Modern beauty standards often sell us unrealistic images of what beauty is and what the “perfect body” should look like. We see this on social media and television all the time. So, the only way you can avoid these lies is if you get offline, which is something we should all be doing from time to time.
When you aren’t being bombarded with content that’s tainted with false advertising, you’re given the space to ground yourself in reality and begin to see yourself with your own eyes. I believe our self-perceptions were originally pure and full of depth. It wasn’t until the rise of beauty standards fed to us by the media when this perception began to be infiltrated by companies who profit off of our self hatred.
People from generations past were able to have pure, raw perceptions because they didn’t have access to the same technology we do, nor was digital marketing or advertising a thing at the time. Cellulite, stretch marks, rolls, fuller stomachs, wide hips, etc. were considered beauty markers. A woman’s natural state, her naked body, was considered to be the most sacred.
Women were practically made divine through the eyes of the sculptors, poets and painters of the past. How did we go from such beautiful depictions and reverence of real-life beauty to superficial standards? How can we go back to what once was?
When I studied art history with Allison Young, I remember studying and analyzing paintings and sculptures of Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love, beauty and glamor. These works of art humanized her which showed that goddesses are very similar to mortal women and it legitimized the ideas of our bodies being divine and sacred.
Art has always been used as a vessel for people to express their understanding and views, so if you were to look at any work from the classical antiquity era, it was clear what the perception of beauty was: women in their natural form were beautiful.
Even outside of art, the practice of Aphrodite worship can give insights about the meaning of self-love in the eyes of the Goddess herself. As a religious studies student, I couldn’t help but look into the practice of pagans who were devoted to her. I learned that self-love and self-acceptance are two of her biggest virtues. Aphrodite’s message is that you and I are perfect just the way we are regardless of what the media says.
Society is lost because there is no longer a high regard for women. This isn’t to say that this wasn’t the case before, but it’s clear that the definition of beauty has changed. We used to be a proper society, acknowledging divine femininity, paying respects to beauty and love just for the sake of it. Divinity and humanity were not separate, not in the eyes of the poets, writers, artists or pagans.
There needs to be some sort of revival for this kind of philosophy. Not only will it positively affect people, it would also make life much more meaningful. If the beauty I saw in those paintings was the same beauty that’s found in me or you, then who cares about standards of beauty that are inherently exclusive.
Amyri Jones is a 22-year-old digital advertising and religious studies senior from Baton Rouge.