is in sharp contrast to the tanorexic outbreak happening in the U.S. As the craze over tanned italian new jerseyans keeps growing and growing, our people are getting darker and darker. To straighten their hair, Japanese women use a special chemical cream and flat iron. Japanese hair straightening has actually been adopted in the U.S. and used by many women.
Kayan tribe (on the border of Burma and Thailand): The beauty rituals in this tribe start at a very young age. At only five years old, girls start wearing rings around their necks. More and more rings are added with each year the girl grows, and eventually the result is a more elongated neck surrounded by the rings. Some of the neck rings weigh in total 22 pounds! I guess pain is beauty. When one woman of the tribe was interviewed about her rings she said, "If I take the rings off now, I won't look nice anymore. They are really a part of my life." We cannot judge this woman, because American women believe the same exact thing about the paint they smear all over their face.
Karo tribe (Southern Ethiopia): These women also start their beauty rituals at a very young age.Young girls allow adults to cut their stomachs so that scars will form on them. Once again this is in sharp contrast to the ideals of the American woman. American women will go to great lengths to avoid getting stretch marks whether from puberty, pregnancy, etc. Instead, these women purposely form scars and embrace them. One young girl was interviewed, and she said, "The main reason for my scars is to attract a male that will give me joy, because I will be beautiful and hopefully get a husband." I think every female of any age can identify strongly with that statement. Wanting to be loved and accepted is a very large part of the reason we push ourselves to such extremes.
And now you know, and knowing is half the battle.
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(Adrienne Maloof)
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